The Media Accountability Project  

On November 21, 2025, the Quebec Press Council released its decision (D2024-12-117) upholding a complaint against The Suburban and journalist Joel Goldenberg for publishing biased, sensationalist, and misleading coverage of campus protests related to Palestine.

On December 4, 2024, the Suburban published an article which falsely claimed that Quebec’s Minister of Higher Education had ordered an investigation into “anti-Israel intimidation” at Dawson and Vanier CEGEPs. CJPME media advocate Debbie Hubbard wrote a letter of concern arguing that the Suburban’s framing of the words ‘anti-Israeli-intimidation’ or ‘anti-Israeli related intimidation’ in the article’s headline and opening statement was blatant misinformation and a factual inaccuracy. The Suburban never issued a revision to the article based on Ms. Hubbard’s concerns. 

As such, on December 16, 2024, CJPME filed a formal complaint with the Quebec Press Council regarding the false claims by the Suburban that Quebec’s Minister of Higher Education had ordered an investigation into “anti-Israel intimidation” at Dawson and Vanier CEGEPs. 

In its decision, the Press Council sided with CJPME, ruling that the article misrepresented the minister’s statements and violated basic journalistic standards.

The Press Council found that Minister Pascale Déry had spoken broadly about a “tense campus climate” and concerns for student safety, without singling out any community or referring to “anti-Israel intimidation.” By attributing this language to the minister, the Press Council concluded that The Suburban misframed the issue, demonstrating pro-Israel bias and falsely sensationalising the scope of the investigation.

Most importantly, the Press Council emphasized that antisemitism and opposition to the State of Israel are not the same, and that conflating the two in a factual news article distorts reality, especially in the context of heightened community tensions. The Council unanimously upheld the complaint for sensationalism, finding that the repeated use of loaded terminology exaggerated the nature of the minister’s announcement.

Lastly, the Council also ruled against The Suburban for failing to issue a correction, despite being notified of the inaccuracies. 

As a result, the Quebec Press Council upheld CJPME’s complaint and censured Joel Goldenberg and The Suburban for bias, sensationalism, and failure to correct the article published and posted online.

The Press Council’s ruling requires the Suburban to publish our upheld complaint and summarize the councils’ decision. 

This ruling is a significant win for media accountability. It reinforces the importance of accurate, careful reporting on Palestine-related issues and affirms that criticism of Israel must not be mischaracterized or conflated with antisemitism. CJPME will continue to use its Media Accountability Project to challenge misleading media narratives and to defend the right to principled, fact-based coverage of Palestine and the solidarity movement in Canada.

Using the words ‘anti-Israeli-intimidation’ or ‘anti-Israeli related intimidation’ to frame your headline and opening statement is blatant misinformation and a factual inaccuracy.This is a very tense time especially for the Jewish, Arab, Muslim and Palestinian communities. Using language that is inaccurate and inflammatory does not help to ease the tension and does a disservice to both the Minister and the public in general.

"Obadia asserts that Palestinian citizens of Israel have “the same inalienable rights as Jews.” In fact, Israel does not have a constitution, and instead operates on a number of “basic laws.” The absence of a constitution allows Israel to employ laws that are preferential to Israeli Jews and discriminatory towards Palestinian citizens of Israel, who are restricted in every aspect of life - immigration, employment, housing, healthcare, and family reunification."