Fox News could be banned from Canadian television after complaint by Trudeau-funded LGBTQ group

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has opened a public consultation after a Trudeau-funded LGBTQ+ rights group called for Fox News to be banned from Canadian cable packages reports the National Post

Egale Canada published an open letter on April 4 calling on the CRTC to hold a consultation on allowing Fox News to be broadcast in Canada, claiming that the “programming is in clear violation of Canadian broadcasting standards and has no place on Canadian broadcasting networks.”  

This complaint followed a segment in which Carlson named Egale and prominent Canadian trans activist Fae Johnstone while addressing the trans activist response to the Nashville shooting in which a trans-identified female killed three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school.

"Last week, Egale Canada and a prominent Canadian leader for trans rights and inclusion were featured on the infamously incendiary Tucker Carlson Tonight program on the American Fox News Channel. The coverage aimed to provoke hatred and violence against 2SLGBTQI communities, particularly those who are Two Spirit, trans, nonbinary and gender non-conforming (2STNBGN)," began the letter. 

Carlson called out Johnstone for tweeting about “trans-misogyny” shortly after the shooting, as well as Egale for putting out a statement the day after the tragedy that failed to mention the children and adults killed but instead claimed that there had been an “exponential rise in anti-trans violence."

Johnstone drew international criticism after being featured in Hershey Canada’s International Women’s Day campaign. Women all over the world objected to being represented by a male who has openly called for women Johnstone disagrees with to be “so vilified they don’t dare speak.” 

Johnstone recently stopped just short of openly calling for violence against Canadian women. After witnessing the scenes in New Zealand where Kellie-Jay Keen, a prominent women’s rights campaigner, was mobbed by a crowd of 2000 trans activists and left fearing for her life, Johnstone tweeted, “Hey Canada? Let’s bring this energy to anti-2SLGBTQIA+ protests.” The tweet has since been deleted. 

According to the National Post, concerned Canadians have until June 2 to submit comments through the CRTC website.

“Given the rising levels of anti-trans hate around the world and the potential for segments like the one recently aired on Fox News, there needs to be a serious Canadian conversation about the broadcasting of Fox News in Canada,” said the group.  

“The Television Broadcasting Regulations represent a democratic consensus on what we do and do not accept on our airwaves, and we have agreed that we do not tolerate abuse and misinformation. Fox News must be held to these same standards in Canadian broadcasting. We are calling on the CRTC to begin public consultations on the removal of Fox News from the List of non-Canadian programming authorized for distribution in Canada.”

However, since Egale’s open letter was published, Carlson and Fox News have parted ways.