"The claim that Dr. Moss left Montreal due to rising antisemitism in the city contradicts a report published yesterday by Mr. Derfel on the same story. In yesterday’s article, Mr. Derfel stated that he reached Dr. Moss by phone, but that the surgeon declined to give an interview or to explain his reasons for leaving Montreal. The rest of Mr. Derfel's article relies almost entirely on anonymous sources allegedly close to Dr. Moss, and speculating that he may have left due to antisemitism."
To the Montreal Gazette editorial newsroom,
I am writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) to express my concern regarding the article “Second prominent heart surgeon joins exodus from Quebec,” published today June 3rd, 2026.
I take issue with this statement:
“Dr. Dimitri Kalavrouziotis has informed the Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec that he will be leaving for Halifax in August. Kalavrouziotis’s imminent departure comes after news on Tuesday that Dr. Emmanuel Moss, chief of cardiac surgery at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, will be moving to Atlanta in September, citing concerns with rising antisemitism in the city as well as a lack of resources in the medical system.”
The claim that Dr. Moss left Montreal due to rising antisemitism in the city contradicts a report published yesterday by Mr. Derfel on the same story.
In yesterday’s article, Mr. Derfel stated that he reached Dr. Moss by phone, but that the surgeon declined to give an interview or to explain his reasons for leaving Montreal. The rest of Mr. Derfel's article relies almost entirely on anonymous sources allegedly close to Dr. Moss, and speculating that he may have left due to antisemitism.
As my colleague Mr. Winch argued in his correspondence to your newsroom yesterday, per the guidelines on ethics outlined by the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), journalists must identify sources of information unless there is a clear and pressing reason to protect their identity, the material gained from the confidential source is of strong public interest, and there is no other reasonable way to obtain the information. If the reporter believes their source needs to be anonymized, then the outlet must explain the need for confidentiality.
The standards set by the CAJ also expect reporters who use unnamed sources to independently corroborate their assertions and identify the sources as accurately as possible by affiliation and status, in consultation with the sources. (For example, a “senior military source” must be both senior and in the military.) Any vested interest or potential bias on the part of a source should be revealed, while still protecting their identity.
Yesterday’s article does not meet that threshold. Mr. Derfel mentions that a key source "declined to have their name published so they could speak candidly about the issue." As outlined by the CAJ, “speaking candidly” is generally considered a weak or insufficient explanation for anonymity, as it does not demonstrate a "clear and pressing reason" (such as fear of retaliation, professional ruin, or physical harm). Mr. Derfel describes the anonymous sources vaguely as "sources close to Moss" and another simply as "a source." This description is vague or whether the sources have any personal, political, or institutional biases that might influence how they frame Dr. Moss's departure. Given that Dr. Moss’s departure was allegedly also related to the limited resources offered in Quebec, this is an important consideration.
As it stands, given the breaches of CAJ standards due to the use and framing of anonymous sources, Mr Derfel’s Tuesday’s article does not meet the threshold of serious journalism as it is almost entirely based on hearsay — a major breach of ethics in news reporting.
This reliance on hearsay therefore makes Mr. Derfel’s claim by Dr. Moss in his latest article inaccurate. Mr. Derfel has not gotten confirmation by Dr. Moss regarding his departure, and the reasons provided are not based in fact.
To be clear, the specific phrasing used by Mr. Derfel implies that Dr. Moss himself cited concerns about antisemitism: “Dr. Emmanuel Moss… will be moving to Atlanta in September, citing concerns with rising antisemitism in the city.” We know from the previous article that this is simply not the case.
I urge your newsroom to correct both articles. If these correspondences are not acknowledged, CJPME’s media team will have no choice but to file a formal complaint with the Quebec Press Council.
I await your response,
--
Media Analyst
