Former Tory Minister Baird Criticizes CBC for Saying He ‘Praised’ Trudeau

Then federal cabinet minister John Baird announces his resignation in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Feb. 3, 2015. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Former Conservative cabinet minister John Baird is criticizing the CBC after it reported that he had praised the prime minister’s “political acumen” while introducing him at an event.

“The Liberal Party’s publicly funded spin machine is back at it. Political success does not equal competent leadership of Canada,” tweeted Mr. Baird on July 18.

“The CBC manipulated my remarks in an attempt to sow discord in the Conservative Party,” he said, adding the hashtag “defundtheCBC.”

The former Harper cabinet foreign minister also reiterated his support for Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre who he said would become the next prime minister.

Mr. Baird serves as the Canadian co-chair of the Australia-Canada Economic Leadership Forum. He introduced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who was delivering remarks at the forum on July 18 in Toronto.

“It’s my great privilege to introduce one of the most successful political leaders of our generation,” said Mr. Baird, the CBC reported in an article headlined “Poilievre ally calls Trudeau one of the ’most successful' politicians of his generation.”

The article led by saying that Mr. Baird is one of Mr. Poilievre’s “most prominent supporters” and that he “praised” the prime minister’s political leadership.

It noted that Mr. Baird had endorsed Mr. Poilievre’s leadership bid early on and served as national co-chair of his campaign.

“But Baird praised Trudeau’s political acumen when he introduced the prime minister on Monday,” wrote the CBC.

The public broadcaster added that Mr. Baird had “balanced his praise of the prime minister” with a joke.

In his joke, Mr. Baird recounted a taxi ride in the Philippines in which the driver told him, “We love your prime minister.”

“I smiled. I paused, and I said, ‘Why?’” said Mr. Baird, according to the CBC, which omitted to report the second “I paused” he uttered. CBC also did not report the rest of Mr. Baird’s joke.

Mr. Baird told the audience the driver replied, “Your prime minister was here for the APEC summit and he was named the APEC ‘hottie.’ I told this to Stephen Harper and he was very depressed.”

The Epoch Times contacted the CBC for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Mr. Poilievre has not commented on the matter, but his position on the CBC is well known. He has steadily accused the public broadcaster of a pro-Liberal bias and has tussled with its president Catherine Tait.

“CBC’s overpaid President & CEO is not even pretending to be unbiased,” Mr. Poilievre wrote in a Twitter post on Feb. 9. “She launched a partisan attack against me, proving my claim that the $1.2 billion corporation is a mouthpiece for Justin Trudeau.”

He was responding to comments made by Ms. Tait about “CBC bashing” among some Canadians being “somewhat stoked by the Leader of the Opposition.”

“I think they feel that CBC is a mouthpiece for the Liberal government,” she told The Globe and Mail on Feb. 7.

Peter Wilson contributed to this report.