The CRTC thought it was a hit. On the grounds that the programming of the Société Radio-Canada must be of “high quality” and reflect “the multicultural and multiracial character of Canada”, the federal agency has seen fit to disavow, in 2022, the columnists of a program of the SRC who had quoted, four times on the air, the title of the book by Pierre Vallières, white niggers of america.
The context is not lacking in irony. Even when these animators wonder about the appropriateness of the petition demanding the dismissal of a professor from Concordia University who pronounced the title of this book in class, here they are, in turn, banished . The lack of warning at the beginning of their column and the repetition deemed excessive of the title of the book are reproached to them. The CRTC orders the CBC to issue a “public written apology” to the complainant and to establish “best practices” in such matters.
The irony continues, tirelessly: here comes the CRTC in its turn…sanctioned. The Federal Court of Appeal criticizes him, in its decision delivered on June 8, for having used a distorted legal framework. On the one hand, the CRTC simply got the benchmarks wrong. By mistakenly relying on a Canadian broadcasting policy, the CRTC has arrogated to itself “unlimited discretion over what can and cannot be said on the airwaves”. On the other hand, the CRTC’s decision put freedom of expression on hold.
Clearly, his decision was rendered without any consideration of this constitutional right. The double reproach thus formulated by the Court of Appeal is scathing.
However, you shouldn’t get the wrong subject. The Court of Appeal does not disavow the solutions advocated by the CRTC. She accuses him of faulty reasoning. Everything must therefore be redone and the CRTC will be called upon to rule again.
The Court of Appeal nevertheless lays down major safeguards. The CRTC will no longer be able to ignore the fundamental rights in question – freedom of expression, freedom of the press – nor hide the repercussions of its decision on self-censorship. From now on, it will therefore have to incorporate into its analysis the particularly clear positions expressed by the Professional Federation of Quebec Journalists and those of many well-known journalists, such as former Radio-Canada ombudsmen, on the subject of the necessary margin of press freedom maneuver.
The CRTC believed it could sidestep the essential arbitrations in matters of freedom of expression. The evasion was in vain. It is now up to him to know how to avoid the servitude of words and the servitude of beings.