Information & Ethics Committee on Oct. 10th, 2024

[Richard Gray]

No. Actually, those two individuals would have been constructing a story in what I'm going to call our more traditional format. It is of the style that we continue to apply to our teams in Toronto and Ottawa, largely because of the nature of the jobs they do. They cover stories in more depth and detail. They are often involved in media scrums where there are multiple interviewers. There is more likelihood that the stories covered in Toronto and Ottawa could potentially involve hundreds of people, live and on location.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

I want to get to the heart of the matter.

I know you are in a very fast-paced environment. Certainly, journalists are in a fast-paced environment. Was it the case, through your dismissal process...?

I want to mention to you that being at committee covers you. You have the privilege to speak without it being held against you in civil proceedings. Perhaps you could talk about this: Is it the case that these people were just racing and cutting corners, perhaps, to meet a deadline? Were they under pressure?

I'm still concerned about the points my friend from the Bloc brought up about the motive. I'll tell you, sir, on the face of it, even though this impacted the Conservative Party—with which I have no ideological alignment—it is still very concerning, as it undermines our faith not just in media but also in our democracy.

Can you help us understand? In your exit interviews, what was the motive, specifically?

[Richard Gray]

The motives were different in each case.

In the first case, the clip was altered to take out the reference to the carbon tax, with the explanation given that the story was being reduced in length for time. There was no specific ask of that reporter to alter their story for time. It was explained to us that the reporter believed it was understood that the clip's nature was about a “carbon tax election”.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

With 15 seconds left, can you summarize the other side of it?

[Richard Gray]

Yes. There was a technical error in our original recording that prevented the video from being presented as it was. The editor took the step to manipulate the audio so the video could cover it.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

How long had those two been working? Were they experienced?

[Richard Gray]

They were both highly experienced.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

I echo the concern of my Conservative counterpart. If this was something they felt comfortable doing in this instance, what is to say they hadn't done it in other instances?

[Richard Gray]

As I've said a couple of times, this is the first time I have ever seen anything like this occur in a newsroom in my 33 years' experience working with television news.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

How would they know to—

[The Chair, Conservative, John Brassard]

I'm so sorry. You know we're over time, Mr. Green.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Yes. I appreciate it. Thank you. I was just pressing my luck.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Brassard]

That concludes our first round.

I did allow extra time in that first round given the fact that we have one witness here. I'm going to try to keep it a little bit tighter in the second round.

I want to welcome Mr. Scheer to the committee.

Mr. Scheer, you have five minutes. Go ahead, sir.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I just have to go back to what you said. You said that the clip was altered. You showed Canadians something that never happened. You're telling me now that there was no intent to misinform Canadians and that the reason for that altering of a clip was because it had to be cut down for time.

The words that were cut out were “carbon tax election”. I just timed myself, and that took about 1.2 seconds. You're telling me that there was no intent to misinform Canadians, that they had to cut this down for length and that it would be understood that the quote from the Conservative leader was about a carbon tax election, even though you removed the words “carbon tax election”.

Can you understand how we're having a very difficult time accepting that?

[Richard Gray]

I want to be clear: What I indicated was the explanation offered by the individual involved. That was not my explanation as to what transpired.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Do you accept that, or do you believe it was deliberately done to mislead Canadians?

[Richard Gray]

I do not believe that it was deliberately done, but still—

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Do you accept the—

[Richard Gray]

—it was a violation of our editorial standards, so these two individuals are no longer part—

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Do you accept the explanation that was given to you?

[Richard Gray]

We have made a decision that, due to the violation of our editorial standards, these individuals are no longer part of CTV News.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

What do you believe the motive was?

[Richard Gray]

It is not for me to determine what the motive was.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Okay. All right.

CTV News is a division of Bell Canada. Is that correct?