The management of Radio-Canada (CBC) strongly deplored Wednesday the decision of the Russian government to close the offices of the state-owned company in Moscow while in Ottawa, the decision was unanimously condemned by the political class.
Posted at 10:27
Updated at 5:13 p.m.
“It’s a dark day. We are extremely disappointed. And I would even say that we are in shock, declared the director general of information, Luce Julien, in a press briefing. From memory, this is the first time that a foreign government has closed one of our CBC/Radio-Canada offices. For international journalism, this is very bad news. »
What hurts the most, she says, is that Russia’s decision comes in retaliation for Canada’s decision to ban the broadcast of Russian group RT’s channel in Canada. However, this decision was taken in several countries of the world without Russia acting in the same way.
“It is important to affirm loud and clear, and this is what saddens us the most, that the Russian government seems to be confusing the Canadian government and the independent press company that is CBC/Radio-Canada,” continued Ms.me Julian. Our journalistic activities, our journalistic practices have always been independent of the decisions of the Canadian government. »
Radio-Canada correspondent in Moscow, Tamara Alteresco agrees.
There is a diplomatic war [de la Russie] with Canada right now. It’s obvious ! And independent Canadian journalism is paying the price.
Tamara Alteresco
Mme Alteresco regrets that the decision was announced at a press briefing by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs without a prior call to the state-owned company. “I have since had a courtesy call from the head of the press department at the Foreign Office,” she said. A very courteous call, but quite brief, during which I asked: why us? Because we are the only ones to be concerned. »
Announcing the decision, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the decision to close Radio-Canada’s Moscow office also includes the cancellation of journalists’ accreditations and visas. . In all, ten employees are affected, three Canadians and seven Russian employees. The office had been open for 44 years.
In early March, Radio-Canada had already suspended its reports in Russia in the face of Moscow’s threat to imprison correspondents in the event of the dissemination of “false information about the army”, but the office remained operational with local staff in place. .
Luce Julien already ensures that Radio-Canada intends to open a new office in the region, but did not specify in which country.
Gesture condemned in unison in Ottawa
In Ottawa, politicians have condemned in unison this turn of the Putin regime, starting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“It’s no big surprise that it’s [la liberté de la presse] a threat to Putin, who depends on misinformation, misinformation, to mislead his citizens, to try to justify this illegal war,” he said before entering question period.
His NDP counterpart, Jagmeet Singh, was not “surprised” either, but he did express regret that Moscow made “this bad decision which is going to hurt people in the sense that ‘they couldn’t get the information from the field’.
Describing the situation as “deplorable” at a press briefing in the foyer of the Commons, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet argued that his “greatest fear” was that the war “is becoming normalized, trivialized, part of our everyday life and becomes more and more vaguely a news item”.
In the Conservative camp – where many MPs do not hold the CBC close to their hearts – MP Michael Chong argued that this “action by an autocrat who is afraid of democracy and the free press” would “only ‘further isolate Russia on the international stage’.
“Conservatives will always oppose autocrats who oppress their own people and who censor and intimidate journalists,” he stormed in a written statement sent by his party, reiterating that the decision to disconnect RT from the Canadian airwaves was the maid.