I am going to move a motion at this point in time, Chair.
I believe it's a topic that is very important and relevant not only to the conversation here today but also to the larger national scene. It is a motion that is currently on notice, so there should be no problem with moving it. The motion I wish to move has to do with the CBC and a show that was created called Northland Tales.
I will read the motion into the record and then explain why it is so important.
I move the following motion, which states:
Given that,
the CBC and Northland Tales lured retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers under false pretences into participating in a cruel and humiliating “prank,” in which they were instructed to wear their uniforms, brought onto a stage before a live audience, and subsequently subjected to ridicule and public vilification;
The committee undertake an investigation into this incident and invite the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, the chief executive officer of CBC/Radio-Canada, the chief executive officer of APTN, and the producers of Northland Tales to testify for no less than two hours each and report to the House both its condemnation of these practices as well as its findings and recommendations upon the conclusion of the committee’s investigation.
Madam Chair, by way of background, the reason I am moving this motion today to investigate the conduct of the CBC is that it has been widely reported and verified that the CBC and APTN put together this production called Northland Tales, which tried to lure in an MP and has lured in academics and RCMP veterans, some in their seventies and eighties. They did it to humiliate them, to demonize Sir John A. Macdonald—the first prime minister of this country—and to blame veterans for residential schools. They did this under false pretenses, making various promises to these individuals.
Let me read something into the record.
Organizers asked officers to wear their RCMP red serge uniforms. They were invited to film a show called “Life After Service” or “After the Call”. They were told that there would be a ceremony to honour their service at a Vancouver CBC studio. All this was a lie to simply lure in these individuals, then shame and embarrass them. Officers had their phones taken away. They were placed in front of a fake audience. A fake video of King Charles was played, “claiming that Canada was dissolving the RCMP in order to account for all the wrongs the force had committed against First Nations people”—again, a blatant lie. Following this, “A First Nation chief then came on stage and spoke to how...the RCMP were responsible for the plight of Indigenous people.” A person even pretended to be Prince William and gave a speech. Retired officers were then followed offstage with cameras in their faces, and there was a refusal to turn those cameras off. It was incredibly humiliating. It's a great example of breaking trust.
This is the problem we see with the CBC, over and over again. We see that trust for this institution is diminishing, and it's because of things like this—among others, of course. It's not only about the breaking of trust but also about the fact that $1.6 billion is given to the CBC on an annual basis to produce content that Canadians should be able to trust and, in some cases on the entertainment side, enjoy. Trust must never be sacrificed. In this case, it was. These individuals were brought in under a lie, put on a stage and humiliated. They were ridiculed. These are RCMP veterans who have served this country faithfully and who had taken an oath to serve and protect the Canadian public.
Given that the CBC is under the auspices of this committee, it is incumbent upon us as members of Parliament to hold it to account. Why would it think it appropriate to take taxpayers' money and use it in this way? Why would it think it appropriate to lie to individuals in order to lure them onto a stage, so it could then ridicule them, humiliate them and berate them in order to produce a show that it felt had entertainment value?
It is a very sad day if that represents the best of media in Canada. It's a very sad day if we have an organization, a corporation and an entity that claims that this is a wise use of public dollars.
I would hope that my colleagues around this table would agree with me that this type of conduct should never transpire. Furthermore, taxpayers should never be put on the hook for such conduct, so I would ask that this situation be further investigated. We should take the opportunity to learn from the CEOs of the CBC and APTN. We should take the opportunity to hear from the minister with regard to what happened and to discern the best way to move forward.
There are several calls for action. On May 20, the National Police Federation sent a letter to the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture—the minister, of course, for this committee—asking for a full investigation into the CBC and APTN production. On May 21, the Royal Canadian Legion backed up the National Police Federation's request, asking for the same. On May 22, the National Post reached out to the heritage committee, this committee, asking if we would have an investigation into Northland Tales. This was a piece of correspondence that was shared with all of us and that asked for this investigation.
It would seem to be not only in the interest of those who were lured in and taken advantage of but also in the best interest of the Canadian public, given that public dollars are being used.
I would ask the members of this committee to vote in favour of this motion and to allow the sunshine in, for there to be transparency and accountability with regard to what happened.
Thank you.