Canadian DLers - Lisa La Flamme FIRED From CTV News

People would rather look at Omar Sachedina. He makes even straight men's nipples hard.

Lisa should have saved enough money by now. She probably made a lot less than her American counterparts but was still well paid. She can find a lower profile job.

Obviously, her ratings weren't good. A private broadcaster is not going to keep someone on and pay them well if that happens. Not sure why she would surprised.

R2 actually her broadcast is Number one over CBC & Global

Why is she wearing a big ugly black watch at an evening formal event?

Well then, R3, there must be a downward trend in LaFlamme's ratings over the time she has been anchor of the national news and a ratings jump when Sachedina is guest host. Otherwise, the decision wouldn't make sense.

CTV's national news has probably been the ratings winner over CBC and Global for a long time, no matter who the host was.

R5 unless they say she is too old and want Omar to bring in a younger audience

which is not only sex discriminations, but age discriminations

Network executives don't care about political correctness, R6. They're just trying to figure out how to make the most money in a time when the major broadcast networks are seeing declining audiences and revenue.

[quote] They're just trying to figure out how to make the most money in a time when the major broadcast networks are seeing declining audiences and revenue.

Same thing happened to Jane Pauley of The Today Show in 1989 - that was the only time viewers fought back and turned the channel - and ratings plummeted

She can always fill the “granny on the go” cutesy Poo “human interest” beat. And there’s always Naked News.

I doubt LaFlamme has the same popular appeal as Jane Pauley. Lisa was good at her job but an attractive face brings in viewers. Of course, you have to have substance too. You have to do a good job when doing interviews, etc.

Lol, R9. LaFlamme on the "Naked News" is a scary thought.

I wonder what R4 wrote.

R5 you're generously assuming BellMedia makes logical, thoughtful decisions. They don't. Some bean counter looked at her salary and ordered producers to replace her for someone at lower cost. That's it, I'm pretty sure.

Gotta say that at 58 Lisa sure looks like an old lady, she should never have stopped colouring her hair. Even Lloyd knew enough to pour on the grecian formula well into his 70s.

After what they did to Carol Anne Meehan, who worked for Bell Media for almost 30 years, this doesn’t surprise me. Max Keeping, her co-host and close friend had just died, but that didn’t matter.

Carole Anne’s husband committed suicide less than three years later.

[quote] has the same popular appeal as Jane Pauley

Well NBC Executives back then thought people only watched for Bryant Gumbel and that Jane (as the woman) was expendable

They were in for a shock when ratings sank the minute she left

Yes but LaFlamme is the sole anchor, R14.

R15 I doubt ratings will go down now that La Flamme has been dumped. I think people feel this is a shitty way to treat a 30 year vet like La Flamme

That said this a BUSINESS - it is cold and calculating and what matters is the bottom line

But you can sympathetic to La FLamme being fired, which you don't seem to be,

R16, I think LaFlamme is a lot better off than most Canadian journalists who will never make a salary like hers, though I agree her career wasn't handed to her. She worked hard and has talent. Really long careers like that of Lloyd Robertson or Peter Mansbridge are probably going to be very rare nowadays. I think CBC kept Mansbridge on even though his ratings weren't great because he was very good at his job. That's the difference with a public broadcaster.

Lisa La Flamme sounds like a drag queen name.

Preach.

Agrees with R1!

R1 point - that is why Justin Trudeau keeps winning

and the Conservative want to elect Pierre Poilievre as its leader?

Lisa was excellent. What a shame.

[quote] Lisa La Flamme sounds like a drag queen name.

Lol, I had the same reaction, R18! And OP's pic goes along with it.

Her statement today.

Gotta stay on top of your thinning hair, Omar. If you lose your looks, you'll be out on your ass, like Lisa.

Omar tweeted about his new role on Twitter not even an hour after Lisa's announcement and he's being raked over the coals. Sorry, but a STUPID move on his part. Very stupid.

R26 he was probably ordered by his bosses to do it, to try to contain the blowback CTV is getting. It didn't work

I’m surprised. I like her and would have thought her ratings were high. Fuck CTV.

She got old and had to be put out to pasture. It happens to all of us. Women have an earlier expiry date than men.

And it’s usually men making the decisions, R29.

Canadian news is so quaint and amusing. Much ado about nothing.

True, R31. We can't compete with weekly mass shootings. Nor would we want to.

Isn't Sandie Rinaldo still reading the CTV news on the weekends? She's like 70! Old ladies are allowed to be part timers just not have the top job. If you're a man you can die at the desk at 100. Isn't it a great world?

Anne Murray tweeted in support of Lisa.

We love you, Snowbird!!!

We had hoped Lisa would leave with dignity - but Lisa made another choice

[quote]Her statement today.

She laflammed out!

She’s 71. Isn’t it past time for her to move to a correspondent role, filing a story every other month or so?

Uh, she’s 58, R37.

Any shirtless Omar pics? Maybe he won't be the villain if we can see some skin.

[quote]Canadian news is so quaint and amusing. Much ado about nothing.

True. We don't have the leader of the country deliberately trying to overturn the legitimate results of an election, unlike President Cheeto. That's a good thing.

The Star is saying that people at CTV are shocked by this development. CTV News is still the most watched news broadcast in Canada and LaFlamme is basically the only really "brand anchor" left on Canadian TV. There were allegedly no issues in terms of her performance or treatment of staff, she was well-like across the board. I mean it's hard not to think this is simply a fire the "over paid woman over 50" for a younger man. Btw Is LaFlamme family? She's never married apparently.

As for Omar, he was married to a woman but I believe the divorced only a couple years after they got married.

[quote]Any shirtless Omar pics? Maybe he won't be the villain if we can see some skin.

Omar is 39, so his chest might be sagging a bit.

I wonder what revenge fantasies Lisa will be dreaming about tonight, eg. what she'd like to do to Omar.

I don’t really know this woman, but didn’t one of the drag queens “do” her on Drag Race Canada?

R41 I think it is because La Flamme decided to go gray. I truly believe if she kept dying her hair - she would have her job

I think male executives were so turned off by her gray hair, they just fire her - because subconscienly it means she is skewing older.

50"? You mean she's a midget? Just kidding.

R41, I would think she's a lez, never having married a the age of 58. She doesn't discuss her private life and the press go along with it. Must be well liked.

[quote] the press go along with it. Must be well liked.

In Canada we don't out people - we live by what Pierre Trudeau once said

Nation has no business in people's bedrooms

I've heard many people say they like Lisa's hair and appreciated that she didn't dye it.

I don't think she looked old. I loved that she owned her grey hair.

I can understand why they hired Omar - he is younger and sexier. But Lisa is well-liked and respected and ratings were fine. There must be more to the story. CTV must have known they were going to face a backlash - and were willing to risk it.

R47 it is all about getting eyeballs

and management probably thinks Omar can get the younger demographic that advertisers want

[quote]In Canada we don't out people - we live by what Pierre Trudeau once said. Nation has no business in people's bedrooms

You're right. Jason Kenney has been in politics for how many years?

[quote] Jason Kenney has been in politics for how many years?

John Baird is a better example

Yeah but John Baird is really obvious. No one is going to be shocked to find out he's not straight. And you had some MP years ago making derogatory comments about his sexual orientation. I forget what the whole kerfuffle was about.

Canada, where are your brilliant anti-discriminatory labor laws and your touted social safety net in this story? How is this firing legal? Business doesn't trump everything.

It sounds from her message that she was negociating for some weeks after receiving notice so she probably settled for a large pay out to disappear.

I think Lisa looks fab with her grey hair.

Despite the fact that Bell Media's profit grew by $2.2 billion in 2021, my hunch was this was a budget cut. Lisa was likely the highest paid journalist at the company (probably the highest paid media figure at the company) and the news division doesn't bring in much money. So they chopped her not thinking for a moment how misogynistic the optics would be by firing her so coldly.

^^ that's legal? Why not fire everybody just before they're eligible for retirement pay then?

Had she introduced a bit of platinum into her hair she could have looked quite saucy for her age. Going gray was an error.

They do this all the time in my industry when they are "downsizing". They lay off people over 50 and high salaried managers. Somehow all the execs keep their jobs though. Every 5 yrs they do it again.

I should add they also call it "reorganizing" and it is totally legal even though everyone knows what they are doing.

Let’s hope they keep Todd Vanderheyden

I was just going to say that, R56. I've heard that it's standard practice in big companies that, unless the person is an exceptional, irreplaceable talent, you fire employees older than 50 because they're making good money, have good benefits and are more likely to start having health problems and replace them with someone younger who is willing to work harder for less money. The bottom line is all that counts.

Not about money..

Don't mean to criticise, R53, but please don't post downloads. Thanks.

These fuckers. That's it. I am not watching CTV news anymore.

I hope she sues the krap outta Bell.

It's not a download, R62, it's just a link to a pic since Muriel won't let images appear here anymore.

I wonder what she'll do next? I don't think she'll go to another network.

Michael Melling is the asshole who fired her it seems.

Who is this Melling twerp? This loser is going to be fired by Friday.

CTV has created a huge mess.

Every time I click on the link, it is a download for me, R65. Just sayin'.

[quote]Who is this Melling twerp? This loser is going to be fired by Friday.

Let's hope so.

I like Evan Solomon and Glen McGregor but I won't watch CTV again unless they bring Lisa back.

How do you pronounce her last name?

La flomm?

Leh flayme?

La Flamme (short 'a' sound), R71. You can hear it here in the first few seconds of this video.

For whatever reason, the entire CBC website OP linked to seems to be down.

It works for me.

Ed the Sock weighs in.

What’s with the grey hair?

Ugly and depressing!

CTV fired Carol Anne when she was 58 and now Lisa at 58. Any 57-year-old female employees of Bell Media should start sending out resumés.

In Switzerland and Norway companies can let employees go via downsizing and "reorganizing" but a new employee cannot move into the same position that was held by the fired employee. That position has to go.

At least there's an attempt, however feeble, to address the real bullshit that's going on.

I work in government in Canada, R78, and we sort of have the same types of rules, at least in our province. For example, you can make a position redundant, and then turn around and fill it as a *newly created* position. It needs to have a new job description. You can also let term positions lapse, and wait six months to fill the position without having to consider the person who vacated it. I suspect, bough, these are all common practices, particularly in public jobs. Private companies probably don’t need to be as creative.

Canadaland is reporting that man in charge of CTV News would prefer to work with a man as its Chief News Anchor than a woman

So things haven't really changed as it is still a man's world everywhere

[quote] Let’s hope they keep Todd Vanderheyden

He is a Conservative, while he is not far-right enough for Fox News, his delivery is very anti-Trudeau and pro-Ford

[quote] CTV has created a huge mess

for this week or maybe the next month (why do you think they did this during the summer?)

But I'm pretty sure this will due down by September and people will move on

That said this is a shitty way to treat a women, much less a 30 year employee, this way. But this is a business and it is cold.

[quote]But this is a business and it is cold.

If you've been reading the posts it didn't sound like a cold business decision. It was a dick move by a bigoedt executive who took things personally when a woman 'pushed back' by asking for more resources and standing up for other employees. If it was a cold business decision it would have as its justification falling ratings and viewer complaints or scandals.

*bigoted*

R82, you’re right. Our community (Ottawa and the surrounding areas) was outraged when Carol Anne was dumped. Everyone I spoke to swore they’d never watch the news again. This attitude was everywhere in the media at the time. There were campaigns to get her reinstated.

Seven years later Graham Richardson and Patricia Boal have successfully refilled the roles Carol Anne and Max Keeping once had. It’s very sad and not right, but people forget and move on.

OMG - Lisa La Flamme makes People Magazine!

Enough of Lisa's woes, let us move on to the nitty-gritty, what do we know about Omar?

No problem.

That's weird, R86. Surely most Americans have never heard of Lisa LaFlamme, unless there's a separate Canadian version of People magazine. Maybe some Americans in the border states are familiar with her.

I'm blindsided by all the grey hair on the news. Sex sells. Grandma needs to go.

La Flamme will be on CBC or Global next month, where I will tune in to see her. Fuck Bell altogether.

R91 if u watch cbc, you may as well be dead.

R92 and r90 get it.

The bitch got cocky.

Only if you think news is supposed to be entertainment, R92, though I agree the constant left wing bias can be annoying at times.

If you want entertainment, listen to the hosts on FOX make things up.

CTV's Jennifer Burke refused to announce LaFlamme's departure.

Good for her. This proves that Omar is a sniveling sack of crap for tweeting about his new position moments after LaFlamme announced she was fired.

Star article - Part One

On Monday afternoon, CTV News anchor Jennifer Burke was told she would be informing the television audience about the exit of Lisa LaFlamme.

Read this: A boilerplate statement, in corporate-speak, about the departure of one of the most recognizable faces and most decorated professionals in the news business.

Burke looked over the words being put in her mouth. “No, I won’t do it.”

That, several sources have told the Star, seemed to annoy CTV news manager Sophia Skopelitis. Burke was told to come in for her on-air news shift at 4 p.m., rather than 3 p.m. as scheduled. Skopelitis turned instead to Angie Seth, who was anchoring the noon to 3 p.m. show, extended for an hour. For Seth — who was scarcely aware of what was happening because she’d been on the air and had only just glanced at a tweet about LaFlamme, the news that was already blowing up on social media — it was a cold reading, off the teleprompter and delivered verbatim. At the end of which she added the briefest of personal commentary, thanking LaFlamme.

There could be repercussions for going even the tiniest bit off-script. As there might be for Burke’s refusal. Burke, while for many years a CTV on-air personality, is a freelancer. “She might not get any more shifts,” one highly-placed source at the broadcaster told the Star Tuesday.

Several sources who spoke to the Star requested anonymity due to concerns about professional repercussions.

LaFlamme’s executive producer, Rosa Hwang, wasn’t anywhere to be seen when the news shocker was mishandled. She’d been told to stay out of the newsroom all week, according to a source — “a strategic decision,” lest Hwang, as was feared, go ballistic.

Star article - Part Two

They’re playing hardball, CTV executives, trying desperately all day Monday to control the messaging of LaFlamme’s “departure,” making it sound as if this was the veteran’s own decision rather than essentially a termination. LaFlamme, with 35 years before the mast at CTV, 11 years as national anchor and senior editor. But most of all a reporter, with vast experience covering national and international stories — on the front-line of wars, on the election desk, at disasters and catastrophes and royal weddings and Olympics. Racing around the world wherever news broke, most recently mooring half a dozen on-the-road live specials on the Pope’s apology tour in Canada while also delivering multiple evening newscasts broadcast to different time zones.

July 28, Pope Francis in Quebec City, was the last viewers saw of LaFlamme — until her shocking revelation on Twitter Monday that her contract with CTV had been ended by her employer, a life-changing schism that was imparted to her a month earlier, “blindsided” her and which she was not permitted to share with colleagues. She was not permitted to sign off on the air either.

LaFlamme did not leave willingly. LaFlamme did not want to go. At 58, she’d assumed — perhaps naively, because she knows her business well — that there were many years still left ahead. When her immediate predecessor, Lloyd Robertson, left CTV, he’d enjoyed a protracted fond farewell, addressing his upcoming retirement conversationally, totally befitting a respected news icon.

Robertson was 77 years, some two decades longer in the tooth than LaFlamme is now.

“A lot of us remember that whole send-off for Lloyd,” a senior staffer told the Star. “He was given ample time. He was given multiple goodbyes. And they couldn’t even give Lisa 30 seconds?”

But she’s a woman and women can be bundled off negligently. Maybe somebody didn’t like the hair LaFlamme had allowed to go naturally and elegantly silver during the pandemic?

Women aren’t allowed to age, however gracefully, on TV. There was also the matter of her salary, reported as $350,000 annually. Merited. A person puts in that much time, works that hard, brings that much sheen to her job — CTV basked in LaFlamme’s professional chops — she’s entitled to be properly remunerated. And then one day, you’re punished for it. Because news can be done so much cheaper these days, resources slashed left and right, young’uns hired at entry-level salaries and set loose on the news as digital doodads.

Most of all, though, LaFlamme got the chop because she put journalistic integrity ahead of revenue generating. Stories that were important to tell, in person, most especially for someone who’d spent years as the network’s chief foreign correspondent. She continued to do that — covering the Ukraine war earlier this year — because she had reporter legs. Anchors rarely actually cover the news as reporters anymore, or they’re propped in front of a camera while producers do all the donkey work.

Star Article - Part Three

That wasn’t Lisa. She’s my friend, I’ll use her first name. I was in Afghanistan with Lisa — among many other hellholes — and would watch in awe as she practically single-handedly pulled together a news show, booking the satellite slot, standing out there in the middle of the night after long days in the field. And because she had to look at least half-decent — unlike print reporters — washing her hair beforehand in the sink of a lavatory trailer.

At one point Lisa was out in the field with troops for a week, living with them, sleeping in the troop carrier, walking out into the desert to perform bodily functions and using bottled water for sponge baths — always with good humour.

Once, fording a stream, she was shot at. “I was too far in,” she said later, shaken by the experience.

But that’s the thing. She immersed herself in the stories and was revered for it.

She could be tough, she could be soft, she could be moved. Eyes on, boots on the ground, in the thick of whatever story she was telling, but never self-absorbed. No small grace-note in TV, that.

Why would anyone take all that talent and dispense with it. Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?

She pushed back at tinpot news bosses — on news coverage decisions and internal disruption — and that, I’m told, is the gist of the thing. Several sources have pointed the finger at Michael Melling, vice-president of news at Bell Media, as the pitch-forker. Melling lacked national and international experience when he was appointed to the job some eight months ago and began replacing key individuals with more “compliant” staff who wouldn’t question his authority, according to a senior source at the broadcaster.

Melling, sources say, would consult with senior men in the newsroom but rarely with LaFlamme.

“She has so much more experience than he does,” said one staffer. “It was just really bizarre … At editorial discussions, Lisa had the institutional knowledge on some of these huge stories, like Afghanistan, like Ukraine. He wouldn’t take advantage of all these contacts she had, he never appreciated that.

Omar is an opportunist. He knew. Nobody forced him to tweet. He was complicit. He jumped at the chance. Who wouldn't?

He's not free from criticism.

He's a piece of crap, R99. Yes, he's talented, but you're right, he's an opportunist. He has no decency, no decorum. He didn't have to tweet at that moment, he could have waited a few weeks, but no. What an ass. He'll be a company suck, which means he'll be in the chair till he's 77, just like Lloyd.

Who pays these dweebs? Trudeau?

Heh heh heh

This sounds like American tv. Jane Pauley and that awful Bryant Gumbel. Didn’t David Muir wait impatiently for Diane Sawyer to leave?

Lisa LaFlamme's video now has over 4 million views:

CTV shit the bed on this one. But give it a minute and people will have moved onto the next story.

Adrienne Arsenault, you in danger gurl!

Of course you can count on The Toronto Sun to do damage control for Bell Media

One of the male columnists has just published a column, announcing the "real truth" behind LaFlamme departure

Calling LaFlamme the "mean girl" in the newsroom - that she was harsh & condescending to the staff

Contrary to not getting a proper good-bye, the Sun claims LaFlamme was suppose to anchor the broadcast this week, but "blindsided" management by putting out her own announcement - not telling anyone

So they had to scramble to find a temporary replacement, and had to get Omar (who is on vacation) to Zoom in and talk to local affiliates about the change

Leave it to the Toronto Sun to always take the side of men.

It is so hilarious (and pathetic) that this is such huge news in Canada. Wow. Canada is such an unnecessary country.

Yeah sure, R107. If an anchor doing the national news for years on one of America's biggest networks got fired, no one would pay attention 🙄. Please try to make it less obvious that you're trolling.

Like it wasn't huge news when Cuomo was let go from CNN, R107. Unlike him, she's an actual journalist, not just someone with connections and a rich, powerful, political family. Lisa has long been known for supporting journalists throughout the world and volunteers with Journalists for Human Rights.

You get fired for being harsh and condescending in Canada?

Ruh roh.

It's hilarious that CTV is carrying no coverage of this mess while all other news conglomerates are.

R58 On one of the Canadian Gossip threads there was talk that Todd is something of a creep. I have no idea if this true, just a rumour. He and his [much younger] partner just got engaged.

American here (not the creep at R107): Would Lisa LaFlamme know French? Would she do any French language broadcasts? Or is there a total wall between French news and English news in Canada?

[quote] It is so hilarious (and pathetic) that this is such huge news in Canada. Wow. Canada is such an unnecessary country. —America 🇺🇸

You seem to forget when Jane Pauley stepped down from The Today Show - that was front page news for weeks, parodied on Saturday Night Live, and got Jane Pauley on the cover of LIFE Magazine

So is USA an "unnecessary" country when there was such an outcry about Jane Pauley?

R113, even though LaFlamme has a French last name, she speaks English perfectly without an accent, so that must be her first language. I don't know how well she speaks French. English and French TV stations are separate with separate news anchors. The public broadcaster, CBC, has English and French stations available nationwide. CTV, which LaFlamme used to work for, does not (as far as I know). I assume there is a French station in Quebec which is affiliated with CTV.

Btw, Canada is bilingual on paper only. The only places where there are significant numbers of French speakers are Quebec (which of course goes to great lengths to ensure the French language survives), New Brunswick and maybe eastern Ontario. Rest of the country is English only. I'm older. When I was growing up, French classes were standard in middle school and at least part of high school, but I certainly wouldn't call myself fluent. Just learning a basic vocabulary and basic grammar is a lot of work, a lot of memorisation, never mind expressing yourself comfortably in French.

LaFlamme is fully bilingual for those wondering.

Globe and Mail

Shortly after Michael Melling became head of CTV News, he raised questions about host Lisa LaFlamme’s hair.

According to a senior CTV official who was present at the meeting, Mr. Melling asked who had approved the decision to “let Lisa’s hair go grey.” The issue of Ms. LaFlamme’s hair colour came up again on set one day, when he noted that it was taking on a purple hue in the studio lighting.

Later, Mr. Melling would be the one to tell Ms. LaFlamme that she was being ousted from her role as anchor of CTV National News, one of the country’s most-watched newscasts – an unexpected removal that she announced earlier this week. Ms. LaFlamme had been in the job since 2011 and with the network for 35 years, and still had just under two years left on her contract. In 2020, she made headlines and won praise from women across the country when she decided to stop dying her hair and let her natural silver locks grow out.

She explained the decision in the network’s year-in-review special, saying that because of the pandemic she couldn’t visit her hair colourist and was having to spray her roots every day before going on air. “I finally said, ‘why bother? I’m going grey.’ Honestly, if I had known the lockdown could be so liberating on that front I would have done it a lot sooner.”

Ms. LaFlamme’s sudden ouster has prompted anger, confusion and speculation within CTV. The Globe spoke with three current staff members at the company. Two said they had observed tensions between Mr. Melling and Ms. LaFlamme, as well as between him and the show’s executive producer, Rosa Hwang. The Globe is not naming the staff members because they were not authorized to speak.

Mr. Melling and Ms. LaFlamme clashed over stories, network priorities and resources – most visibly when it came to coverage of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the war in Ukraine.

Mr. Melling and CTV declined to comment. Ms. LaFlamme directed The Globe to a video statement she posted on Twitter earlier this week.

In that two-minute clip, Ms. LaFlamme said that, on June 29, she was told that Bell Media, CTV’s parent company, had made a “business decision” to terminate her contract. She added that she was asked to keep this information confidential until the details of her exit were worked out.

“I was blindsided and I’m still shocked and saddened by Bell Media’s decision,” she said. “At 58, I still thought I’d have a lot more time to tell more of the stories that impact our daily lives. Instead, I leave CTV humbled by the people who put their faith in me to tell their story.”

One of the newscast’s staff members recalled an argument that took place around the time of the start of the war in Ukraine. The network was sending a crew to the country to cover the Russian invasion. Ms. LaFlamme advocated for CTV to book hotel rooms in Krakow, Poland, in case the crew members needed to retreat quickly from Ukraine. Mr. Melling raised concerns about the cost. After a protracted argument, the rooms were booked.

Later, when it came time to arrange coverage of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebration in June, there was again a fight about money.

One staff member recalled Mr. Melling saying sending a crew to Britain wasn’t worth the expense. “Michael said, ‘We’re not going. Cancel. It’s not worth it. Let’s cover it from Toronto,’” the staff member recalled.

“We have to cover the Queen! She’s Canada’s Queen too,” the staff member remembered Ms. LaFlamme saying. “The plan had already been set about the coverage and conversations already took place with our broadcast partners in the U.K.”

After more arguments, a scaled-down team was allowed to make the trip, but they had to forfeit a pricey shooting location near Buckingham Palace. Instead, they covered the jubilee from a hotel balcony in Trafalgar Square, which was significantly cheaper, but farther from the event.

Globe and Mail Part Two

Disputes over resources and news priorities are not uncommon in newsrooms, the staff member said, but what was unusual in this case was the tone of the discussions.

Mr. Melling did not respond well to pushback from Ms. LaFlamme and Ms. Hwang, the source said.

Under Mr. Melling’s predecessor, Wendy Freeman, there were frequent debates about coverage, the source said, and there was always mutual respect because Ms. Freeman was viewed as a journalist. But Mr. Melling is viewed as a Bell executive more concerned with the business side of CTV.

“Traditionally, that role [head of CTV news] is supposed to be the top journalist in the newsroom,” the staff member said.

Another staff member said Mr. Melling is rarely seen walking around the newsroom.

Mr. Melling joined Bell Media in 2003 as an editorial assistant at BNN Bloomberg. According to his LinkedIn profile, he spent five years as a reporter, before becoming a news director in Southwestern Ontario in 2010. From there, he quickly ascended through the management ranks, with five more promotions in a decade. Prior to taking over from Ms. Freeman, who had held the top role for 12 years, Mr. Melling was the general manager of CTV News Toronto, CP24 and BNN Bloomberg. He also holds an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University, according to his LinkedIn.

Staff members said Ms. LaFlamme and Ms. Hwang were tough and at times very demanding, but that they were also respected, professional and made sure everyone had a chance to voice their opinion.

CTV employees and members of the public have raised questions about whether ageism and sexism could have played roles in Ms. LaFlamme’s exit. In interviews, staff members complained about the fact that, so far, CTV has not addressed her departure.

The Globe obtained a portion of a draft memo that is slated to be sent to the newsroom on Thursday. In the note, an unidentified network executive addresses a sore point for many: that Ms. LaFlamme was not given an on-air send-off and celebration, like her predecessor, Lloyd Robertson.

The memo says Ms. LaFlamme was given an opportunity to “come back into the studio and have her career at CTV be appropriately celebrated.” It adds that after Ms. LaFlamme was informed of the decision to end her contract, she was allowed to continue to work and did cover the recent papal visit.

“She opted to not say goodbye to the public during a CTV National newscast,” the memo says. “While I wish things had been different, I also respect her decision.”

That'll teach you to let your hair go grey, Lisa. The tall poppy gets chopped down.

Just look at this image and tell me who looks better??

It was the grey hair, full stop.

What a dumb move.

Do French Canadians have big dicks? I’ve read they’re lazy, shiftless, and cheap.

La Flame or La Fla-may?

R125, another news anchor pronounces LaFlamme's name correctly at R72.

Okay R123. I agree that Lloyd Robertson was saving money when he was having his hair dyed and it doesn't look very good, but when you go grey, you're saying to your bosses "I'm old and I need to be fired". Let that be a lesson to all of you who just want to do your "own thing". Look at Sandie Rinaldo. She's 150 and still dyes her hair. She's the smart one (and the hottest granny in Canada).

Popular and openly gay Scott Roberts was fired in March 2022 from his Vancouver anchor job.

Were they both targeted by Michael Melling?

She sounds obstreperous.

Scott Roberts has a crooked smile and crooked hair!

Exactly, R130. That's reason enough to be fired.

[quote]How do you pronounce her last name?

Why is French so difficult for Americans?

Lack of exposure?

"Lah-Flahm" I guess.

Just call her "Flaming Lisa".

We named our #1 song The Flame after her.

CTV is now "concerned" that La Flame's termination may have been due to ageism or sexism and is undertaking an internal review. Ahahahaha!! More corporate bullshit.

Fuck Bell and CTV.

[quote] When I was growing up, French classes were standard in middle school and at least part of high school

It isn't anymore? That would be surprising.

I assume they are but I don't know for sure, R137. Middle school and high school were quite a while ago for me.

All the people I know with school age kids put them in French immersion.

I don’t usually post stuff like this, but I’m pretty sure the guy singing is a gay French Canadian. I read an article back in the day

Anyway, it’s mildly amusing if you’r into gay cats, Frenchmen, and other homosexual things.

I took French from Gr. 6 through university. I liked it though. It becomes optional in senior high. Now they start in Gr. 1.

Omf. Those minoux are adorable!

No doubt about it, this has been a HUGE PR blunder for CTV and Bell Media. How did the people in charge not think that in this day and age firing your female (and over 50) news anchor of the highest rated news broadcast in the country wouldn't cause a controversy, and doing it in such an obviously cruel manner.

Omar meanwhile is an IDIOT for tweeting right after news broke that La Flamme had been fired. He should have said no (as other anchors in the studio did by refusing to announce Lisa had been fired). His appointment is historic, he will be the first person of colour to be solo-anchor of a news broadcast but it's been totally overshadowed and he's now damaged goods. He'll be out of that chair within a year.

Bell is splitting hairs over a salary of 350K for their top news anchor? How much does the prick who fired her make?

[quote]he will be the first person of colour to be solo-anchor of a news broadcast

Certainly not true - see Ian Hanomansing.

I’m not sure if this has been posted yet, but there’s more fallout.

R145 Nope, Ian Hanomansing has never been THE anchor or chief correspondent of the CBC. He was a local anchor in BC, a fill-in for Peter Mansbridge on The National, and then one of the co-hosts of The National until he was moved to the Saturday & Sunday hosting duties of The National. For whatever reason when Mansbridge retired, the decided to move away from the solo anchor for the national broadcast.

Omar Sachedina is the first person of colour in Canada to be named the solo-host and chief anchor of a national broadcast in Canada.

Speaking of the CBC if they haven't called Lisa LaFlamme yet, they are idiots.

I used to work at CTV, twenty years ago. It is a terrible, shitty place to work. Always was, apparently still is. I got a stapler thrown at my head by a morning anchor (she missed) but I knew back then nobody would do anything about it because the anchor was part of the old Ottawa Bureau clique who all got jobs in Toronto and protected each other. It was a horrible environment. After the stapler incident I made up my mind to get out. Lay offs were common, pay was shit, hours were worse and you had to play a sharp elbowed game to survive much after fifty. I wanted a house and a life so I bailed and did what anybody with a brain did - got into corporate communications. There's a lot of money to be made in teaching people how to thwart those fuckers. When I left, astonishingly, I got an exit interview with HR. Told her the story and she said: You're right about everything and smart to go. Most of that Ottawa Bureau clique wound up getting fired by later regimes. It is a silly business filled with damaged people who don't have the brains or talent to make television. CTV is a cheapo network with delusions of grandeur that thinks it's the Canadian equivalent of a US network. And it is, in that it broadcasts across the country and has a national newscast. But the similarities end there.

I knew Lisa LaFlamme in passing from as far back as her days in Kitchener. She had her moments - and people in the top job get them, so long as those moments are about quality and content and the work - but I never saw her throw a stapler and I doubt she had it in her. She was smart, sincere about the work, blessed with a great voice and confident on air command. I never saw anything but cordial friendliness from her. She deserved better and I bet some young punk corporate ass licker with limited intelligence and a good pucker thought he'd make up for this with the swing of his small dick. I read she earned $750 a year. She will have been paid out whatever remained on her contract and maybe even an early termination penalty.

I doubt she will go to another network. Who's got money for it anymore? Global isn't a player. CBC has its own firmament of long serving drones and bores so they can't really blast them into space to make room for LaFlamme (and having some knowledge of the entitlement within the CBC, her new stepchildren would make sure their new stepmommy never has a moment's happiness.)

The fury of being wrongly fired aside, LaFlamme will be fine. She has sat close and paid attention to everything significant happening in the world for a couple of decades. Her frame of reference is huge. She could get asked to run for the Liberals and land a cabinet role. She could get an Ambassador's job. She could get Governor General. She has been wronged, she is much admired, and some politician will find a way to play hero in a way that benefits LaFlamme too and allows her to take on a role that is more than just corporate shill (like I did... which was fun intellectually but not for long. She seems to have at least a partial public service vibe going on, but that's easy to afford when you makes 750,000 a year.)

Anyone who works in TV news is a fool. Few survive and it's not really worth it if you do.

Danielle Graham's departure report @ r146 is just more proof that reporting any malfeasance to HR or Ethics hotline is job suicide.

When did HR or the Ethics hotline result in things being done properly? All they do is collect the data to use against you.

Sad that Gayle King, who has to be one of the worst newscasters in the history of tv has job security only because of who she is friends with.

Who threw the stapler r149?

Expose them!!

While Lisa La Flamme is getting a great deal of attention, the reality is Canadian TV is notioursly brutal when it comes to the firing of TV personalities. Lisa is just the most recent example of this. There are tons of examples of on the air one day, gone the next: Jennifer Valentyne, Liza Fromer (from both City TV and Global), Anne Mroczkowski (from both City and Global), Laura Di Battista, Kevin Frankish, Roger Petersen, Leslie Roberts (though he was fired because of an ethics violation) etc.

[quote] then one of the co-hosts of The National until he was moved to the Saturday & Sunday hosting duties of The National

NOPE - Ian SOLO-ANCHORS Friday edition of The National

Which makes Ian the first man of color to SOLO anchor Nightly Newscast in Canada

[quote] I got a stapler thrown at my head by a morning anchor (she missed)

I'm NOT R149 - but I'm pretty sure the poster is talking about Pamela Wallin

R152, I thought about that but I don't want to say and here's why. That woman was an endless parade of really bad and bizarre behaviour... floods of tears, temper tantrums, the whole nine yards. One of those types where your first question every morning is 'what mood is she in?' I honestly believe she was mentally ill and if I was as nuts as she was I wouldn't want it outed so not trying to be coy, just kind, even for a mad dog who probably doesn't deserve it. She was just one of the anchors who read on their laughable news channel twenty or twenty five years ago. That place is a complete joke.

I know you probably won't answer, R149, but...Taber?

Pamela Wallin saying Good-Bye to her CTV Canada AM family - while holding a knife

No. Who was Taber? Don't remember that name.

Notice how R149 R156 is not denying it is Pamela Wallin is talking about

Even Macleans magazine had people saying off the record (when she was fired from CBC) that the woman has issues and carries demons with her. Adding that you could hear the champagne bottles popping the minute she left CBC

It wasn't Wallin.

👀

I hate her hair. She looks dreadful and contrarian.

Hilarious. I wonder if she gets the chair back?

I wouldn't want it back if I were her, R165.

Canadian television needed to get rid of a CIS white reporter and make room for a First Nations journalist

The downside of this is if she ever wanted to, Lisa LaFlamme is stuck with that gray hair now.

Hay gurl haaaaaaayyyyyy

President and CEO of Bell weighs in on LinkedIn: Mirko Bibic Mirko Bibic • 2nd President and Chief Executive Officer / Président et chef de la direction, BCE Inc. & Bell Canada 36m • 36 minutes ago

Follow

(La version française est dans un message séparé)

As the situation continues to unfold, it’s time for you to hear directly from me on all that has gone on at Bell Media over the last two weeks. There is certainly no denying that Lisa LaFlamme has made an important contribution to Canadian news for three decades. Since Bell Media’s decision to end her contract, there has been heavy criticism. The narrative has been that Lisa’s age, gender or grey hair played into the decision. I am satisfied that this is not the case and wanted to make sure you heard it from me. While I would like to say more on the Bell Media decision, we are bound by a mutual separation agreement negotiated with Lisa, which we will continue to honour.

Broadcasting in Canada is undergoing massive change and Bell Media needs to adapt or be left behind. We are at a crossroads where viewing behaviours have changed dramatically and traditional broadcasting is under severe stress worldwide. In an environment of declining ratings and global online platforms, we can’t keep relying on traditional broadcasting. The days when viewers wait until 11 PM to get their news are gone. While some may resist change, it is necessary and we need to confront this. The CTV national news team needs to work on an integrated and aligned basis, dedicated to a common strategy and Bell Media needs to provide our journalists with the resources they need on all platforms where news is consumed.

To address concerns raised regarding the working environment in the newsroom we have begun an independent review involving confidential interviews with all newsroom employees who choose to participate. Any necessary changes that become evident will be implemented swiftly to ensure a respectful, unified workplace.

I also want to address the situation of our Vice President of National News, Michael Melling, who has been the subject of various allegations. Michael is on leave effective immediately, pending the outcome of the workplace review that is proceeding.

I do hope this post provides context for the strategy at CTV News and the difficult decisions made.

Finally, I’d like to acknowledge the dedication of all my colleagues at BCE, Bell and Bell Media. This has been a difficult time for all concerned. Thank you for everything you do and for keeping Canadians connected and informed.

[quote]Michael is on leave effective immediately, pending the outcome of the workplace review that is proceeding.

So that's wildly different from to spend time eith hios family.

That company must be a cauldron of politics and schemers... they cannot get anything right.

r171 quotes state of the art corporate buzzaords and babble. People go to school for years to learn how to issue such press releases

Brutal:

On Monday, journalists within the CTV newsroom, through human rights lawyer Paul Champ, sent a letter to Bell Canada chief executive Mirko Bibic, Bell’s board of directors and Wade Oosterman, the president of Bell Media, expressing a lack of confidence in Mr. Melling’s leadership.

A copy of this letter was obtained by The Globe.

In a cover note from Mr. Champ, the lawyer says that he was acting for “a large number of CTV News journalists who have serious concerns about the recent dismissal of Chief Anchor Lisa LaFlamme and the toxic work culture that has developed at CTV over the past eight months.”

Mr. Champ wrote that these journalists had concerns about “denigrating comments and adverse treatment in the workplace, with intimidation and reprisal being a common response to any who question the decision-making or processes of the new Vice-President of CTV News.” Because of the deteriorating workplace culture and fear of reprisal, the letter writers have chosen to remain anonymous, it continued. The letter is signed “Members of the CTV News family.”

The journalists gave the executives and Bell’s board until Monday to respond to their demands.

The letter reads: “We are a group of concerned CTV News journalists reaching out to you through an intermediary. Professional retaliation has become a significant risk in the news division in the last eight months, so it is necessary for us to shield our identities. It is hoped that once you’ve read the contents of this letter, you will take immediate action.”

It states that they believed the removal of Ms. LaFlamme as anchor was unfair and rooted in “personal malice,” rather than any business-related reasons. The signatories were concerned her age may have been a prejudicial factor. It also raised concerns about Mr. Melling’s lack of experience in national and international news.

“In the eight months Mr. Melling has been head of news, morale has suffered enormously and now with the upheaval of Lisa’s dismissal, the reputation and well-earned credibility of CTV News is also at serious risk,” it reads. “To conclude: we have no confidence in Mr. Melling’s ability to lead the news division.”

Her watch game is weak as shit.

CTV is CONCERNED.

Before her ouster as anchor of CTV National News this week, Lisa LaFlamme presided over one of the most-watched newscasts in Canada, whose ratings significantly outpaced competitors – raising questions about the rationale presented by CTV’s parent company, Bell Media, which referred to the abrupt change as a business decision.

CTV and Bell Media deserve all the heat they are getting. How anyone thought that this was a good move is beyond me.

It's a decision that will reverberate for years.

Canadians, are you still harping about this? Move on and get a life.

Lisa's LaFlame will never burn out!!!

Is she 100?

She looks it!

What a hag!

Is Baba Yaga back reporting the news?

Today's wrinkle... LOL... Bell is so fucked. Two page spread of signatures from the great and the good, scolding them.

"A group of prominent Canadians including artists, journalists, civil rights activists, politicians and business executives is calling on Bell Canada to ‘make things right’ after the dismissal of CTV News anchor Lisa LaFlamme.

In an open letter published on Saturday in The Globe and Mail, they say Bell Media’s ‘business decision’ to fire the award-winning journalist “in the very prime of her career” has had a profound impact on everyone.

“In making their ‘business decision,’ Bell confirmed one sad truth: even after all the progress women have made, they continue to face sexism and ageism at work everyday in a way which is unacceptable. Period.”

The letter was signed by more than 70 prominent Canadians, including Grammy-winning singer Anne Murray, bestselling author Louise Penny, entrepreneur and philanthropist Jim Balsillie and former prime minister Kim Campbell."

- The phones will be burning up. I think there's every chance she gets her job back.

If Anne of Green Gables tweets, Bell will lose $50M in market cap.

Old Hag!

R185 did Megan Follows sign the letter?

GlobeMail is behind a paywall so I don't see the list o' names.

R187, here's a link to a photo of the signatories.

Jan Arden, Sarah MacLaughlin, Maureen McTeer and a number of former federal Liberal cabinet ministers weren't mentioned in the Globe story. The pressure of the double page spread is the real punch.

Anne Murray is alive and signing Sternly Worded Letters?

How long before the Duchess of Sussex weighs in?

It should have said

Anne Murray

International Megastar - Kneel Before Me Lessers!

Canada is becoming more American every day. We see this in Europe, too, American corporate culture pushing our social values to the side.

It reminds me that Raffaella Carra was once asked in an interview "is it true you are a Communist?" And she replied "I am a Communist because I will always vote for the workers over the corporations."

I worked at CTV twenty years ago. It was always a shitty, clubby place to work. High school.

Anything involving TV usually involves damaged people. I got in because I wanted to be on TV, to be recognized. I did, I was, it's awful, shallow, pointless and unfulfilling (full disclosure I was a small fish in a small pond.) 90% of journalists are biased and full of shit but think they're entitled because of the nature of their bias. They are not objective finders of fact. I know I wasn't. I had a decent trail of Liberals I went easy on and Conservatives I went hard on - because I decided to. Because I liked some and didn't like others. I did no service to the public. I don't know if I'm slightly better or far worse for understanding that. Half the people in my newsroom didn't even get it, but they did it too. I quit because the work was not fulfilling, the people were unpleasant, the money was shit and the hours were worse.

Ruh roh!!!

I wondered what it would be today....

[quote]Canadians, are you still harping about this? Move on and get a life.

All the threads trashing Madonna and Ben Affleck were getting boring so we'd rather talk about Flaming Lisa. I see you're irresistibly drawn to this thread, R180.

Lisa is a minority. She's a French Canadian grey-haired lez. By employing her, CTV is showing it supports diversity.

Lisa is a dirty lezzie and she’s wearing a WATCH!!

She’s a labia lover?!

I love this kind of workplace drama!

She never licked MY clit!

More ruh roh!!

I don't think Paul Champ ever loses!

With local television news, no one's job is truly secure. They used to keep people on 13 week contracts, I don't know if they still do that.

They can fire you because the station owner's wife decides she doesn't like your face. They can fire you because you get fat or too thin or your haircut looks bad to them. They don't actually need any reason.

And that's the way it is....

Sure, R203, but Lisa LaFlamme wasn't a local anchor.

Oh, sorry about that, my mistake R204.

Could Movado help this disturbed lezzie out?

A witch in a watch.

I thought she might be lez but somebody told me she's with an exec at one of the newspapers.

^ and it's a male exec.

Unfortunately there remains a uneven playing field. It is sexism, pure and simple.

And let's get real - LaFlamme was/is still a very attractive woman. Aside from the change in hair color, she maintained a similar appearance. She hadn't put on massive amounts of weight.

Male journalists can look like death warmed over and/or an unmade bed and yet they are still rolled out to appear onscreen.

She also rocked the hair colour.

It's odd that she's never married, R208.

Has anyone even commented on how Omar is doing? I refuse to watch but you don't hear anything about whether he is doing a good job or not.

He isn't slated to start until the 5th.

R212 Apparently she has said before that when she was in her 20s and 30s her main focus was her career and she decided she didn't want to marry or have children because it made it easier for her to move around or take assignments in dangerous places.

I’d love if some other news outlet picked her up. The only options would be CBC or Global, I guess.

She couldn't go to CBC without them doing to somebody else what CTV did to her... CBC's pasture is full of prize cows already and they don't take kindly to outsiders. Global would be a step down.

The only obvious upcoming spot for her at CBC (to me, anyway) would be when Bob McKeown retires from "The Fifth Estate". He's 71, so it could happen soon enough. The timing really does suck, as they could have brought her in for "As It Happens" (obviously still a step down, but better than Global) instead of promoting Nil Köksal.

They could get rid of Vassy and/or that dreadful Catherine Cullen.

I don't know, R215. Those sound like the excuses of a closeted lesbian. There are plenty of very ambitious, very busy women who are married. I wouldn't be surprised if she thought being openly gay would still damage her career, even in 2022. All speculation on my part, of course. But I agree her privacy should be respected. Before an interview, she should be able to tell the interviewer she doesn't want to discuss her private life at all and her wishes should be respected.

Omar's first night.

I did not watch.

Overwritten.

Basically, "something, something ageism....me, me, me, me."

He sounded nervous. I thought they might undo the mistake but apparently Bell and CTV prefer to be Canada's most hated brand. Which is consistent with them since the beginning of time so that's nice.

Yay!!!

I want to be happy for Lisa, but City seems like a step-down.