What to know
- Ontario Emergency Preparedness Minister Jill Dunlop was pulled from a CBC As It Happens interview by a staffer while discussing the province’s response to northern wildfires.
- The staffer ended the interview despite host Nil Köksal saying she had only a few questions remaining.
- Opposition politicians, including Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser and Liberal MPP Stephanie Smyth, criticized the decision on social media.
- The incident comes as Ontario continues to battle nearly 200 wildfires in the north, with several communities under evacuation orders.
Reaction is pouring in after Ontario’s Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response, Jill Dunlop, was pulled from a CBC interview by a staffer, leading to an on-air exchange between the staffer and the program’s host.
During the July 24 episode of CBC’s As It Happens, Dunlop joined hosts Nil Köksal and Chris Howden to discuss the ongoing wildfires in Northern Ontario and respond to criticism that the provincial government was unprepared for the emergency.
Interview cut short on air
About eight minutes into the interview, after Dunlop answered a question about why communication between the province and affected communities had not occurred earlier, a staffer interrupted the conversation.
“Hi there, let’s just wrap it up now if that’s okay,” the staffer said.
Köksal responded by saying she still had a few questions to ask.
“We weren’t given a hard time. I’m sorry, I’m not sure who that is on the line. I have a couple more questions to ask. We’ll be done within three more minutes,” Köksal said.
The staffer declined to continue the interview.
“Uhm, no, it’s been eight minutes. Thank you so much for your questions,” the staffer replied before ending the call.
Köksal questioned why the minister would not want to continue answering questions from the public. The staffer responded that Dunlop had already answered the questions before saying, “Bye.”
Politicians criticize the exchange
The abrupt end to the interview quickly drew criticism online, including from opposition politicians.
Interim Ontario Liberal Leader John Fraser called the exchange “unbelievable” in a post on social media.
“In all my years in politics I have never witnessed something like this happen. Around the nine-minute mark in the interview, Jill Dunlop’s staffer takes over, has a back and forth with the interviewer and then ends the interview. Unbelievable,” Fraser wrote.
Ontario Liberal MPP and former journalist Stephanie Smyth also criticized the incident, arguing it reflected the culture of the Progressive Conservative government.
“Doug Ford’s Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response, Jill Dunlop, yanked out of interview by her staffer ON AIR when questions got tough. Never in my over 30 years as a journalist did I see this happen,” Smyth wrote.
The culture in this PC government couldn’t be more clear. They do not know who they work for. A disgrace.”
The interview comes as Ontario continues to battle nearly 200 wildfires across the north, with several communities under evacuation orders and thousands of residents displaced, including many who have been relocated to Toronto and other municipalities.
