The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation failed its bid to gag reporters from covering a misconduct case involving a CBC director in Quebec.
Despite advocating for open courts and historically litigating to uphold and clarify the press’s right to transparency in court proceedings, the CBC attempted and failed to apply a publication ban on a workplace harassment case involving one of its executives.
Quebec’s Superior Court ruled that the CBC’s French broadcaster failed to provide evidence, beyond abstract declarations, that a publication ban was necessary for public interest on Wednesday.
After an independent investigation concluded that a CBC director engaged in harassment, the public broadcaster attempted to appeal a decision from the grievance arbiter not to apply a gag order on the case.
According to the Quebec Superior Court decision, Radio-Canada claimed the gag orders were necessary to “protect witnesses, their privacy and their professional reputation, encourage reporting, ensure the integrity of workplace harassment prevention mechanisms and implement the confidentiality guarantees given by Radio-Canada to participants in the investigation.”
The court found that the arbitrator, Andre Lavoie, “rightly refused” and Radio-Canada’s August 31, 2023, appeal of his decision “will be dismissed.”
“(Radio-Canada’s) argument overlooks a crucial element: it presented no evidence of a serious risk to an important public interest that could have justified the orders sought,” the Superior Court determined. “Therefore, the arbitrator did not render an unreasonable decision or provide unreasonable reasons in dismissing the application for lack of evidence.”
The court upheld the right to publicity over the right to privacy, as requested by Radio-Canada, in the judicial proceedings.
Not only has the CBC advocated for open courts, but it has also presented and won legal proceedings, such as CBC v New Brunswick (Attorney General) in 1996, which upheld and clarified the public and press’s right to transparency in court proceedings.
Marc Pichette, a spokesman for the CBC, told True North that it won’t comment on the matter as it is an ongoing case.
“This is a preliminary matter that was raised before the grievance arbitrator and later brought before the Superior Court due to recent amendments to the Canadian Code regarding workplace harassment,” Pichette said in an email. “As the case is still ongoing, we will not be commenting further.”
Devin Drover, a taxpayer advocate with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, blasted the CBC online, saying the tax-funded institution was trying to “once again” hide its dealings from taxpayers by preventing rival journalists from reporting.
“Thankfully, the Quebec Superior Court said ‘No way.’ The judge ruled that there is always a presumption for open courts. Potential embarrassment by the CBC isn’t a reason for secrecy or to move away from this presumption,” Drover said in a video on X. “It’s a stunning case of hypocrisy from the tax-funded broadcaster that’s always demanding transparency from everyone else.”