Criticism of new Senate appointment includes that of a federal cabinet minister

WINNIPEG — The appointment of longtime broadcaster Charles Adler to the Senate is being criticized in some quarters, including by a member of the federal cabinet.

Adler, who spent decades hosting talk-radio shows, was named to the Senate on the weekend by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and will represent Manitoba.

Dan Vandal, the minister of northern affairs, has issued a brief one-sentence statement that says there are many Manitobans better suited to represent the province.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs is calling on the prime minister to revoke the appointment and is accusing Adler of having used grossly offensive language about Indigenous people on air.

Adler declined an interview request and said he would not comment.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs complained in 1999 about Adler using terms such as “boneheads” to refer to Indigenous leaders on his talk show on radio station CJOB in Winnipeg.

The complaint was rejected by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, a voluntary self-regulatory organization for private broadcasters, the following year.

“The AMC filed formal complaints against Adler’s vulgar and racist commentary in the past, and it is obvious that Canada and the prime minister have turned a blind eye to these offensive views when making this appointment to the Senate,” the assembly said in a news release Monday.

“How can any First Nation feel that his reviews of legislation impacting reserves, treaties and inherent rights would be even remotely favourable to the original peoples of these lands?”

The 1999 complaint centred partly on a radio segment in which Adler criticized governance and a lack of jobs on reserves. The complaint also included concerns about another CJOB host in a different time slot.

“I believe in free enterprise, which does not exist on reserves. I believe in law and order, which does not exist. I believe in responsible government, that does not exist there,” Adler is quoted as saying in a transcript of the broadcast included in the council’s decision.

Adler then talked about “boneheads” and dictators of the past in countries such as Ukraine, Cambodia and Hungary — where Adler was born — and then compared the job prospects in those countries to conditions on reserves.

“Nobody behind this microphone is trying to say there’s lots of jobs on the reserves … I’m just not interested in supporting boneheads and boneheaded arguments,” the transcript reads.

The council ruled the CJOB broadcasts did not violate the council’s code of ethics. It said criticism of a First Nations government is fair commentary, similar to criticism of any other government.

“The present case is no different. Those who occupy positions of power on the reserves may legitimately be described, on account of the decisions which they make, as ‘boneheads’ or ‘intellectually moribund’ by opinion-holders in the media,” the decision states.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2024

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press