The Media Accountability Project  

Correction needed to include Wesam Nofal's testimony about the special immigration application

"By not giving space to her whole testimony and giving voice to Immigration Minister Marc Miller, you quote saying: “Officials on the ground need to know who is exiting into Egypt and have sufficient assurances that there are not bad apples getting through,” it unfairly and inaccurately depicts Palestinians and the challenges they face here and abroad."

January 17, 2024

To:

Brodie Fenlon, General Manager & Editor in Chief, CBC

Nancy Waugh, Sr. Manager, CBC

Dear Brodie Fenlon and Nancy Waugh,

I am writing to express my appreciation for the article: “As Londoners try to get family members out of Gaza, immigration minister responds to concerns,” published on January 16 on CBC.

I appreciated that CBC published an article about the application process for the special immigration program that could grant Palestinian relatives temporary residency in Canada.  

I especially appreciated that you gave voice to Wesa Nofal and Reem Sultan to illustrate how the instructions are unclear and the questions are “intrusive.”

However, your article doesn’t accurately depict the information that form requests from Palestinians.

The form also asks for all previous phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and links to all social media accounts.

This is information that Wesa Nofal gives in her interview, which happened on the same episode of CBC’s London Morning with Andrew Brown’s interview with Immigration Minister Marc Miller that you link.

It would have been more appropriate to add more of her testimony and a link to her interview segment as well. It would have given a more accurate and balanced picture of the application process.

By not giving space to her whole testimony and giving voice to Immigration Minister Marc Miller, you quote saying: “Officials on the ground need to know who is exiting into Egypt and have sufficient assurances that there are not bad apples getting through,” it unfairly and inaccurately depicts Palestinians and the challenges they face here and abroad.

I, therefore, ask you to add more of Wesa Nofal's testimony and a link to her interview segment on London Morning with Andrew Brown to make your article more complete and balanced.

I hope CBC will continue to give voice and space to Palestinians and their reality in future reporting.

Sincerely,

Fatima Haidar,

Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

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