Mr. Speaker, last Wednesday, at a conference in Montreal, the president of CanWest Global, Izzy Asper, addressed a private meeting of 400 where no journalists were admitted, except for the one from The Gazette , which is owned by Izzy Asper.
The president of CanWest Global attacked universities and the media in general, accusing them of spreading anti-Semitic messages, calling them lazy, stupid and ignorant of history, insinuating that only he is right and everyone else is wrong.
Why did the Minister of Canadian Heritage not challenge the inaccurate and contemptuous remarks made by Izzy Asper?
The president of the Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec quite rightly took strong issue with Izzy Asper's remarks, his slanderous criticism of the media and the fact that he used one of his journalists to spread his message throughout the country.
This confirms our fears of seeing a handful of owners use the media to push their own ideas.