Radio-Canada crossed a red line. On national television, in the middle of a primetime broadcast, their Washington correspondent Élisa Serret spewed out every rotten antisemitic trope in the book. She told viewers that Jews bankroll American politics, that Jews run big cities, that Jews control Hollywood, that there’s a “big machine” pulling the strings. This wasn’t journalism, it was the oldest lie dressed up as analysis, and it went out over the publicly funded airwaves.
The fallout was immediate. Radio-Canada rushed out an apology saying it “deeply regrets” the incident, suspended Serret, and promised to take it seriously. But apologies are easy. What Montreal’s Jewish community heard was a government-owned broadcaster giving a platform to ideas that have fueled pogroms, mass shootings and synagogue desecrations. These words weren’t neutral. They were weapons.
Jewish leaders didn’t hold back. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs called the comments “vile antisemitic remarks” and demanded action, not just carefully worded regrets. “Actions are what really count,” they said, and they’re right. How many diversity seminars does it take before a national broadcaster knows not to air conspiracy theories about Jews running the world? The fact that it happened at all shows how deep the rot goes.
Even Ottawa had to step in. Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault condemned the segment outright, saying that these were “pernicious antisemitic tropes” with no place on Canadian airwaves. Contrite apologies are great, but Montrealers are now asking: if this is what gets through on air, what is being said behind closed newsroom doors?
Suspending one journalist is not a fix. It’s a bandage on a gaping wound. The real problem is systemic. Editors heard the remarks in real time and let them pass. The machine at Radio-Canada didn’t break—it worked exactly as it always does, and that’s the scandal. Montreal has seen too much antisemitism in its streets, too much violence directed at Jews, to brush this off as a slip. Words like these are fuel, and Radio-Canada poured them into the fire.
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