Did the CBC and the Liberals work together to ask this question?

Questions are being asked about whether the CBC and the Liberal Party colluded in framing questions to be asked of Brian Mulroney at the Commons ethics committee hearing:

According to further information provided to Mike Duffy by Jean Lapierre, a Liberal researcher named Jay Epward (sp?) quickly approached Jean Lapierre today and told him “...No, Jean, it’s not true! ... The CBC phoned us up and merely ‘suggested’ questions that should be asked, but we actually typed them out ourselves...”.

Well then.

The CTV bureau Chief Bob Fife and L. Ian MacDonald then discussed it with Duffy, and all agreed what a serious a matter this was, if true.

In something of a debate on Duffy’s program between Conservative MP (and committee member) Mr. Del Mastro and Liberal Pablo Rodriguez, Pablo Rodriguez vigorously denied everything and demanded an apology from Mr. Del Mastro, who rightly reminded him that it wasn’t he who made the allegation.

Pablo Rodriguez doth protest too loudly, is how I read him.

Pablo Rodriguez proudly insisted to Mike Duffy that he wrote the question all by himself on his paper (literally, he showed the sheet on TV), but Rodriguez did not clarify whether the CBC helped him with the big words.

What if we didn't know?

What if we didn't hear about how the Liberals were typing what the CBC told them to ask (or whatever)?

What if Brian Mulroney had said something significant in answer to the question put forward by Pablo Rodriguez?

Was the CBC ready with a headlining story?

Mulroney unravels and admits to meeting with Harper ministers
Harper government scrambles to contain growing scandal
Liberals sense shift in momentum

Is this normal journalism? Does the CBC write up the story first, then arrange for the news to break that then legitimizes the story? Richard Brennan was caught doing something similar for the Windsor Star.

Hopefully we'll learn more details about this. Who at the CBC was working with the Liberals? Is that person associated with one the CBC's on-air personalities or with one of the CBC's news programs? Who at the CBC knew of the connection? When did this relationship begin? What other news events included the collaboration by the CBC and the Liberals?

And who is going to ask the Liberals just how often they've torqued the news Canadians get from their taxpayer-funded broadcaster by gladly working with the CBC to guide, or even create, the news?

Remember that there is an issue here that goes beyond merely some sleazy partisanship on the part of some people in the CBC. If a reporter confronts Brian Mulroney in a scrum and asks a question, Brian Mulroney can decline to answer. Heck, he could even lie.

There is no law against lying to a reporter.

But this was parliamentary hearing, and testimony given is covered under laws governing perjury. A reporter does not get to sit at the hearing table and ask questions. But by using Pablo Rodriguez as a proxy reporter, not only does the CBC get to ask the question, it gets to do it with the power accorded to a judicial investigation.

The Liberals were helping to elevate the CBC from merely a news gathering organization to a quasi-judicial investigative body, but without the troublesome transparency and accountability that normally comes with the job.

There is something about this that makes me very uneasy. It should also make all journalists, including those who work for the CBC, uneasy as well.

And one last question. If by asking questions on behalf of the CBC Pablo Rodriguez had managed to deliver the big story, what would the Liberals have gotten in return?

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