Tories continue attack on CBC over terrorism terminology

The Conservative Party continued its attack on CBC/Radio-Canada Tuesday with a resolution in a House of Commons committee and a question in the Senate. The matter began at the Commons Public Accounts committee when Tory deputy leader Melissa Lantsman made a motion to summon three executives form the public broadcaster to explain why CBC is not using the word “terrorist” to describe Hamas in the current war in the Middle East. The resolution would have seen CBC president Catherine Tait, English-services ombudsman Jack Nagler and director of journalistic standards George Achi appear. It was a memo from Achi that began the furor initially. Other parties voted the measure down. Afterward Lantsman and Canadian Heritage critic Rachael Thomas put out a news release condemning the Crown corporation and the MPs who stood up for it. “It has never been more clear that Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organization and it’s appalling that the taxpayer-funded CBC won’t recognize this,” the women wrote. “We also wanted to initiate a House-wide vote denouncing the comments by Achi, but the Liberal-NDP coalition , along with the Bloc Québécois, voted to protect the CBC by shutting this down.” Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, whose department oversees the CBC, commented on the Tory MPs’ strategy following Tuesday’s cabinet meeting. “Conservatives should understand that they should not meddle with journalistic independence whether it’s with a public broadcaster or any other news groups and it is protected by, by the law,” she said according to a transcript of her scrum. “So it’s a good thing that it was pushed back.” Tuesday afternoon the issue was raised in the Senate’s Question Period by the leader of the opposition in the Red Chamber. Donald Plett termed the corporation “the government broadcasting corporation” and asked why the ban on “terrorism” exists. “It is absolutely shameful, leader, that the CBC refuses to call Hamas what it is — a terrorist organization, a group of terrorists,” he said. “Why did the Liberal and NDP coalition of MPs vote to protect the CBC by shutting down a committee study on this?” Government representative in the Senate Marc Gold replied that the government has been very clear that it considers Hamas a terrorist group. “Second, it is important to remember that the independence of CBC/Radio-Canada’s journalism from the government and from Parliament, including the Senate, is protected by law under the Broadcasting Act,” Gold noted. Plett continued his line of questioning. “A subsidy of $1.4 billion does not make them an independent organization,” he stated. “The fact that the CBC won’t call Hamas terrorists tells Canadians all they need to know about the state broadcaster they fund through their taxes. Is there anyone in the Trudeau government who will condemn the CBC for this?” The government leader was restrained in his response. “I am really going to resist answering in kind, Senator Plett. The CBC is an independent news organization,” Gold said. “No one has to tell me that Hamas is a terrorist organization or to remind me of how long Canada has stood in solidarity. Again, if you take the time to read their explanation, you will see that your assertions are unnuanced and incomplete.” Brodie Fenlon, editor in chief of CBC, wrote a blog on the broadcaster’s website to clarify the controversy. Chief among his concerns was the charge that the word “terrorism” has been verboten. “We most certainly do not ban it. As a matter of fact, you may have heard and read that word many times on all CBC News platforms over the past week,” the editor asserted. “Our journalists cite it and quote it often, with attribution. That means they also tell the audience who has used it and in what context.” The attribution of the word terrorist is consistent with the practices of other news outlets, including the British Broadcasting Corporation, Agence France Presse and Reuters. Branding a person or group a terrorist or an action an act of terror is loaded with meaning, Fenlon added. “CBC News is independent of any and all governments, yet we and other news organizations have been regularly lobbied over the years by many opposing groups to label certain people or acts of violence as terrorism–precisely because the word is so important to them and carries so much weight,” he noted. In her news conference St-Onge was asked about the Tories writing to Twitter six months ago complaining that CBC was government-controlled and now is seeking to have directives placed on the network. “Well, it is for sure contradictory, but it shows that the Conservatives and especially the Conservative leader doesn’t understand the role of the public broadcaster which is why they have promised to defund CBC,” the minister replied. –Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca

Tories continue attack on CBC over terrorism terminology

Broadcast | October 18, 2023

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Tories continue attack on CBC over terrorism terminology

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