CBC producers helped “carefully craft” questions posed by voters to then-Opposition leader Erin O’Toole in an election campaign broadcast, an Ombudsman’s report said yesterday..“They worked with each of the four participants to make sure their questions were focused and phrased effectively,” wrote Ombudsman Jack Nagler..According to Blacklock's Reporter, the report followed a complaint from one questioner selected to appear in a September 13 news segment called Face To Face, in which O’Toole answered undecided voters..“That is our goal here at CBC, that voters get a voice,” host Rosemary Barton told viewers..“Producers were conscious that Face To Face was intended to be a public service program aimed at helping viewers understand what the party leaders stood for,” wrote Nagler..“Given their experience, they know that questions to politicians need to be carefully crafted to elicit substantive answers, so they worked with each of the four participants to make sure their questions were focused.”.The comment came in reply to a complaint from Taylor Lakhryst, a Winnipeg data analyst permitted to question the Conservative leader on the air. Lakhryst said producers rewrote her questions..“You described the phrasing of your question as ‘negotiated’ with producers who seemed leery that you would use inappropriate language,” wrote Ombudsman Nagler. “You were unhappy with the way your conversation with Mr. O’Toole was edited.”.“I cannot begrudge you at all for finding those discussions frustrating, but nor can I chastise CBC for taking these actions,” said Nagler. “They are meant to create a program that is smoother and clearer for the audience and I see the producers’ conduct here as responsible behaviour.”.“You agreed to this in order to take part of the program,” wrote Nagler, adding, “there was no violation of journalistic standards on the part of the program.”.The scripting of questions followed distribution of a CBC memo in which senior management questioned O’Toole’s impact on the Crown broadcaster. Managers within minutes of O’Toole’s Aug. 24, 2020 election as Conservative Party leader circulated a censored email headlined: “What this means for us.”.O’Toole was the first Opposition leader to commit to cutting the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s $1.3 billion annual parliamentary grant. “The CBC is out of control and in need of reform,” O’Toole said Feb. 21, 2020. “I’ll slash funding for English TV and CBC News Network and end funding for digital news.”.“Our public broadcaster is stuck in the past,” O’Toole said Feb. 14, 2020. “We will end funding for CBC digital and we will cut the CBC English TV budget by 50%. Our plan will phase out TV advertising with a goal to fully privatize CBC English TV by the end of our mandate.”
