According to Chief Justice Marc Noël, the federal body exceeded its jurisdiction in its decision by relying “solely” on Canadian broadcasting policy and not the codes of conduct that govern what may be said on the air.

THE CRTC cannot penalize licensees simply because what is said on the air is inconsistent with Canadian broadcast policy, nothing more. […] Another conclusion would be tantamount to acknowledging that he has unlimited discretion over what may and may not be said on the airwaves.we can read in the verdict.

Judge Noël also mentioned that the decision of the CRTC does not mention the CBC’s freedom of expression.

Finally he admits that he did it returned the case At CRTC that he again decides on the merits of the complaint […] under applicable law […] after having properly weighed the impact that his decision could have on citizens’ freedom of expression CBC.

In response to this ruling, Société Radio-Canada stated that the file was returned to the CRTC, We will wait for your instructions for the next steps.

It is important to remember that this case does not affect the policies we have already established to limit and govern the use of hurtful or offensive language.Leon Mar, director of media relations at CBC/Radio-Canada, said in a written statement.

remembering facts

The case dates back to August 2020. During part of the show THE 15-18 Columnist Simon Jodoin was moderated by Annie Desrochers at the ICI premiere in the greater Montreal area and took advantage of the n-word.

The columnist gave his opinion on the social acceptability of naming the book title of Pierre Vallières: White niggers of Americaafter a petition was filed calling for the firing of a Concordia University professor who had cited the book in class.

Irritated by the use of n-wordone listener complained to the board and to the French services ombudsman CBC. The complaint was escalated to the show’s senior content manager.

The complainant, who has since applied for his name to be removed, criticized the naming of the full work title and the lack of warnings and explanations as to the meaning of the word.

Dissatisfied with the response he received from the program’s content manager, the complainant contacted Radio-Canada’s French Services Ombudsman for a review. He came to the conclusion that the CBC had not violated Radio-Canada’s journalistic standards and practices in connection with this column.

Intervention of the CRTC

The complainant then turned to the CRTC obtain a review of the Ombudsman’s decision CBC.

By resolution of June 29, 2022, the CRTC accused the CBC for repeated use n-word on the air and requested the public broadcaster to issue a public written apology and a plan to prevent such a situation from happening again.

Two weeks later, Radio-Canada released a statement claiming to acknowledge this “N-word” is a racist and hurtful slur in both French and English.

But the company has also explained that On the rare occasions that this word is used by a media organization, it should be put in context to minimize the damage that its use could cause.

Radio-Canada had therefore presented its Apologies to the person who complainedunderlined that in the same breath we have to call [de la décision] with regard to the jurisdiction of the CRTC Making decisions that should be made by our news directors. Journalistic independence is essential for all of us.