An anti-gay pamphleteer who took hate speech accusations all the way to Canada's top court is suing the CBC for libel.
Bill Whatcott filed the civil suit June 22 against the broadcaster for an October news story about the Supreme Court hearings into his fight with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.
Whatcott's legal team claims the CBC misrepresented him when they panned to one of his pamphlets declaring "Kill the Homosexual" during the story - words Whatcott maintains were a spoof of a 2008 Alberta Human Rights Commission ruling tossing out a complaint about a death metal song urging listeners to "Kill the Christian."
Tom Schuck, Whatcott's lawyer, said the broadcaster should have used one the pamphlets at issue in the current Supreme Court case.
"But they dredged up this old pamphlet and then misconstrued it for the general public," he said.
In doing so, Schuck argues "they allege that Bill advocates killing homosexual people - that would be hate speech under the criminal code."
According to the legal document, the CBC also refused to issue a retraction of the story when asked to last November.
A spokesman for the CBC said its legal department had only received the statement of claim Tuesday and are "looking into the situation."
Read the full story.
cbcexposed is all about exposing the waste of the CBC ... over 1 billion dollars a year of taxpayer money funds the cbc and a lot of that taxpayer money is wasted.
The CBC’s conundrum: Change isn’t easy, but the public broadcaster needs to try ...
Can the CBC simply try to make interesting programming? Or does it have to aim for programming that is both good and yet noble.
The system requires the CBC to pursue advertising dollars with ratings-driven programs such as Hockey Night in Canada and Battle of the Blades while at the same time delivering low-uptake offerings such as classical radio that are part of its public-service mandate.
For the CBC, this is often a lose-lose.
These questions, which have been around pretty much since the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was created in 1936, are newly relevant as the federal Conservatives, long thought to be harbouring CBC-gutting tendencies, have said the Crown corporation will be expected to reduce its budget as Ottawa embarks on broad spending reductions. One lobby group has launched a campaign for the removal of the public subsidy, while another has demanded that the CBC’s current funding be protected.
Read the full story.
The system requires the CBC to pursue advertising dollars with ratings-driven programs such as Hockey Night in Canada and Battle of the Blades while at the same time delivering low-uptake offerings such as classical radio that are part of its public-service mandate.
For the CBC, this is often a lose-lose.
These questions, which have been around pretty much since the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was created in 1936, are newly relevant as the federal Conservatives, long thought to be harbouring CBC-gutting tendencies, have said the Crown corporation will be expected to reduce its budget as Ottawa embarks on broad spending reductions. One lobby group has launched a campaign for the removal of the public subsidy, while another has demanded that the CBC’s current funding be protected.
Read the full story.
CBC president says broadcaster can't 'be all things to all people' ...
The beleaguered CBC is seeking tenants for office space it owns across the country in a bid to generate revenue that would help it cover a multimillion shortfall.
Hubert Lacroix, president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, said Thursday the broadcaster hopes to generate $50 million through various measures that include putting ads on Radio 2 and leasing more than 74,000 square metres of real estate by 2017.
Lacroix said "unavoidable cost increases" are forcing the CBC to reduce its annual budget by $200 million over the next three years, plus find $25 million for severance.
Read the full story.
Hubert Lacroix, president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, said Thursday the broadcaster hopes to generate $50 million through various measures that include putting ads on Radio 2 and leasing more than 74,000 square metres of real estate by 2017.
Lacroix said "unavoidable cost increases" are forcing the CBC to reduce its annual budget by $200 million over the next three years, plus find $25 million for severance.
Read the full story.
A liberal that hates CBC?
Gavin Mcinnes, author and founder of Vice Magazine, on why he hates the CBC despite being liberal in most senses of the word.
Watch the video interview here.
Watch the video interview here.
CBC's glitzy Strombo party cost $72,000+ ...
CBC paid more than one-and-a-half times the average income of a working Canadian for a one-night, celebrity-filled party last September.
Called the Hazelton Takeover, the event cost taxpayers more than $72,000, thousands more than CBC president Hubert Lacroix claimed when he appeared before a Commons committee.
The lavish event, held at "Canada's only 5 star hotel" in "the city's finest and most fashionable downtown district," brought CBC host George Stroumboulopoulos together with American and British celebrities during the Toronto International Film Festival.
Lacroix told MPs that the party cost $64,000, but a single invoice from Veritas Communications shows a charge of $72,372.
Other invoices, including one from the Hazelton Hotel, have had all the key information -- including charges -- removed.
According to Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey, the average wage in Canada for working individuals is $44,252 a year.
Read the full story.
Called the Hazelton Takeover, the event cost taxpayers more than $72,000, thousands more than CBC president Hubert Lacroix claimed when he appeared before a Commons committee.
The lavish event, held at "Canada's only 5 star hotel" in "the city's finest and most fashionable downtown district," brought CBC host George Stroumboulopoulos together with American and British celebrities during the Toronto International Film Festival.
Lacroix told MPs that the party cost $64,000, but a single invoice from Veritas Communications shows a charge of $72,372.
Other invoices, including one from the Hazelton Hotel, have had all the key information -- including charges -- removed.
According to Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey, the average wage in Canada for working individuals is $44,252 a year.
Read the full story.
Local cop suing CBC for $100,000 ...
Edmonton police officer Mike Wasylyshen has filed a $100,000 defamation
lawsuit against the CBC regarding a TV broadcast about him repeatedly
Tasering a city teen.
According to a statement of claim filed in Court of Queen’s Bench on April 28, Wasylyshen alleges the 2009 broadcast falsely stated he had admitted to committing a number of violent and potentially criminal acts.
In particular, Wasylyshen claims the CBC story stated he is a city police officer with a criminal record for assault who is “admitting to once again crossing the line,” which he says implies he has admitted to having committed an assault or other criminal offence.
Read the full story.
According to a statement of claim filed in Court of Queen’s Bench on April 28, Wasylyshen alleges the 2009 broadcast falsely stated he had admitted to committing a number of violent and potentially criminal acts.
In particular, Wasylyshen claims the CBC story stated he is a city police officer with a criminal record for assault who is “admitting to once again crossing the line,” which he says implies he has admitted to having committed an assault or other criminal offence.
Read the full story.
TAXPAYERS BOLSTER LAYTON LEGEND
CBC has now officially confirmed its plans to make a TV movie about the life of former opposition leader Jack Layton.
The project is described as a lead-up to the 2011 election, focusing on the romance between Layton and wife Olivia Chow.
Sure, one could pick worse subjects for a Canadian TV movie. In a QMI Agency/Leger poll conducted in the run up the last federal election, Layton was most likeable. He was the leader Canadians would have most liked to have a beer with.
But we can't help but wonder if the state broadcaster is going to tell Layton's full story, warts and all, or if this will just be gushing praise. After all, their news department never shied away from showing their love for him.
Read the story.
Do you have comments on this?
The project is described as a lead-up to the 2011 election, focusing on the romance between Layton and wife Olivia Chow.
Sure, one could pick worse subjects for a Canadian TV movie. In a QMI Agency/Leger poll conducted in the run up the last federal election, Layton was most likeable. He was the leader Canadians would have most liked to have a beer with.
But we can't help but wonder if the state broadcaster is going to tell Layton's full story, warts and all, or if this will just be gushing praise. After all, their news department never shied away from showing their love for him.
Read the story.
Do you have comments on this?
THE ULTIMATE CBC INSIDER - EXPOSES THE CONTROVERSIES, SUCCESSES AND DEAD ENDS OF HIS TIME AT THE TOP ....
From 2004 to 2010, Richard Stursberg headed up the CBC amid controversy, lock-outs, massive ratings successes and some serious flops. There was no lack of drama during his reign, but now he sets the record straight. In The Tower of Babble, the ultimate CBC insider exposes those controversies, successes and dead ends of his time at the top.
Read more here.
Read more here.
CBC ombudsman slams CBC ...
The CBC's own watchdog has found reporting on Israel by the state broadcaster did not meet values of accuracy, balance, and impartiality. Eric Duhaime joined Krista Erickson to discuss.
Watch the video.
Watch the video.
CBC guilty of defamation; Supreme Court won't hear appeal ...
Canada's public broadcaster will not get an audience with the country's top court to challenge costly defamation judgments against its investigative program the fifth estate.
The Supreme Court of Canada gave no reasons Thursday for refusing to hear the case, as is usual in high-court appeal applications.
The CBC was ordered in 2000 to pay nearly $1-million in defamation damages to medical scientist Dr. Frans Leenen of the University of Ottawa and $200,000 to Dr. Martin Myers, a Toronto cardiologist.
Dr. Myers won another $150,000 in aggravated damages last year after the CBC lost at the Ontario Court of Appeal.
The publicly funded broadcaster applied in September to make its case before the top court.
Read the full story.
The Supreme Court of Canada gave no reasons Thursday for refusing to hear the case, as is usual in high-court appeal applications.
The CBC was ordered in 2000 to pay nearly $1-million in defamation damages to medical scientist Dr. Frans Leenen of the University of Ottawa and $200,000 to Dr. Martin Myers, a Toronto cardiologist.
Dr. Myers won another $150,000 in aggravated damages last year after the CBC lost at the Ontario Court of Appeal.
The publicly funded broadcaster applied in September to make its case before the top court.
Read the full story.
Fed up by CBC’s biased reporting ...
During the election campaign, many of us were fed up by CBC’s biased reporting against the Conservatives.
Ezra Levant commented on this fact on Sun News when he compared Terry Milewski’s long editorial preamble to a question he asked the prime minister in what was supposed to be simply a question period and the indulgent question the NDP leader was asked concerning the news about his presence in a massage parlour.
What was said on French CBC on election night was not just slanted but a direct attack on the Conservatives. Daniel Lessard, the former Radio-Canada bureau chief in Ottawa who currently animates the political show Les coulisses du pouvoir, gratuitously remarked, “There is not a great cultural culture, if you allow me the expression, among the Conservatives. They are people who mainly watch American TV.”
In other words, right wingers are not true Canadians; they are more like Americans — less sophisticated and civilized.
Like a gentleman, in his weekly TV program last Sunday, he insisted on coming back to this comment by saying, “My sentiments were inappropriate, unacceptable. I sincerely apologize.”
While we need to forgive him, we cannot forget. This blunder reveals once more that if you are not a leftist that unconditionally supports heavy subsidies to state television, you must not esteem nor share Canadian values.
Read the full story.
Ezra Levant commented on this fact on Sun News when he compared Terry Milewski’s long editorial preamble to a question he asked the prime minister in what was supposed to be simply a question period and the indulgent question the NDP leader was asked concerning the news about his presence in a massage parlour.
What was said on French CBC on election night was not just slanted but a direct attack on the Conservatives. Daniel Lessard, the former Radio-Canada bureau chief in Ottawa who currently animates the political show Les coulisses du pouvoir, gratuitously remarked, “There is not a great cultural culture, if you allow me the expression, among the Conservatives. They are people who mainly watch American TV.”
In other words, right wingers are not true Canadians; they are more like Americans — less sophisticated and civilized.
Like a gentleman, in his weekly TV program last Sunday, he insisted on coming back to this comment by saying, “My sentiments were inappropriate, unacceptable. I sincerely apologize.”
While we need to forgive him, we cannot forget. This blunder reveals once more that if you are not a leftist that unconditionally supports heavy subsidies to state television, you must not esteem nor share Canadian values.
Read the full story.
CTF cries foul on CBC link to 'Friends' ...
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is accusing the activist group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting of being on the CBC's payroll.
"
Access to Information documents show that three members of the Friends steering committee actually were on the CBC payroll," the taxpayer advocacy group says on its website.
"Aritha van Herk was paid to write poems and was paid $6,322, David Tars was paid to be a 'reader' and was paid $277, while Stephen Kimber was paid $675 as a 'freelancer'."
"These are quite small sums of money - especially in the latter two cases - however this is by no means the whole picture," the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) said on its site.
"Some of the individuals refused to disclose their financial arrangements with the CBC, resulting in about 85 pages of the ATI documents being blanked out."
Read the full story.
Access to Information documents show that three members of the Friends steering committee actually were on the CBC payroll," the taxpayer advocacy group says on its website.
"Aritha van Herk was paid to write poems and was paid $6,322, David Tars was paid to be a 'reader' and was paid $277, while Stephen Kimber was paid $675 as a 'freelancer'."
"These are quite small sums of money - especially in the latter two cases - however this is by no means the whole picture," the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) said on its site.
"Some of the individuals refused to disclose their financial arrangements with the CBC, resulting in about 85 pages of the ATI documents being blanked out."
Read the full story.
CBC execs pocket bonuses while workers laid off ...
As CBC continues to cut jobs and cancel programs in the wake of budget cuts announced in March, the head honcho of the organization is defending big bonuses to senior ranks.
CBC president Hubert Lacroix was questioned recently about bonuses for top executives, which in recent years have totalled between $775,000 and just under $1 million for the 10 to 12 most senior people.
Lacroix scoffed at the question.
"Your numbers are way off," Lacroix said after speech to the Economic Club last week in Toronto.
"We have a short-term incentive plan that pays out - and it's a short-term incentive plan - that pays out according to the meeting of targets...
Read the story here.
CBC president Hubert Lacroix was questioned recently about bonuses for top executives, which in recent years have totalled between $775,000 and just under $1 million for the 10 to 12 most senior people.
Lacroix scoffed at the question.
"Your numbers are way off," Lacroix said after speech to the Economic Club last week in Toronto.
"We have a short-term incentive plan that pays out - and it's a short-term incentive plan - that pays out according to the meeting of targets...
Read the story here.
Problems with News Coverage of the Japan Disaster by Canada's CBC ...
The author, a specialist in Japanese music, culture and society, and a long-time resident of Japan, is deeply worried about the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami.
As Japan struggles to recover from the disaster, and continues its struggle to keep the Fukushima nuclear power plant from turning into a major nuclear disaster, the author is also concerned about inadequacies in the media coverage of this event.
In this article, he examines several reports from Canada's national TV network, the CBC, and points out specific problems in their coverage.
Buy the article here.
As Japan struggles to recover from the disaster, and continues its struggle to keep the Fukushima nuclear power plant from turning into a major nuclear disaster, the author is also concerned about inadequacies in the media coverage of this event.
In this article, he examines several reports from Canada's national TV network, the CBC, and points out specific problems in their coverage.
Buy the article here.
Tory MP Del Mastro accuses CBC’s O’Malley of ‘inappropriate’ conduct ...
Last Tuesday’s public House Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics Committee fell into confusion after Ms. O’Malley approached Liberal committee member Scott Andrews (Avalon, Nfld.) during the meeting for what she thought was copy of a motion Mr. Andrews was due to introduce.
Ms. O’Malley later told the chair, NDP MP Pierre-Luc Dusseault (Sherbrooke, Que.), that she did not get a copy of the motion. Mr. Andrews told The Hill Times the same thing.
The document that had just been distributed to committee members turned out not to be a motion but a draft report that would be discussed after the group went in-camera.
“I assumed that it was a motion, and, as is my usual practice, I immediately headed for the nearest available source—in this case, opposition staffers, and the nearest opposition MP— to get a copy before someone moved to go in-camera, which, these days, usually happens as soon as the witnesses leave the table,” Ms. O’Malley wrote in a blog post explaining the incident the next day, in which she also apologized for any confusion and said she respects Parliamentary rules.
“When I realized that it was actually a draft report… I backed off immediately, but not quite quickly enough to dodge the resulting point of order,” she said. Mr. Andrews said that the draft report was not marked to indicate that it was confidential, and that the situation was “a simple misunderstanding.”
Mr. Del Mastro (Peterborough, Ont.), a member of the House Ethics Committee, raised a point of order in the House June 5, alleging that Ms. O’Malley had asked to see the in-camera report, and that Mr. Andrews had provided it. Ms. O’Malley has denied this.
Afterwards Mr. Del Mastro told reporters that both Mr. Andrews and Ms. O’Malley had broken House rules.
Read the full story.
Ms. O’Malley later told the chair, NDP MP Pierre-Luc Dusseault (Sherbrooke, Que.), that she did not get a copy of the motion. Mr. Andrews told The Hill Times the same thing.
The document that had just been distributed to committee members turned out not to be a motion but a draft report that would be discussed after the group went in-camera.
“I assumed that it was a motion, and, as is my usual practice, I immediately headed for the nearest available source—in this case, opposition staffers, and the nearest opposition MP— to get a copy before someone moved to go in-camera, which, these days, usually happens as soon as the witnesses leave the table,” Ms. O’Malley wrote in a blog post explaining the incident the next day, in which she also apologized for any confusion and said she respects Parliamentary rules.
“When I realized that it was actually a draft report… I backed off immediately, but not quite quickly enough to dodge the resulting point of order,” she said. Mr. Andrews said that the draft report was not marked to indicate that it was confidential, and that the situation was “a simple misunderstanding.”
Mr. Del Mastro (Peterborough, Ont.), a member of the House Ethics Committee, raised a point of order in the House June 5, alleging that Ms. O’Malley had asked to see the in-camera report, and that Mr. Andrews had provided it. Ms. O’Malley has denied this.
Afterwards Mr. Del Mastro told reporters that both Mr. Andrews and Ms. O’Malley had broken House rules.
Read the full story.
CBC Problems Start At The Top ...
CBC, like all public services, is facing budget cuts and the following analysis indicates that the CBC may not have developed the right management skills or systems for implementing cuts of the magnitude announced recently by the federal government.
One small window we have on the CBC labyrinth is the annual financial reports of the CRTC. For instance, these reports provide the only public source of information about the number of staff employed by the CBC. All reports issued by the CBC are woefully lacking information about CBC staff, which is strange since staff account for a majority of the corporation’s expenses, as much as 60 per cent according to CBC president Hubert Lacroix.
The CBC has been through a tumultuous period and it is going to get more challenging. The CRTC financial data on the state of CBC indicate that the CBC’s planning and basic budgeting tools are not up to the task of the changes and priorities the CBC must choose from as it enters a period of reduced government funding.
Read the full story.
One small window we have on the CBC labyrinth is the annual financial reports of the CRTC. For instance, these reports provide the only public source of information about the number of staff employed by the CBC. All reports issued by the CBC are woefully lacking information about CBC staff, which is strange since staff account for a majority of the corporation’s expenses, as much as 60 per cent according to CBC president Hubert Lacroix.
The CBC has been through a tumultuous period and it is going to get more challenging. The CRTC financial data on the state of CBC indicate that the CBC’s planning and basic budgeting tools are not up to the task of the changes and priorities the CBC must choose from as it enters a period of reduced government funding.
Read the full story.
CBC versus the private sector ...
Should the CBC be dabbling in things like porn and music distribution? Certainly not, according to Ezra Levant and guest Fred Litwin.
Watch the video.
Watch the video.
MPs stunned by new charges against CBC ...
A Commons committee investigating allegations of subterfuge at the state broadcaster learned Tuesday the CBC is denying access requests on a whim.
Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault – the subject of a court case initiated by the broadcaster – caught MPs off guard when she testified she just learned the CBC is denying requests based on the wording of the request.
“And if that’s the case and they do this without retrieving the records and without processing all the records and without applying appropriate severances under the legislation then I am seriously concerned,” she said in an interview.
“I think it’s mistaken and misguided if they are doing that,” she testified.
Read the full story.
Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault – the subject of a court case initiated by the broadcaster – caught MPs off guard when she testified she just learned the CBC is denying requests based on the wording of the request.
“And if that’s the case and they do this without retrieving the records and without processing all the records and without applying appropriate severances under the legislation then I am seriously concerned,” she said in an interview.
“I think it’s mistaken and misguided if they are doing that,” she testified.
Read the full story.
CBC should open up about exec pay: taxpayer group ...
A taxpayer advocacy group is calling on CBC to be as open about the salaries for their top executives as executives of some of Canada's top companies are.
"If disclosure of executive compensation for publicly traded companies serves the public interest, then we as coerced shareholders of the state-funded broadcaster are certainly concerned by the culture of secrecy that refuses similar disclosure by executives at the CBC," said Stephen Taylor, director at the National Citizen Coalition.
CBC has repeatedly refused to disclose the salaries or bonuses of their top executives unlike many publicly traded companies.
Read the full story.
"If disclosure of executive compensation for publicly traded companies serves the public interest, then we as coerced shareholders of the state-funded broadcaster are certainly concerned by the culture of secrecy that refuses similar disclosure by executives at the CBC," said Stephen Taylor, director at the National Citizen Coalition.
CBC has repeatedly refused to disclose the salaries or bonuses of their top executives unlike many publicly traded companies.
Read the full story.
730 CBC employees take home more than $100,000 a year ...
The CBC has more than 700 staff on the payroll making $100,000 annually, the public broadcaster revealed to a Conservative MP who had asked for salary details of top CBC executives and on-air staff.
But the CBC will not name them, nor release the salaries of anchor Peter Mansbridge and host George Stroumboulopoulos.
Read the full story.
How much does CBC President Hubert Lacroix make?
While we don't know how much CBC President Hubert Lacroix makes from taxpayer money in salary and bonuses (state guarded secret), we do know that he makes some good money as he moonlights from his tax subsidized full time position at the CBC.
Here are a few details:
1 - as a director at SFK Pulp, he made $83,500 in 2009 - click here;
2 - as a director at Zarklink, he made $52,415 in 2009 (and $68,188 in 2010) - click here.
My question as a taxpayer (paying his FULL TIME salary at the CBC); did he make an additional $135, 915 while he was on the job or did he take vacation to earn his moonlighting income?
Here are a few details:
1 - as a director at SFK Pulp, he made $83,500 in 2009 - click here;
2 - as a director at Zarklink, he made $52,415 in 2009 (and $68,188 in 2010) - click here.
My question as a taxpayer (paying his FULL TIME salary at the CBC); did he make an additional $135, 915 while he was on the job or did he take vacation to earn his moonlighting income?
Insider Stursberg spills the beans on shenanigans at troubled CBC ...
Canada's public broadcaster is kept in a perennial state of fiscal peril, reliant on policy making by a patronage clique of mostly uninformed board members.
That's the view of a former CBC insider Richard Stursberg who headed the network's English services from 2004 until his 2010 dismissal.
Now departed from Mother Corp., he blows a whistle on disproportionate funding for Radio Canada, the CBC's French-language service which, he writes, gobbles 40 per cent of funding to serve about a 25-per-cent share of Canada's population.
He predicts, "very stormy seas" for CBC which, he believes, soon won't be unable to afford to keep its most valuable property, Hockey Night in Canada.
Stursberg depicts CBC president Hubert Lacroix as a laconic cold fish, lacking a clear idea of where he wants to take the public broadcaster.
Read the full story.
That's the view of a former CBC insider Richard Stursberg who headed the network's English services from 2004 until his 2010 dismissal.
Now departed from Mother Corp., he blows a whistle on disproportionate funding for Radio Canada, the CBC's French-language service which, he writes, gobbles 40 per cent of funding to serve about a 25-per-cent share of Canada's population.
He predicts, "very stormy seas" for CBC which, he believes, soon won't be unable to afford to keep its most valuable property, Hockey Night in Canada.
Stursberg depicts CBC president Hubert Lacroix as a laconic cold fish, lacking a clear idea of where he wants to take the public broadcaster.
Read the full story.
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