CBC French Journalist ‘Relieved From Duties’ for Remarks About Jews

The Maison de Radio-Canada building is seen in Montreal, on Jan. 29, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Public broadcaster Radio-Canada says one of its journalists has been disciplined after saying on-air that Jews exercise control over large swathes of American society.

In a segment aired on Sept. 15, journalist Élisa P. Serret provided her analysis on French CBC’s news channel RDI on why the United States has remained a strong backer of Israel amid war in the Middle East.

“My understanding, and that of many analysts here in the United States, is that it is the Israelis, in fact it is Jews who are heavily involved in financing U.S. politics with Super PACs,” she said, in reference to political action committees (PACs).

“It’s really a big machine behind the scene, so it becomes very difficult for Americans to detach themselves from Israel’s positions,” she added.

“It’s really money [that leads] here in the United States. Big cities are being led by Jews, Hollywood is led by Jews.”

In response, Radio-Canada said that Serret’s analysis led to “stereotypical, anti-Semitic, erroneous and prejudicial allegations against Jewish communities.” The broadcaster said the comments are “unacceptable,” in breach of its journalistic rule book, and do not reflect its opinion.

“As a result, the News department has decided to relieve the journalist of her duties until further notice,” Radio-Canada said, adding that it apologizes to viewership.

“We recognize that these comments have offended many viewers. We sincerely apologize to them and to the Jewish community.” 

The Epoch Times reached out to Serret for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.

Serret’s comments led to condemnation from Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault, who oversees CBC/Radio-Canada.

Guilbeault said the government should never interfere in programming decisions at the public broadcaster, but that it should be held to account and produce high-quality journalism.

“The words used on last night’s broadcast were pernicious antisemitic tropes and have absolutely no place on Canadian airwaves,” said Guilbeault in a statement. “When antisemitic language is used by journalists, or anyone in a position of trust, it risks normalizing hatred in deeply dangerous ways.”

Jewish advocates had called on Radio-Canada and Guilbeault to take action in response to Serret’s comments.

“We expect immediate and unequivocal condemnation from all relevant leaders,” said the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs in a social media post on Sept. 15. “Antisemitism is absolutely unacceptable on Canadian airwaves, especially on our public broadcaster.”

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, who is Jewish, called Serret’s comments “textbook” anti-Semitic tropes and asked Radio-Canada to publicly explain how it plans to prevent a reoccurrence.

Canada has been rocked by a wave of anti-Semitic incidents since October 2023, when terrorist group Hamas conducted raids on Israel, killing around 1,200 and kidnapping 251.

The Israeli government has vowed to eliminate Hamas and has now begun military operations in Gaza City, the largest population centre in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Israeli operations have led to the death of thousands of civilians and Hamas members.

Some of the latest anti-Semitic incidents in Canada include the August stabbing of an elderly Jewish woman who was grocery shopping in Ottawa. Also in Ottawa, a now-former city lawyer pleaded guilty to mischief in July for defacing the National Holocaust Monument with red paint.