The Quebec Press Council (CPQ) upholds the grievance of “discriminatory comments” against commentator Gilles Proulx for comments made on the show Denis Levesque broadcast on LCN on September 23, 2021. The CPQ is the court of honor for professional journalism.
The complaint filed by Kintal Sanolus the day after the broadcast of the program related precisely to remarks concerning François Amalega, black man, ex-professor of mathematics at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, activist and protester against health measures during the pandemic, including in front of schools.
“First, he has just arrived in the country, he is coming to dictate to us new forms of adopting laws, I will put him on the coal shovel,” said Mr. Proulx, adding: “I would send him back to him “.
This comment was made about a law prohibiting demonstrations against health measures near schools, COVID-19 testing centers and other public establishments.
“Although an opinion journalist like Gilles Proulx enjoys freedom of tone and style, ethics require that he not make discriminatory remarks, for example racist or xenophobic remarks, explains the decision made public Thursday. . […] But in the case that concerns us here, the remarks […] rather attack his personal characteristics as a black immigrant. In this sense, the words of Gilles Proulx tend to arouse and stir up hatred and contempt and to maintain prejudices against blacks, more particularly black immigrants. »
The decision is based on the reference to “the coal shovel”, an expression which “may refer to slavery, from a historical point of view”. The Council also judges that the proposal to send Mr. Amalega “home” arouses “contempt and hatred towards black immigrants” like the rest of the intervention (“He has just arrived in the country”, etc.) “ denigrates immigrants who take part in public debates”.
LCN, like all the media in the Quebecor group, is not a member of the CPQ and did not respond to the complaint.
The Press Council unveiled other decisions. The two complaints filed against The Daily by Clément Fontaine are rejected. A first for the modification of a verb tense in his opinion letter published on May 6, 2021 which “did not betray the author’s thought”. Another for the non-publication of one of its replies about the LNG Quebec project in Saguenay, the newspaper having “respected the diversity of points of view on the subject”.
The CPQ retains with many nuances the complaint of Dani Grandmaître against the article “France Bélisle denies the allegations of harassment in the workplace” by journalist Mathieu Bélanger published in The right on October 25, 2021. The allegation of “inaccurate information” is however considered minor. The court therefore does not assign blame to the journalist or his media.
The Council finally rejects Jean-Patrice Martel’s complaint against The Journal of Chambly for the publication of two articles of May 11, 2021 signed by the journalist Jean-Christophe Noël. The grievances of unjustified use of an anonymous source, bias, incomplete information and lack of balance as well as refusal to publish a reply are all swept away.
The complete decisions can be consulted on the Conseil de presse du Québec website.