Radio / Television News

Radio chat about welfare a little lost in translation, but not a violation



OTTAWA – Comments made about welfare recipients on a radio talk show did not violate any broadcast codes, according to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC).

The CBSC reviewed a segment of Maurais Live, broadcast on May 2, 2011 on CHOI-FM (Radio X, Quebec City), where host Dominic Maurais interviewed a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives about legislation that had just been passed in that state which prohibits welfare recipients from spending their benefits on unnecessary purchases. 

Maurais conducted the interview in English and then his co-host, J.-C. Ouellet, summarized in French for listeners.  Maurais and Ouellet also expressed their own opinions during the broadcast, namely that they would like to see similar measures imposed in Quebec.  At some points, they did not clearly distinguish between their translations of the politician’s words and their own opinions, according to the CBSC.  After the interview, Maurais took calls from listeners about the topic where one caller complained about the anti-social behaviour of welfare recipients.

The CBSC later received a complaint from the Front commun des personnes assistées sociales du Québec, an organization representing people on social assistance, which alleged that the broadcast contained misleading and discriminatory comments about welfare recipients.  Its Quebec Regional Panel concluded that the hosts could have made it more clear to listeners that they were adding comments of their own while summarizing those of their guest, but determined that those additions did not distort the overall message. 

The Panel also determined that the negative comments about welfare recipients focussed on those who abuse the welfare system and did not generalize about all recipients, meaning that there was no violation of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Code of Ethics.

www.cbsc.ca