If you or a family member is in the RCMP, you might want to share this story with them. Last week CBC smeared the reputation of the national police force unnecessarily. I’m not against critiquing the Mounties when warranted but last week’s CBC story was nothing but fake news.
You can read the full details here but to sum it up, CBC made two false claims about how the RCMP handled the arrest of Gerald Stanley. Stanley was arrested and charged with the murder of Coulten Boushie on August 9, 2016, the day Stanley shot Boushie.
Stanley has since been acquitted and the case has sparked lots of debate and lots of heated comments especially along racial lines, something this CBC story didn’t help.
CBC claimed that the RCMP arrested Stanley and then let him go home that night and come back the next day to make his statement. They also claimed the RCMP never seized Stanley’s clothing. Neither of those comments are true.
Yet CBC used those statements to build their report, including finding experts that said the Mounties were “sloppy” and “negligent.”
The full TV report ran for off the top of CBC’s The National and took up the first eight and a half minutes of the show. It also was the top story on CBC Radio’s the World at Six. It was repeated over and over again in follow-up stories for days along with calls to investigate the RCMP for their handling of the case.
Once CBC was proven wrong, again you can read more on that here, how did they respond?
Well they didn’t lead their newscasts with the fact that they were wrong. They didn’t have their experts back on to ask if the claims of “sloppy” and “negligent” still applied. They didn’t go back to the Boushie family or their lawyer Chris Murphy to ask if their comments implying racism by the Mounties still stood.
No, they gave a vague statement that lasted about 30 seconds and came at about 19 minutes past the top of the hour in the TV broadcast (it airs at about 16:44 in this online version.)
Here is the full text of the statement they read out.
A previous version of this story stated Gerald Stanley was released after his arrest — and a statement was not taken until the following day. We have since obtained new information showing that, while his statement was not taken until the day following his arrest, he was not released. We had also previously reported there was no indication his clothing was seized. The new information shows that it was. We contacted the RCMP prior to our reporting, but they declined to comment on these specific issues. We stand by the remainder of our reporting.
So they were wrong, they should have known better and to make up for their smear of the RCMP, CBC blames the Mounties for their own failings. The reason the Mounties said they would not comment is because the appeal period was still open and they could not comment in public until that period closed, which it did days later.
I could possibly understand that CBC made this mistake if they had assigned a local junior reporter to the story. That’s not the case here.
This was CBC’s senior reporter David Common assigned to do this as an “investigative piece.”
It looks like the only investigation they did was talk to the Boushie family and their lawyer and then run with false claims. Had they spoken to the Crown prosecutor or the defence lawyer then this would not have happened. All sides could have pointed to the agreed upon statement of facts that were presented to the court last December.
Instead CBC went with a story that fit their narrative that the Mounties gave Gerald Stanley special treatment because he was white and didn’t take the death of Coulten Boushie seriously because he was a young Indigenous man.
The facts don’t back up that narrative, even when CBC invents facts.
After the network spent days going over this story and pumping it up, I’d say they owe the Mounties more than a few half-hearted words late in the broadcast. They owe all Mounties a full apology.
All of the research on how badly CBC screwed up came from my friend John Gormley who hosts hos own radio show that airs across Saskatchewan. He joined me on Newstalk 580 CFRA the other night to detail what was so wrong.
You can watch the whole awful original story here
You are a disgrace a journalist and as a news agency. You are a reason why RACISM is a problem that it is. You one sided leftist views are bad enough but this last report was so inaccurate and offensive and just created more hate and division for facts that were never accurate. I don’t know how you can look at yourself and claim to search for the truth in news. Reports like this make the WORLD WEEKLY NEWS stories of Martians invading the world more credible then anything you report. TIME FOR A CHANGE!!!
Mark: Did you read the same story from Brian Lilley (above) as the rest of us read? I can’t seem to find a single truth in any of your statements and definitely none which apply to Mr. Lilley.
Or…could you have been referring to the CBC? If so, then your comment makes some sense.
So specifically what part of this article is incorrect or wrong or misleading? The argument of “everyone I disagree with is racist” doesn’t hold up to common sense.
This is the reason I never trusted CBC while serving with the RCMP and why I have not listened to them for years. I wish there was a way I could divert my tax dollars away from them. CBC should not be subsidized by tax payers. They were a vital service years ago particularly in the north. Now they are a disgrace.
I am a retired member of the RCMP and I know we can make mistakes but to do what CBC accused the members of doing was preposterous. However it did make headlines for CBC which is what they are all about. They also are very good at hiding retractions which is why I take CBC with a grain of salt. The reporter who filed this story probaly was not even admonished by CBC….probably got an “attaboy” for giving them a front page, lead story……..even though it was a crock.
Unbiased reporting at the CBC departed many years ago. They have become a one pony show. The number of broadcasts I listen to on the CBC have dwindled to about 2 to 3. 90% of the content now on CBC is about the same three topics over and over and over again.
Its either time for CBC to start telling the real story as a NORTHER CANADIAN I used to follow the radio and TV sorry no more matter a fact I have stopped watch and listening to your programing and in courage all Canadians to do the same. Tired of the one way story they are never impartial and they are creating a lot of racial conterversie in are country. Plain it simple we don t want or need the cbc disband it and save tax dollars to be better spent else where. Vets or the aboriginal communities would welcome into funding There is nothing Canadian the pm has stated that time and time again so why do we need the Cbc,
Cbc this was an embarrassment to our national police force and you owe them a sincere apology! How could a senior correspondent report innuendo and not facts?? Seriously CBC u dropped the ball here …this is more national enquirer than CBC
Step up and issue a real apology for your poor reporting 🙁
What’s the problem here ?? CBC just got on the racis gravy train !!! They wrote a story with a slant that most STUPID Canadians love to hear – I think I may be racist….. I think the beginnings of this story was a recipe for trouble, and the players got what ” might be expected ” for their behavior, regardless of color. The playing of the minority card has backfired….I now don’t believe a thing that comes out of their mouth, and I’m ashamed of all the stupid canadians that do believe, whether they’re minorities, or ISIS coming back to Canada. So ashamed to be included in a bunch of stupid stupid stupid people-
The CBCowes the RCMP a proper apology for their false comment with regards to their story on Gerald Stanley who shot and killed Coulton Boushie.. Facts are very important when you make derogatory statements like you did, a proper public apology is deserved by the Canadian RCMP