CBC Ombudsman Jack Nagler denied a Fifth Estate episode on the Mormon Church in 2022 was a “hit piece.”According to Blacklock’s Reporter, CBC dismissed viewer complaints of bias over the episode on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Mormon Canadians said the network was suggesting the Mormon Church acted unethically in transferring a large portion of Canadian members’ charitable donations to Brigham Young University in Provo, UT, a practice permitted under the Income Tax Act.“This CBC report explored an intersection between money and faith,” wrote Nagler. “Given the sensitivities involved in such a subject, it was bound to come under scrutiny.”“The program made clear this was not illegal,” wrote Nagler. “Viewers could decide for themselves if this was a reasonable outcome.”The Fifth Estate episode also told viewers that Brigham Young University provided students a “world-class education unless they happen to be gay.” Nagler said while he “would have preferred to see a more complete picture presented,” the Fifth Estate did not breach a network ethics code.“Would it have been better to have someone from the Church’s senior leadership agree to an interview? Of course,” wrote Nagler. “But in the absence of such an opportunity the program’s producers discharged their duty.”The Fifth Estate said at the time its investigation into the financial matters of the Mormon Church “revealed more than $1 billion raised by the Mormon Church in Canada has been funnelled to the US rather than going to charitable works in this country. What exactly are Canadian taxpayers supporting?”Mormon viewers complained the broadcast was “inflammatory” and “very biased.”“Try and fix a clear hit piece on the Church,” wrote one complainant. “Your story is tantamount to hate speech.”“Members in Canada freely and of their own choice give money to the Church,” wrote another viewer. “How is that any different from Jehovah’s Witnesses, Catholics, Jews or Muslims who give money to their religions? Where is the Fifth Estate news piece on other churches that do the same thing?”Census data show Canadian Mormons number 88,000. An 1887 settlement in Cardston, AB, is credited with constructing the first Church Temple outside the United States.Other religions groups enumerated in the census include 10.9 million Catholics, 1.8 million Muslims, 1.2 million United Church members, 1.1 million Anglicans, 828,000 Hindus, 772,000 Sikhs, 623,000 Orthodox Christians, 437,000 Baptists, 399,000 Pentecostal Christians, 357,000 Buddhists, 335,000 Jews, 328,000 Lutherans, 301,000 Presbyterians, 137,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses and 101,000 Methodists.
