CBC Radio spent more than $160,000 on lawyer fees to fight a CRTC decision about using the n-word, based on records from Access to Information. .They won their case about free speech on June 8 in federal court..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, documents reveal the challenge cost taxpayers $161,691. .CBC Radio used lawyers from the Montreal firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. They did not say how much they paid the lawyers per hour..The 2022 CRTC ruling followed listener complaints over a French-language radio program Le 15-18 broadcast. A guest and host discussed the 1968 memoirs of FLQ bomber Pierre Vallières, Negres Blances d’Amerique (White N—rs Of North America)..Vallières said Francophones are similar to African slaves in the US South..“To be a n—r in America is to be not a man but someone’s slave,” he wrote..The CBC Radio show said the n-word four times in a six-minute broadcast. The CRTC decided that repeating the word like that was unnecessary and offensive..“It is clearly offensive,” the Commission wrote in its Broadcasting Decision 2022-175. .“This does not meet the high programming standard set out in the Broadcasting Act.”.“The rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and the wave of global protests following the death of George Floyd in May 2020 represent an axis of societal change that propelled public reflection on issues related to racism and systemic racism,” wrote the CRTC..“Use of the term has evolved in both French and English-language contexts and the Commission must take this into account in its analysis of the complaint. In light of these social changes, the Commission considers that the social responsibilities of broadcasters surrounding the use of the n-word have increased. Broadcasters need to take a more sensitive look at the use of language.”.Radio-Canada was ordered to formally apologize to listeners and draft a policy on correct language by Sept. 27, 2022. CBC managers, including a French-language ombudsman, had dismissed complaints in the case.. CBC Radio spent $161,000 .CBC’s lawyers successfully challenged the order at the Federal Court of Appeal. .“Rules of conduct require broadcasters to be vigilant and sensitive with respect to the language and expressions used on the air to refer to individuals or groups based on, among other things, race,” wrote Justice Marc Noël. .But he also said that the CRTC decision went too far..“The CRTC overstepped its jurisdiction by sanctioning CBC Radio on the sole basis the content broadcast on the air was, in its opinion, inconsistent with Canadian broadcasting policy,” wrote Justice Noël..The CRTC order “makes no mention of CBC Radio’s freedom of expression,” wrote Justice Noël. .“Its structure revolves exclusively around the issue as to whether the broadcast of the n-word on the air is consistent with Canadian broadcasting policy.”
