Ottawa, April 15, 1994 – The Ontario Regional Council of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has found that the “John Michael” open-line show aired on CKTB (St. Catharines) on June 11, 1993, contravened two clauses of the industry Code of Ethics.
The Council’s decision, released today, concerns comments made by the CKTB open-line show host about French-speaking Canadians. The host stated (among other things) that all Canadian government buildings are in Quebec, that Canada’s civil service is entirely in Quebec, that English is not spoken in Cabinet meetings, that 90 per cent of Cabinet Ministers are French-Canadians, and that Canadian ambassadors to important postings are always French-Canadians. The Council found that the host’s accumulated misstatements were abusive and discriminatory toward French-speaking Canadians. As a result, CKTB breached the Code of Ethics of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB). The Code affirms the broadcaster’s responsibility to present opinion and comment fully, fairly and properly; to maintain high standards in broadcasting; and to avoid abusive or discriminatory material based on matters of national or ethnic origin.
The Ontario Regional Council includes equal representation from the general public and the broadcasting industry. The Chair, Marianne Barrie, represents the general public; the Vice-Chair, Al MacKay, represents broadcasters. Other public members of the Regional Council are Susan Fish and Robert Stanbury, while the other broadcaster members are Paul Fockler and Don Luzzi. Mr. Luzzi did not participate in the decision.
The decision is attached.
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For more information, please contact the National Chair of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, Ronald I. Cohen, at (###) ###-####.