OTTAWA – A French-language radio program that derided older people and included a discussion about sexual matters was neither explicit or detailed enough to violate any broadcast codes, says the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC).
The CBSC examined an episode of Doc Mailloux et Josey, an open-line talk show hosted by Josey Arsenault and psychiatrist Pierre “Doc” Mailloux that airs on the Cogeco radio network, including on CKOB-FM (106,9fm, Mauricie).
On the episode that aired on October 12, 2017, Mailloux criticized people of an older generation who (translated) “lie to themselves cheerfully, daily, copiously, abundantly”, plus expressed his frustration with older callers who, he said, were misremembering or misrepresenting events from their pasts. The two hosts also discussed sexual issues with some callers, making mention of sex toys used for female masturbation.
A listener complained that Mailloux had made disparaging and discriminatory comments about old people, and that the program had contained sexually explicit material. The station responded that Mailloux was entitled to give his opinion on different groups and that his co-host Josey had provided counter-balance to these opinions. It added that the sexual comments were made within the context of a mature and respectful discussion with no detailed descriptions of sexual acts.
The CBSC’s French-Language Panel examined the complaint under the provisions of the CAB Code of Ethics and Equitable Portrayal Code relating to human rights, stereotyping and degrading material. It concluded that the comments about old people did not reach the level of abusive or unduly discriminatory material, and agreed that Mailloux’s comments were counter-balanced by co-host Josey who emphasized that he should not generalize.
The Panel also examined the complaint under the Radio Broadcasting clause of the CAB Code of Ethics which prohibits the broadcast of “unduly sexually explicit material” and determined that the discussions were not sexually explicit because they did not contain detailed descriptions of sexual acts.
