SQLFusion - Cornwall Inquiry Director of Communications Marie Josee Lapointe once worked as Deputy Press Secretary to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney

Mulroney snub irks local CBC

Halifax Daily News

01 October 1992

Ian Johnston

Nova Scotian TV viewers might have been surprised Tuesday to find Prime Minister Brian Mulroney interviewed on both ATV's Live at Five and MITV's Graham Report, but not on CBC-TV's First Edition.

A logical deduction would be Mulroney's well-known dislike of the CBC was behind the snub. But there was more to it than that.

MITV news assignment editor Andy Patterson said yesterday his station was able to nab an interview through perseverance and connections. He says the prime minister usually allows only one TV interview during visits to Canadian cities.

"ATV had the interview, but we pursued it, and pulled out all the stops, and one (factor), quite frankly, is (MITV news director) John O'Brien, who knows a lot of people in Ottawa and the Prime Minister's Office."

O'Brien was press secretary to then-premier John Buchanan from 1981 to 1990. O'Brien became MITV news director in August.

O'Brien was on holiday yesterday and unavailable for comment. CBC officials, meanwhile, were displeased.

"We faxed a request for an interview (with the PM) last Thursday," said Geoff D'Eon, executive producer of First Edition.

"We heard Monday night that we'd got a no. I talked to the (prime minister's) deputy press secretary and press secretary Mark Entwistle, and he said they get hundreds of requests and they can't do everybody."

D'Eon wasn't sure why the CBC was turned down, but suggested it was a curious omission.

"I put to them the rationale of talking to MITV and an audience of 10,000, and talking to CBC and 75,000 on the people's network. But he repeated several times 'we can't do them all.'

"I'm unhappy with it. I think the prime minister's getting bad advice."

Marie Josee Lapointe, deputy press secretary to the Prime Minister, yesterday said the prime minister does not always do one interview per city. And she said wasn't sure why CBC was turned down.

Lapointe said the Prime Minister's Office received CBC's request on Friday, and "just couldn't accommodate it. Other requests had come in earlier. We try and accommodate everyone, but there are just 24 hours in the day." Lapointe says a number of factors are weighed in when deciding who gets an interview and who doesn't.

"It can depend on whether they've done interviews before, or whether they have been waiting for an interview for a long time. We try to do as many as we can. Some people are unhappy when they're not picked."

Mark Campbell, senior producer at ATV, said his station was told by the PMO it was first to request an interview with the prime minister last week.

"I've never known the PMO to discriminate one station over another. Our station may have been more potentially more attractive to them because of its large (potential audience) reach."

A clip from ATV's interview with the prime minister was rerun on CBC's The National after it was broadcast on ATV. The clip aired with the on-screen notation "courtesy ATV."