SQ police officers c. Radio-Canada: the report “misled the public”, insists the expert criticized by the state company

Despite criticism and insinuations aimed at undermining his credibility, an expert persists and signs by affirming that Radio-Canada had “misled the public” by broadcasting a shocking report which could now cost the state corporation millions.

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“For me, there was a transgression of the principle of accuracy [en journalisme]it misled the public,” said Marc-François Bernier, criticizing “sensationalism” on the part of Radio-Canada, this Tuesday at the Montreal courthouse.

For the second day, the journalism expert was on the witness stand in the $3 million civil defamation trial brought by 42 Sûreté du Québec police officers against Radio-Canada. At the heart of the dispute is a report from the show Investigation titled Abuse of the SQ: women break the silence and broadcast in 2015.

Journalist Josée Dupuis gave the floor to indigenous women from Val-d’Or, in Abitibi, who claimed to have been victims of physical and sexual violence at the hands of police officers.

This investigation caused a shock wave, contributing to the creation of the Viens commission on relations between Aboriginal people and public services.

Expert criticized

A police investigation was launched, but it could not lead to criminal charges due to lack of sufficient evidence. For the police officers involved in the defamation suit, the information is downright false.

And for expert Bernier, if the premise of the report deserved to be explored, it was not enough to broadcast a report.

“Many allegations are disseminated without corroboration, without even a corroboration process,” commented the expert in his report, recalling the importance of verifying the facts.

In cross-examination, Radio-Canada’s lawyer M^e Geneviève Gagnon, however, worked to undermine Mr. Bernier’s credibility, by reminding more or less subtly that it had been years since he had practiced the profession.

“He has a theoretical way of applying the rules,” she said at the opening of the civil trial.

And this Tuesday, she asked him questions about the way he worked “at the time”, as well as the references in his report, some of which come from experts “who did not practice as journalists”.

Knowledge about Aboriginal people

Far from shying away, the expert maintained his position that even if the subject of the report was of “public interest”, there was a lack of corroboration from the journalist concerning the alleged abuses by police officers.

Questioned from all sides by M^e Gagnon, however, recognized that the subject of the report was of public interest. And when the lawyer asked him about his knowledge of indigenous peoples, he admitted not having done any research on the subject.

“I commented on the credibility of a source of information,” he replied, recalling that a journalist must “have compassion, but without tarnishing his actions.”

Earlier during the trial, journalist Josée Dupuis claimed to have believed the women interviewed because “they did not all say the same thing” or because “it was not said in a belligerent tone”.

However, she admitted an error regarding a woman who said she had been raped by a police officer 20 years earlier. However, he could not work for the SQ since at the time it could only be the municipal police.

“She knew it, before the report came out,” said the expert, recalling that the goal of journalism was ultimately to “well inform the public.”

The trial, before Judge Babak Barin, continues all day.