The president and CEO of CBC and Radio-Canada, Marie-Philippe Bouchard, stated that a full investigation into allegations of antisemitism within the organization is unnecessary. Bouchard made her comments during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in Ottawa on Monday. She has held her position since January.

During the meeting, Bouchard faced questions from Members of Parliament, including Conservative MP Rachael Thomas. Thomas raised concerns about the CBC's reporting on antisemitism, particularly following the October 7, 2023, terror attack by Hamas in Israel, which resulted in over a thousand deaths and numerous hostages. Thomas criticized the CBC for using statistics from Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, as credible sources in its reporting.

"Statistics were often taken from Hamas itself, which is a terrorist entity, and used by the CBC as if it was from a government ministry itself," Thomas said. She pointed out that many CBC articles report the death toll of Palestinians in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict based on figures from Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant casualties.

A recent CBC article cited numbers from the Gaza ministry regarding Palestinian deaths due to Israeli bombardments, which were prompted by attacks on Israeli soldiers. Thomas also referenced a past incident where CBC reported that Israel was responsible for a hospital bombing in Gaza, which was later attributed to a misfired Hamas rocket.

"By that point, you can imagine the hatred and the outrage that had already been targeted toward a vulnerable population that exists here in Canada, of course the Jewish community," Thomas said. She pressed Bouchard on what actions the CBC is taking to address antisemitic rhetoric in its reporting.

Bouchard responded that the CBC has a process for addressing inaccuracies in reporting, overseen by the ombudsman. "This is how we get better. If there are mistakes being made, then there is full transparency on that," she said. However, Thomas argued that the situation is not improving and cited a recent incident involving a Radio-Canada journalist who made antisemitic remarks on-air.

Elisa Serret, a Washington correspondent for Radio-Canada, stated during a political show that "the Israelis, the Jews, that finance American politics a lot" and made other comments linking Jews to control over major cities and Hollywood. Bouchard condemned these remarks as "unacceptable, hurtful, and contrary to our journalistic standards and practices," and noted that apologies were issued to both employees and viewers.

Despite the backlash, Bouchard maintained that the CBC is committed to its journalistic processes and does not need to halt operations for a comprehensive investigation. "What I’m saying is journalism is a continuous process of questions, of revisiting, of challenging. This is how we live. This is what we do. So we don’t have to stop everything to do a full investigation," she explained.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, a Canadian Jewish advocacy group, expressed disappointment in Bouchard's refusal to commit to a thorough investigation. They stated, "At a time of rising hate, Canadians deserve accountability through an investigation into systemic racism and bias at the national public broadcaster."

Bouchard was also questioned about the CBC's hiring practices, particularly regarding the employment of temporary foreign workers. Thomas noted that since 2015, 20 temporary foreign workers had been hired for high-wage positions in Ontario. Bouchard responded that, to her knowledge, there are currently no temporary foreign workers employed by the CBC.