‘I Will Not Apologize’: CBC President Defends Coverage of Israel-Hamas Conflict Before House Committee

Catherine Tait, president and CEO of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) waits to appear before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in Ottawa on Nov. 2, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby)

CBC president and CEO Catherine Tait has declined to apologize for the network’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, rejecting Conservative MPs’ allegations that the network has a bias against Israel.

“I will not apologize, because [CBC’s] journalism is among the finest in the world,” said Ms. Tait, while testifying before the House of Commons Heritage Committee on Nov. 2.

“Our journalists operate in an independent fashion; independent of management, independent of the board of directors, and independent of government and political influence,” she added in response to Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman asking whether she would apologize to Jewish Canadians and retract a story.

“If you have a concern, if anyone has a concern with our journalism, I invite you to address it to the independent ombudsman.”

Ms. Lantsman questioned the CBC president about the network’s reporting on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, particularly about an Oct. 17 story that claimed an Israeli airstrike was responsible for a hospital bombing and that 500 people died as a result. The Gaza Strip’s Hamas-run Health Industry was the source used in the story.

While initial reports suggested Israel had been responsible for the airstrike, several countries have analyzed the event and judged it was the result of an errant rocket fired from within Gaza.

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Ms. Lantsman said the CBC story that cited Hamas’ claims was based on “dangerous disinformation” and asked why they had not retracted the “debunked” story.

Ms. Tait responded that the CBC’s initial report had been taken from the Associated Press and the article was updated as soon as new information became available.

“We stand behind our journalism,” she added. “In conflicts and in war, news comes at a very fast rate, and people are [making claims] on both sides of the story.”

Ms. Lantsman also asked about a leaked internal CBC memo telling journalists to avoid the use of the word “terrorist” in reference to Hamas fighters in Israel and Gaza.

“You do agree, it is fact, that Hamas has been listed as a terrorist organization in 2002 in this country, is that correct?” Ms. Lantsman asked.

Ms. Tait said the CBC acknowledges that Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. “consider Hamas a terrorist organization, but we, as journalists, do not make that attribution.”

‘Political Interference’

Conservative MP Rachael Thomas also invited Ms. Tait to apologize for the “spreading of dangerous disinformation” via the hospital bombing article. In response, Ms. Tait read a quote from the article that explained the positions of both the Israeli government and Hamas on who was responsible for the incident. “I think that speaks for itself,” she said.

When asked by Ms. Thomas if the CBC would be able to provide news to Canadians without its $1.4 billion in government funding, she replied it would be “extremely difficult.” If CBC were defunded, it would no longer have the ability to provide news to underserved communities in the country, she said.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to “defund” the CBC if elected into government.

Liberal MP Lisa Hepfner accused Conservative members of trying to misrepresent the words CBC used in its article while asking Ms. Tait to comment on the allegation.

“I’m disturbed by political interference,” she replied.

“This is a precious asset. This independent journalism is the pillar of our democracy. If we try to influence on any side of any particular debate, we are threatening the fundamental building block of this country’s democracy.”