By Peter J. Smith
OTTAWA, October 29, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Federal broadcasting regulators have blamed the state-funded Canadian Broadcasting Commission (CBC) for airing pornography during a prime-time program on its French television network.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) reprimanded the CBC on Tuesday for broadcasting on April 26 the French program “Fric Show” at 7:30 PM, despite the particular episode’s focus on pornography-related issues, at a time when children could be exposed to its content.
According to the Canadian Press, the CRTC found the episode’s scenes of “women nude in front and back” and “explicit sexual intercourse” justified the complaints of parents that the CBC had in fact aired pornography during prime-time and far before the “watershed hour” of 9PM, when government regulators agree to turn a blind eye toward programmed indecency.
The CBC had responded by saying they had issued warnings three times during “Fric Show’s” broadcast, but the CRTC insisted that the CBC action “does not excuse the damage that may be caused by the broadcast” and warned that the CBC must abide by regulations which restrict obscene material to the hours of 9PM to 6AM.
One viewer had demanded the CRTC investigate the program, asking for “a bit of respect for the children,” who usually are not asleep at that hour.
While the CRTC has not issued any sanctions upon the CBC, it has informed the public-broadcaster that it will bring up the matter at the moment the CBC applies to renew its broadcasting licence. However, the network’s tolerance for prime time porn may finally provide an impetus for the Conservative government to deprive the CBC of its government funding and force it to compete with other broadcasters for Canadians attention.
In the past, the CBC has offended Christian groups, especially Catholics, with shows like “The Altar Boy Gang” featuring a group of Montreal altar servers who use their role in the parish to cover up their involvement in the drug trade and abuse Holy Communion as snack food and poker chips (https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07051601.html) or its 2000 production of “Our Daily Bread”, which depicted a woman feeding Holy Communion to a dog. However, it has shown deference to Islamic groups over programs such as “Little Mosque on the Prairie.”
Last year the CBC also re-ran a program segment covering a Toronto-based dating agency specializing in “hooking up” people who are already married or in “committed relationships,” for extra-marital sex on Valentine’s Day, originally a Christian feast day celebrating marital fidelity (https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/feb/06021708.html).
See related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:
CBC TV Offends Catholics with Show Mocking Sacraments in “The Altar Boy Gang”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07051601.html
Adultery Agency gets Regular Coverage from CBC on St. Valentine’s Day https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/feb/06021708.html
CBC Continues to Bash Christianity with “Gag” Portraying Nun and Priest Necking
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/feb/04021602.html
CANADIAN ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA RIDICULE CHRISTIANITY https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/may/00050301.html