Tory Motion to Question CBC Execs on Coverage of Hamas Terrorist Attacks on Israel Defeated

A Canadian flag hangs from a lamp post along the road in front of the Parliament buildings ahead of Canada Day in Ottawa, on June 30, 2020. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

The Liberal, New Democrat, and Bloc Quebecois federal parties voted against a Conservative Party motion to compel CBC executives to testify at a public accounts committee meeting on why they have instructed reporters not to call Hamas a terrorist organization.

Tory Deputy Leader MP Melissa Lantsman and Rachel Thomas, shadow minister for Canadian Heritage, said in a statement on Oct. 17 that the “Liberal-NDP Coalition” shut down testimony from the CBC on their “soft coverage” of Hamas terrorists, who attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing and injuring thousands, including six confirmed Canadians.

“The Liberal-NDP government must stop protecting the CBC’s gross journalistic incompetence and allow Conservatives to demand answers from the CBC’s senior leadership,” said the Conservatives’ statement.

“The CBC continues to fail Canadians by protecting Hamas in the court of public opinion. Conservatives will not stop until the CBC provides answers for this disgraceful editorial stance.”

Coverage of Hamas

The Tories said that “despite the brutality of Hamas’ crimes, Canadians were shocked to discover that the CBC has been advising its journalists not to use the word ’terrorist' when referring to Hamas. The CBC refuses to do this in spite of Hamas being recognized as a terrorist organization for over 20 years by the Government of Canada.”

The public broadcaster told journalists in a leaked email written by CBC Director of Journalistic Standards George Achi not to say that Gaza has not been occupied by Israel since 2005, and not to refer to “militants, soldiers, or anyone else” as “terrorists.”

The instructions came after Hamas launched rocket attacks on Israel, killed civilians on the ground in Israeli cities close to the Gaza border, and took hostages, including children, to Gaza.

Conservatives demanded a House of Commons committee investigation into the leaked memo that instructs reporters not to refer to members of Hamas as “terrorists” and instead to use the word “militants.”

Israeli rescue workers work to remove dead bodies from near a destroyed police station that was the site of a battle following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel, October 11, 2023. Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters

The Conservative motion stated that Hamas has been declared a terrorist organization by the Canadian government since 2002 and the “horrific Hamas attack against Israel left thousands of innocent people dead and injured.”

“If the CBC can’t call an organization that murders the elderly, kidnaps children and rapes women the terrorist organization that they are, they don’t deserve taxpayer money,” said Ms. Lantsman on Oct. 16. “They aren’t worth funding.”

MP Thomas said the CBC is a public broadcaster and gets $1.2 billion in taxpayer money, and that the House of Commons has a mandate to review government expenditures. Following the failed motion, the Conservatives will present the motion again before a heritage committee meeting later this week.

CBC Policy

The editor-in-chief of CBC News, Brodie Fenlon, published a note on Oct. 16 to defend their policy.

Mr. Fenlon said “unfortunately” an internal memo sent to staff on covering the attacks was made public, “leading to great confusion about how we work, and many complaints.” He said CBC has been asked if they would “ban” the use of the word “terrorist.”

“The answer is clear: we most certainly do not ban it,” he said. Instead, use of the word must be “attributed to governments, officials, authorities, experts and politicians” and the news outlet said it has been a “policy for decades.”

“CBC News does not itself designate specific groups as terrorists, or specific acts as terrorism, regardless of the region or the events, because these words are so loaded with meaning, politics and emotion that they can end up being impediments to our journalism,” said Mr. Fenlon.

He said CBC’s policy is “mirrored” by other news organizations such as BBC, Reuters, and The Associated Press.