On the way to Quesnel, B.C., to discuss the fallout from the book Grave Error, Frances Widdowson faced a hostile interviewer who, among other implied accusations, explored the notion that the NEP board member was making money from her activism and that she was promoting a conspiracy theory. The reporter, Jordan Tucker, suggested that people of note agreed that there was a genocide against aboriginal children and wanted to know why Frances was pursuing this. Not satisfied with the answer “because the truth is important” she asked Frances why it was important to discredit “survivors.” Frances appeared to be using elements of street epistemology when asking the reporter on what she based her claims but the reporter ignored the question. Tucker appeared defensive when Frances suggested the media should do investigative reporting on this issue to determine what is objectively true. When Frances suggested that Tucker should actually read the book Grave Error, the reporter said “Mam, I don’t need that from you.”
This interview exemplifies the clash between a worldview where truth is something that we arrive at through a careful examination of the facts and a worldview where truth is something that is socially constructed by people held to be experts. We invite you to listen to the entire interview here: https://youtu.be/5Ik61NGwXas?feature=shared and add your comments below.
4 thoughts on “Board member Widdowson handles hostile CBC reporter on mass grave hoax”
The CBC is pretty much irredeemable.
This is the same CBC which uncritically repeats the tsunami of lies which are part of Islamism’s war of extermination against Israel. Coleman Hughes (now part of Bari Weiss’ “The Free Press”) had an interesting take on how long after “peak woke” it will be before truth seeking again becomes something tolerated let alone part of the mission of all the news outlets currently captured by “woke” ideology.
This post appears to take sides against the journalist and implicitly delegitimizes Indigenous perspectives framed as “socially constructed.” This could be read as NEP endorsing not simply inquiry, but a specific conclusion, which conflicts with the idea of open-ended, critical examination.
NEP aims to promote inclusive dialogue that reaches out across difficult divides in public discourse. Content that positions NEP in opposition to recognized human rights narratives may narrow its audience and reduce credibility in broader humanist and secular networks.
An inclusive dialogue is only possible if the participants agree that the facts matter. Francis’ position as stated in “Grave Error” is that we cannot say that there is a mass burial site in Kamloops in the absence of bodies. She was, therefore, promoting an open-ended critical examination of a particular narrative. The CBC reporter, on the other hand, refused to countenance such an examination. The NEP would do well to repeat Frances’ claim “…because the truth matters.”