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CBC Porn: Sun News Story Sparks Action From Conservatives And Radio-Canada

CBC In Hot Water For Airing Porn
CP

The battle between Sun News and the CBC is heating up again.

SEE TWITTER'S HILARIOUS REACTION AND #CBCPornTitles

The story revealed that the French-wing of CBC, Radio-Canada, has been airing the program "Hard" on its on-demand web service Tou.tv. The French series includes explicit sex scenes and nudity.

Moore's comments prompted an outcry from Sun.

Despite his apparent reservations concerning Sun's motives, Moore relented and contacted the CBC to ask them to review the content.

Comments from the PMO may have had something to do with it. "While the government doesn't control CBC's content, we are confused by their decision to purchase sexually explicit content and make it available to children," wrote PMO spokesman Andrew MacDougall.

The CBC was quick to act on Moore's request. Radio-Canada has now restricted access to "Hard" to between the hours of 12 a.m. and 4 a.m. Previously, the broadcaster had said the program was not pornographic and was appropriate for viewers age 16 and up.

The kerfuffle over "Hard" is just the latest battle in an ongoing war of words between the CBC and Quebecor-owned Sun Media.

Quebecor has been embroiled in a complex legal dispute with the CBC over numerous Access to Information requests filed by the communications company aimed at obtaining documents from the state broadcaster.

Quebecor's Sun papers and TV station have repeatedly attacked the cost of the CBC. Sun News personality Ezra Levant has been particularly vocal on the subject.

Meanwhile, the CBC has accused Quebecor of collecting more than $500-million in subsidies from Canadian taxpayers and using them to make record profits while complaining about competition from Radio-Canada in Quebec. CBC has also charged Quebecor CEO Pierre-Karl Péladeau with sending more than a dozen letters to Stephen Harper and others in government complaining that Radio-Canada doesn't spend enough on advertising in Quebecor papers.

Like most government departments, the CBC is reportedly facing a 10 per cent cut in the upcoming federal budget.

It was also revealed this week that approximately 730 CBC employees make more than $100,000 per year. The disclosure from Heritage Minister Moore was in response to an order paper filed by Tory MP Brent Rathgeber.

The CBC wasn't the only broadcaster hit by scandal this week. Coincidentally, Sun News also made headlines Thursday after The Canadian Press reported that six federal bureaucrats posed as new Canadians for a citizenship ceremony broadcast on the network. Minister Jason Kenney's office apologized to Sun on Thursday, placing blame on public servants at Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

While all broadcasters make mistakes from time to time, it seems unlike Sun will be giving CBC a break, or vice-versa, any time soon.

TWITTER REACTIONS AND #CBCPORNTITLES

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