EDITORIAL: CBC turns Canada into a mockery

Such journalistic practices are cruel and puerile.

Published May 17, 2026  •  Last updated 23 minutes ago  •  2 minute read

CBC logo. Photo by Nick Brancaccio /Postmedia Network

Recent incidents in which a taxpayer-funded co-production between CBC and the Indigenous television station APTN targeted authors, historians and politicians with prank “interviews” are as disturbing as they are bizarre.

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A fake production company under the name Forge Media, hired by CBC, contacted several people who have questioned the cancel culture around Sir John A. Macdonald and claims of unmarked graves at residential schools.

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One of their victims, Lindsay Shepherd, author of a children’s book, A Day with Sir John A, says she was deceived by the company. They created false documents and persuaded her to fly to Vancouver for what turned out to be a fake interview, on the pretence that they were working to restore the reputation of Canada’s first prime minister. When she arrived at the interview, she realized it was an elaborate ruse to smear her and, as she said on X, “demonize” Macdonald.

Lethbridge MP Rachael Thomas, the Conservative critic for Canadian Identity and Culture, fired off a letter to CBC President Marie-Philippe Bouchard, demanding accountability for what she called a media “sting.”

“At a time when Canadians should be reflecting on and taking pride in our shared history, the CBC chose to mislead interviewees under false pretences in pursuit of a program aimed at discrediting a foundational figure in Canadian history, all while using taxpayer dollars.”

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Supporters of this tax-funded hoax say it’s just a Borat-style prank. That justifies nothing. Legitimate journalists never use deception to get a story.

In 2012, a nurse caring for Princess Catherine unwittingly divulged confidential information on a call with two Australian radio journalists posing as Queen Elizabeth II. The nurse committed suicide three days later, leaving a note directly referencing the call.

Such journalistic practices are cruel and puerile. It’s shocking that CBC would commission such a one-sided and untruthful view of Macdonald.

It’s bad enough that the historically illiterate have assumed control and rewritten our history. Now they seek to silence distinguished academics and historians whose lives have been dedicated to the study of our past.

At a time when Canada’s national identity has never been more important, our state broadcaster should be finding ways to unite and celebrate this great country, not mocking and sneering at it with elaborate pranks at our expense.

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