Photo: Twitter Lisa LaFlamme, former head of CTV National News; Ontario MP Pierre Poilievre says this month’s firing of Lisa LaFlamme as chief anchor of CTV National News comes as no surprise, given what he describes as a history of interference in the newsroom by the agency’s parent company. LaFlamme said in an Aug. 15 video posted on Twitter that she was “blindsided” when Bell Media Inc. her contract expired after three decades. The Globe and Mail later reported that she had fallen out with CTV News executive Michael Melling and questioned who approved her decision to gray her hair after she stopped dyeing it. After a backlash from the public, it was revealed late last week that Melling had taken a leave of absence. “I was a big critic of Bell Canada [BCE Inc.] for a long time,” Poilievre told Glacier Media on Monday, referring to the telecommunications company that owns CTV through its Bell Media subsidiary. “Bell Media was very hard on the Conservatives because we were promoting competition in the telecoms sector. We wanted to have more competition so that Canadians would have lower prices and higher quality customer service, and therefore CTV and other stores [have been] very hostile to the Conservatives.” In 2015 Kevin Krull, then president of Bell Media, apologized after it was revealed that he ordered reporters at CTV News not to provide airtime to the chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Communications Commission (CRTC). The CRTC had just announced that it would require cable companies to offer TV selection and playback services, a decision that would impact Bell Media’s revenue. Krull left Bell Media soon after his apology. “So now we’re hearing more stories of interference with news content from Bell Canada,” said Poilievre, a federal Conservative leadership candidate. “It’s disappointing but not surprising.” He said LaFlamme’s firing is another reason why Canadians are looking for news sources beyond the traditional media outlets based in Ottawa and Toronto.
