Petition to reinstate Lisa LaFlamme at CTV hits record high

Article content material

An online petition calling on CTV to reinstate Lisa LaFlamme as its Chief Information Anchor has racked up greater than 200,000 signatures.

Article content material

Miles MacMillan from North Bay, Ont., launched the marketing campaign final month after Bell Media introduced it was parting methods with the longtime journalist saying in a press release the corporate was “recognizing altering viewer habits” because it moved “the position of its Chief Information Anchor in a unique course” with Omar Sachedina.

Article content material

“I believe Bell Media is making an enormous mistake by taking Lisa LaFlamme off of the air and I believe they should rethink this determination and reinstate her as Chief Information Anchor,” MacMillan says. “I’m asking everybody who agrees with me to please signal this petition.”

In a Twitter post on Aug. 15, LaFlamme, 58, mentioned she was knowledgeable June 29 that her contract was not going to be renewed and it was a “enterprise determination.”

Article content material

Article content material

“I used to be blindsided and I’m nonetheless shocked and saddened by Bell Media’s determination,” LaFlamme mentioned. “I used to be additionally requested to maintain this confidential from my colleagues and the general public till the specifics of my exit could possibly be resolved.”

On social media, LaFlamme’s departure was met with a mix of anger and disappointment.

“This can be a shocker,” World Nationwide’s Dawna Friesen tweeted. “None of us final in these gigs ceaselessly, however appears to me you deserve higher than this.”

Former TSN character Dan O’Toole added, “Simply brutal. Lisa, we must always speak!”

LaFlamme’s predecessor Lloyd Robertson additionally weighed in on her firing throughout a panel dialogue entitled Staging Democracy on the Stratford Competition’s Tom Patterson Theatre. “You don’t go shedding that individual the way in which you laid off Lisa LaFlamme,” Robertson mentioned, in accordance with Guelph Today.

Article content material

Within the weeks since LaFlamme’s departure was made public, her break up with the broadcaster has been met with extra anger coast-to-coast, with Michael Melling, the vice-president of stories for Bell Media, asserting a go away of absence from the corporate late final month.

Bell Media has additionally been compelled to take care of claims that LaFlamme was ousted due to her gray hair with a quantity CTV Information journalists asserting that her firing was based mostly “extra on private malice than any business-related causes.”

An open letter was printed within the Globe and Mail and signed by notable Canadians together with Sarah McLachlan, Anne Murray, Jann Arden and Romeo Dallaire, pointedly requested Bell to “make issues proper.”

Article content material

“Bell Media’s ‘enterprise determination’ to fireside CTV Nationwide Information anchor Lisa LaFlamme, within the very prime of her profession…struck on the coronary heart of not solely who we’re as Canadians, however who we aspire to be,” mentioned the letter addressed to the board of administrators and administration of BCE and Bell Canada.

“In making their ‘enterprise determination,’ Bell confirmed one unhappy fact: even after all of the progress ladies have made, they proceed to face sexism and ageism at work on a regular basis in a means which is unacceptable.”

Since asserting her departure, LaFlamme has garnered assist from mainstream companies. Wendy’s, Dove and Sports activities Illustrated all waded into the fray backing the journalist.

Wendy’s modified its red-headed mascot’s hair to gray, whereas Dove pledged to donate $100,000 to a Canadian group that helps construct higher workplaces for ladies.

Article content material

In the meantime, Sports activities Illustrated retweeted a canopy that featured 74-year-old mannequin Maye Musk.

Signees of MacMillan’s petition added their very own supportive feedback as effectively.

“I consider that what Bell Media did to Ms LaFlamme was sexist and ageist, to not point out blatantly disrespectful to finish her profession on this style. Sure, she ought to be reinstated, however possibly they don’t deserve her,” one individual wrote, with one other including, “Her dismissal was merely mistaken. It’s as much as Bell to appropriate a really dangerous determination.”

MacMillan credited his petition for resulting in Melling’s go away of absence.

“It seems just like the petition could be displaying some constructive results,” he wrote.

Following its announcement that it’s changing LaFlamme with Sachedina, Bell Media mentioned in an announcement it “regrets” the way in which by which LaFlamme’s departure was dealt with.

Article content material

Sachedina addressed the drama after taking up from LaFlamme this week.

Article content material

“It is crucial for me to acknowledge the inspiration and mentor that Lisa LaFlamme has been to me over time,” Sachedina advised viewers. “Lisa, thanks for all the things. Like lots of you, I actually want Lisa’s goodbye might have been from right here.”

He continued, “I do know welcoming me into your houses each night time will not be a proper, it’s a privilege. I’ll work exhausting with our workforce to earn and construct your belief for that continued privilege. That’s my dedication to you and that’s our dedication to you.”

mdaniell@postmedia.com