Statement on CBC’s Refusal to Call 9/11 a Terrorist Attack

Ottawa, ON - Today, Rachael Thomas, Conservative Shadow Minister for Canadian Identity and Culture, released the following statement on the report that CBC journalists were instructed not to refer to the events of September 11, 2001 as terrorist attacks:

"9/11 was a terrorist attack, plain and simple. Thousands of innocent people, including 24 Canadians, were killed by al-Qaeda that day: a listed terrorist entity under the Criminal Code and led by the murderous terrorist, Osama bin Laden.

"According to reports, CBC's Senior Director of Journalistic Standards and Public Trust instructed journalists not to refer to the events of September 11, 2001 attacks as terrorist attacks.

"If true, such a directive diminishes the reality of what actually occurred and is an insult to the victims, their families and everyone who lived through the horror of that day.

"Canadians in Gander stepped up and welcomed nearly 7,000 passengers and crew stranded due to closed U.S. air space.

"In the aftermath, more than 40,000 Canadians served in Afghanistan in a war launched to dislodge and dismantle al-Qaeda. One hundred and fifty-eight members of the Canadian Armed Forces and seven Canadian civilians lost their lives during Canada's mission.

"The person responsible for this directive receives a paycheque funded by the very taxpayers who experienced the pain and loss of the devastating 9/11 attacks and the War in Afghanistan that followed. This person should be fired, and CBC leadership must immediately issue a clear apology.

"Canadians deserve a public broadcaster that tells the truth: that terrorists attacked and murdered thousands of innocent people on 9/11 and they should have no difficulty saying so."