Radio-Canada admet son erreur

Radio-Canada Acknowledges its Mistake – Between November 14 and 23, 2017, Radio-Canada broadcast five reports on its Téléjournal Acadie program related to the issue of abuse committed by some priests in our diocese. The fact that these reports contained biased exaggerations is deeply troubling. For example, on November 14, Téléjournal falsely broadcast video clips of Father Jean-Guy Dallaire interspersed with photos of priests facing legal proceedings. To our astonishment, Radio-Canada repeatedly showed clips of Father Dallaire acting as presiding officer during a Eucharistic celebration, without providing any context or nuance. This constitutes a direct and serious attack on Father Jean-Guy's reputation, as there are no allegations or accusations against him. Following this series of reports, I submitted a written request for correction to Radio-Canada management. Here is the response sent to Father Jean-Guy Dallaire from Mr. Philippe Ricard, head of news at Radio-Canada Acadie: « We admit our mistake regarding the broadcast of these images. They should not have been included in the report and are misleading. We also issued a formal apology on the December 20, 2017 edition of Téléjournal Acadie. We sincerely apologize for any harm this broadcast may have caused you. ». As Archbishop of Moncton, I wish to reassure the faithful that there are no allegations or accusations against Father Jean-Guy Dallaire. We are immensely disappointed that Radio-Canada—in addressing such a serious subject—did not take the time or make the effort to ensure the accuracy of its reporting. I am, however, confident that in the future we can count on greater journalistic rigor and cooperation from Radio-Canada.