By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In a tweet yesterday, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) announced it would grant leave to the CBC/Radio-Canada (SRC) allowing it to appeal the CRTC’s decision, issued in June, to force the SRC to apologize to a complainant (Ricardo Lamour) for the use of the N-word on air and to outline the measures it will take to avoid such incidents in the future.
Back in August 2020, a SRC commentator on the radio program Le 15-18 used the offensive word four times during the show in reference to a book by Pierre Vallières written in the 1960s comparing the plight of Quebeckers in Canada with that of African Americans in the United States.
The comment was related to a discussion of a petition from students against a Concordia University film professor who mentioned the title of the book, which contains the offensive word, during a class.
The complainant, who was in the SRC studio when the live program was aired, first went to the SRC ombudsman, but deemed the decision that came of out that process to be unsatisfactory, so he referred his complaint to the CRTC.
The CRTC decision on the matter was badly received by various communities in Québec, which viewed it as a violation of journalistic independence.
Eventually, the SRC decided to comply with the content of the Commission’s decision but said they did it because it was the right thing to do, not because they were ordered to do it. They also announced at that time they would appeal the CRTC’s decision to the FCA.
“In keeping with the Court’s established practice, no reasons were given,” reads the FCA tweet from yesterday on granting the SRC leave to appeal.
“The appeal will now proceed in the normal course. Best estimate of timeline for a hearing on the merits is winter or spring 2023,” it went on.
The SRC has 30 days to file its motions and the respondent and parties have 30 days to respond unless an extension is granted.
