CBC's Coverage of Latimer's Proposed Appeal is Lopsided

Convicted murderer Robert Latimer recently announced that he plans to appeal to the new Conservative government to revisit his conviction. Latimer killed his 12-year-old daughter, Tracy, who had cerebral palsy, in 1993. An interview with Latimer was broadcast on CBC’s The National on March 1, and the disability community reacted swiftly to CBC’s lopsided coverage of the issue.

“I can think of no other instance in which a convicted child murderer has been presented in as warm and sympathetic a light,” said Raymond Cohen, president of the Canadian Abilities Foundation. “Not only was any view from the disability community completely absent, but the very choice of words used to characterize Tracy seemed designed to misinform and further fractionalize the national population. It would have been so much less destructive, even useful, had the report referred to Tracy as a young girl with a disability who had cerebral palsy and used a wheelchair instead of characterizing her, once again, as a disabled girl who suffered from cerebral palsy and was confined to a wheelchair. This, at least, would have served to present people with disabilities in a more appropriate light.”

In a statement released the day after the interview, Zuhy Sayeed, president of the Canadian Association for Community Living, said, “This unbalanced coverage has raised significant concerns for the disability community. Last night’s broadcast reinforces this imbalance. The viewing audience was left with the perception that this was about Robert – not about Tracy.” The CACL has filed a formal complaint with the CBC ombudsman.