The main focus of the subamendment brought forward to this committee that we are currently considering is on Ms. Catherine Tait, the head of the CBC, appearing at this committee for two hours.
The reason this is important is that Ms. Catherine Tait, who is the focus of the subamendment before this committee, is the head or chief of this broadcasting organization, which is fully funded by the Canadian public to the tune of more than $1.4 billion annually. It is appropriate, then, for Ms. Catherine Tait to come and answer questions that members of this committee might have with regard to her conduct, the decisions she has made and the decisions those under her watch have also made.
The purpose of the subamendment brought forward is for her to come for those two hours. We would then have an opportunity to gain clarity or understanding as to what her intentions are with the public broadcaster. More specifically, you'll recall that the purpose would be to ask Ms. Catherine Tait—the focus of this subamendment—questions with regard to her decisions pertaining to coverage around the conflict currently taking place in Gaza. That is the purpose of this subamendment.
The reason this subamendment is so crucial is that Ms. Tait wrote an article for the Toronto Star that was published on October 18. In it, she calls for trust in media to be restored. She says that the best way to do this is by being “fact-based”. She uses that term over and over again in this article.
My question for Ms. Tait would be this: What about the facts her bureau decided to redraft or the facts her bureau omitted altogether? What about the fact that hundreds of Israelis were attacked and slaughtered in the night? What about the fact that women were raped, murdered and paraded through the streets? What about the fact that 40 babies had their heads cut off? What about those facts? What about the fact that the hospital bombing wasn't actually a hospital, but a parking lot? What about the fact that it wasn't an Israeli air strike, as the CBC reported, but actually a missile from Jihad? What about the fact that Hamas is a terrorist organization and has been listed as such since 2002 by the Government of Canada?
These are the facts the CBC has the responsibility to put out to the public, but these are the facts it has determined to omit or rewrite. Therefore it is absolutely incumbent upon this committee to hear from Ms. Tait. The reason this is important is that she is the lead of this organization, and therefore responsible for the decisions they have made and the so-called journalistic standards—