A Canadian journalist has been terminated from her position at the public broadcaster Radio-Canada, the French-language service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, after making what were described as "pernicious antisemitic tropes" during a broadcast, CTV News reported on Wednesday.
The comments, which were also denounced by a Canadian government minister, included the claim that Jews control major cities, Hollywood, and American politics.
Journalist Élisa P. Serret was relieved of her duties at Radio-Canada on Tuesday "until further notice," following her analysis on Monday.
The public broadcaster released a statement confirming her removal, asserting that her "unacceptable comments contravene Radio-Canada’s journalistic standards and practices and in no way reflect the opinion of the public broadcaster.”
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), which advocates for Zionist and Jewish interests, brought attention to the inflammatory remarks by sharing an excerpt of the broadcast on X. The clip shows Serret stating that "big cities are run by Jews," "Hollywood is run by Jews," and that Jews "fund a lot of American politics." CIJA labeled these comments as one of the "worst antisemitic lies."
Canadian Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, Steven Guilbeault, also condemned the journalist’s remarks on X.
“The words used on last night’s broadcast were pernicious antisemitic tropes and have absolutely no place on Canadian airwaves,” he said. Guilbeault warned that “When antisemitic language is used by journalists, or anyone in a position of trust, it risks normalizing hatred in deeply dangerous ways.”
He further stressed that “antisemitism has no place in Canada” and called on Radio-Canada, as a public institution, to "demand higher standards of journalism" from its staff.
CIJA expressed its hope that Radio-Canada’s decision to fire Serret would lead to "serious internal reflection on the damage such hateful rhetoric inflicts on our democratic values."