So CBC covered up the Kokanee Grope for Trudeau, who else?

July 3, 2018 Brian Lilley Canadian Politics 1

CBC admitted in their own coverage that they knew of the Kokanee Grope story but didn’t do anything on it. In fact, CBC admits they spoke to the woman behind the allegation by phone and email and still did nothing with the story.

Did other media outlets on Parliament Hill do the same?

In case you missed it over Canada Day weekend, Prime Minister Justin had to finally answer a question, a single question, on the groping allegation from 2000. As I suspected, it wasn’t a national reporter on the Hill, it was a local reporter, the kind Trudeau would have been more forward with, that asked the question.

Here is a video of the scrum, shot by a radio reporter trying mostly to get the audio for her station but also getting Trudeau onto social media.


Note Trudeau’s words carefully. He doesn’t say he has fuzzy memories of that day. In fact, he says he remembers it well.

“I remember that day in Creston well. It was an Avalanche Foundation event to support avalanche safety. I had a good day that day. I don’t remember any negative interactions that day at all,” Trudeau said.

He then avoided a follow-up question, answered the same question in French and then moved on.

Don’t blame the reporters here, even for people seasoned in questioning the PM, it can be tricky. So kudos for whoever asked the question, you have more guts than anyone on the Hill.

Listen to Trudeau’s words.

Before I go on to explain how CBC covered up, look again at Trudeau’s words. He remembers it well. He had a good day. He doesn’t remember any negative interactions.

It is all about him and not the woman who came forward at the time to talk about groping and quoted Trudeau as saying, “If I had known you were reporting for a national paper, I never would have been so forward.”

He had a good day, she did not.

CBC it turns out knew about this story months ago and did nothing with it.

Earlier this year, CBC News spoke by phone and emailed with the woman who was the subject of the editorial. She said she was not interested in being associated with any further coverage of the story. She also asked that her name not be used and that she not be contacted about the story again.

So with that, CBC did what with the story?

From what I can tell…..nothing.

Perhaps CBC knew about this before Chris Hall conducted this interview.

If so, why didn’t Hall bring it up?

What I believe Hall was getting as was the flurry of speculation about affidavits floating around Parliament Hill news bureaus that claimed to show a powerful Liberal was about hit with a #MeToo moment.

Yet even granting Hall the benefit of the doubt on that, once this editorial came forward, why not bring back these clips from Trudeau saying women must be listened to and believed. That it doesn’t matter how old the allegations are. That even he must be held to the same standard that he has set for his own MPs.

CBC had this information and sat on it.

They didn’t think that you, the public, deserved to know. Is that their decision to make? They would think so. I really do wonder who else knew as much as CBC and decided to do the same?

Given that this story broke on June 6th but took three weeks to break into a mainstream publication outside of the Sun or talk radio…..forgive me for thinking that others knew.

And forgive me for thinking they know of other stories and are sitting on them as well.

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