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«« Normand Lester
Graeme Hamilton
MONTREAL - Prominent Quebec nationalists have leaped to the defence of a Radio-Canada reporter suspended this week for publishing a book accusing English Canadian leaders of pursuing a "campaign of hate" against Quebec.
The Société-Saint-Jean-Baptiste hurriedly named Normand Lester winner of its $3,000 Prix Olivar-Asselin for journalism yesterday, praising "his courage and his excellent investigative journalism."
In the House of Commons, Gilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Québécois, said Mr. Lester was being punished for presenting a view of Canadian history that diverged from the government's official version.
Mr. Duceppe, who later acknowledged that he has not read Mr. Lester's book, called on Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister, to denounce the act of "censorship."
The Prime Minister replied that he would not involve himself in an internal CBC decision.
Even Stockwell Day, leader of the Canadian Alliance, accused the Liberals of gagging the reporter because they did not agree with his ideas. He told reporters that Mr. Chrétien should intervene to overturn the suspension.
Marc Sévigny, general manager of communications for Radio-Canada television, denied there was any political interference in the decision to suspend Mr. Lester with pay pending a disciplinary hearing.
Mr. Sévigny said that with the publication last week of Le livre noir du Canada anglais (The Black Book of English Canada), Mr. Lester crossed the line of acceptable behaviour for Radio-Canada journalists.
"The code of conduct specifies that they cannot take a public stand on controversial subjects, and obviously publishing a book which is called The Black Book of English Canada is already a statement," Mr. Sévigny said.
He said the book undermines the network's reputation for impartial journalism.
Robin Philpot, spokesman for the nationalist Société-Saint-Jean-Baptiste, said the organization's board of directors held a special meeting on Monday night after learning of Mr. Lester's suspension and decided to honour him.
Past winners of the Prix Olivar-Asselin, which was last awarded in 1996, include some of the biggest names in the history of Quebec journalism, such as René Lévesque and Lysiane Gagnon.
Mr. Lester, who has been with Radio-Canada 35 years, calls his book a response to the "propaganda" of the federally subsidiéed Heritage Minutes television spots and to the "systematic denigration" of Quebec by the English Canadian media.
The book depicts history as a series of infamies committed by English Canada, ranging from "the attempted genocide" of the Acadians to the Canadian government's internment of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War.
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