Angry in the Great White North

Just before the Christmas break, Canadian political news was dominated by the Schreiber affair which involved allegations of inappropriate cash payments to former Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney.  It was no secret that the opposition Liberals were hoping to hurt the Conservatives with this, even though the events happened twenty years ago and involved a different party, one to which most of today's Conservatives did not belong to.

When Brian Mulroney appeared before the Commons Ethics Committee to answer questions about his dealings with Karlheinz Schreiber, something remarkable and totally unexpected happened.

Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez, who is not even a member of this committee, sat in on that particular hearing, and was allowed to ask a question.  The question he asked had nothing to do with Airbus or Schreiber, but on Brian Mulroney's role, if any, in a recent wireless spectrum auction decision taken by the current government.

That wasn't the remarkable thing.

What was remarkable was that the question, challenged by Conservative MPs as utterly off-topic, was not written by the Liberals.  CTV analyst and former Liberal MP Jean Lapierre immediately levelled charges that he had seen the question the night before because it was written by a CBC reporter working with the Liberal MPs to frame questions and otherwise guide the hearings.

Here's the question, apparently written by a CBC reporter, and spoken by Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez, and the fireworks that followed:

That has become a scandal of its own, and the CBC has admitted that the reporter likely crossed the line.  Action will be taken, said the corporation.

What action?  Against whom?  None of our business, apparently.

That answer is not good enough for the Conservative Party:

January 8, 2008

Mr. Vince Carlin
Ombudsman Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
P.O. Box 500, Station A 
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1E6

Dear Mr. Carlin:

Back in December I wrote to you and asked that you, in your capacity as CBC Ombudsman, look into an allegation of CBC-Liberal collusion made by former Liberal cabinet minister and current TVA reporter Jean Lapierre.  As you will recall Mr. Lapierre told a national television audience that CBC wrote questions for Liberal members on the House of Commons ethics committee. 

On December 15th, Canadian Press reported that CBC spokesperson Jeff Keay admitted that a reporter pursued a story in an "inappropriate way" that was inconsistent with the Corporation's "journalistic policies and practices".  Further, Canadian Press reported that the particulars of the matter were being investigated by the CBC and that disciplinary action was possible. 

Given Mr. Keay's admission to Canadian Press back in December, I was troubled to read his comments in yesterday's edition of the Hill Times.  Not only did he refuse to name the reporter who allegedly wrote questions for the Liberals he said he wasn't sure when the CBC would be willing to do so.  Further, he said he was unwilling to characterize the type of discipline the reporter could face. 

Mr. Carlin, the CBC has already admitted that inappropriate practices were followed by one of its reporters.  Given this I believe it is incumbent upon the Corporation to:

• Update Canadians on the status of the investigation and estimate when the investigation will be completed; and
• Commit to releasing the name of the reporter in question and outline what disciplinary measures have been or will be taken.
  

While recognizing that Mr. John Cruickshank has, according to CBC policy, up to 20 working days to respond to the substance of my December 14th e-mail I'd ask that you specifically assure me that the Corporation will commit to releasing the name of the reporter in question and outline what disciplinary actions have been - or will be - taken to ensure that Canadians view the CBC as a non-partisan source of news and information. 

Sincerely,
Doug Finley
National Campaign Director
Conservative Party of Canada

Clearly the Conservative Party is fed up with the activities of Brian Mulroney and Karlheinz Schreiber from twenty years ago being discussed live on TV from coast to coast, while a current issue, whether the CBC and the Liberal Party colluded in managing those hearings, is going to be dealt with quietly and in secret.

Indeed, if it's in secret, who knows if the CBC is doing anything at all?

The Conservative Party is serving notice.  Double standards are a thing of the past.  That doesn't mean everything is going to be in the open always.  Some things are best dealt with out of public view.  It shouldn't happen often, but it can happen.  What must end, though, is the double standard of respect.

Brian Mulroney does something dumb two decades ago, and the media tries to turn it into a scandal of monumental proportions to ensnare the Conservative Party.

The CBC and the Liberal Party does something dumb last month, and they expect us to look the other way while someone might or might not be punished for it?

Nice try.  The fact is that the collusion itself played itself out in a very public way.  The question that resulted from the collusion was asked publicly and is now part of the parliamentary record.  The allegations of collusion were made publicly on live TV.  Whatever the CBC thinks, or prefers, any corrective action has to be public as well.

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