Comment For years, until her inconclusive firing this week, Lisa LaFlamme was in living rooms across Canada. The sudden firing of one of the country’s most prominent television journalists — who has anchored Canada’s most popular nightly newscast since 2011 and this year won a Canadian Screen Award for best national news anchor — has sparked backlash and a national debate about sexism. and age discrimination in the media. LaFlamme, who has covered the biggest stories of her day, including elections, wars and natural disasters, posted a video on Twitter Monday announcing that she had been told in late June that her career at CTV News was over after the parent company Bell Media decided to terminate. her contract. She had worked for the network for 35 years and had less than two years left on her contract, according to the Globe and Mail. “I was blindsided and still shocked and saddened by Bell Media’s decision,” LaFlamme said, adding that she was asked to keep her firing confidential for weeks. “At 58, I still thought I’d have a lot more time to tell more of the stories that affect our daily lives,” she told followers. “While it is overwhelming to leave CTV National News in a way that is not my choice, please know that reporting on you has truly been the greatest honor of my life and I thank you for always being there.” In a statement on Monday, CTV said it had made a “business decision” to take a “different direction” for the role of lead news anchor, citing “changing viewing habits.” The network announced the same day that national affairs correspondent Omar Sahedina, 39, would take on the role. LaFlamme’s firing drew condemnation from viewers, colleagues in the media industry and prominent figures in Canada, including retired Grammy-winning singer Anne Murray. Canadian media continue to cover the fallout, with reports citing various factors behind LaFlamme’s firing, including clashes between the anchor and CTV News chief Michael Melling over resources to cover the war in Ukraine, among other issues . But an avenue of speculation has struck a nerve with Canadian women who wonder: Was it the hair? LaFlamme made headlines when she stopped dying her hair in 2020. During a special year-in-review show, she told viewers that the pandemic prevented her from visiting her hairdresser and that she was tired of spraying her roots every day before going out air. , according to the Globe and Mail. “I finally said, ‘Why bother? I’m getting gray,” he said. “Honestly, if I had known the lockdown could be so liberating on this front, I would have done it much sooner.” The move resonated with Canadian women who have faced societal pressure to dye their hair. But it apparently ruffled the feathers of top CTV News executive Michael Melling, the Globe and Mail reported. A senior CTV official told the newspaper that Melling asked who had approved the decision to “gray Lisa’s hair” and later commented on the purple hue of LaFlamme’s locks under the studio lighting. Shortly after Michael Melling became head of CTV News, he raised questions about anchor Lisa LaFlamme’s hair. According to a senior CTV executive present at the meeting, Mr. Melling asked who had approved the decision to “gray Lisa’s hair.” https://t.co/XQb9zb9N65 — Robyn Doolittle (@robyndoolittle) August 18, 2022 Canadians took to Twitter this week to celebrate the former host embracing her gray hair and age. “Lisa LaFlamme allowed herself to age on camera and in doing so gave me the confidence to shine in my natural beauty as I age,” Twitter user Sarah M wrote Monday, calling CTV News’ decision “a huge error”. Others worried that firing LaFlamme would send a message to middle-aged women that they could face professional consequences if they chose a more natural look. Hey @CTVNews at the start of the pandemic, I gave up being bottled blonde and embraced gray. I was inspired by women like Lisa LaFlamme that we watched every day. We were graying together. Women across Canada will remember the message you sent us by firing her. pic.twitter.com/s6NQUAfvIB — Christine Cooper 💪🙋♀️🦹♀️ (@coopSpeak) August 18, 2022 Many argued that sexism and ageism played a role in LaFlamme’s firing. Some media pundits pointed out that her predecessor, Lloyd Robertson, retired from the role of chief anchor at the age of 77 and was given an on-air discharge. Bell Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. LaFlamme “has made significant contributions to Canadian television news over the past 35 years,” read a statement tweeted Monday by Bell Media, signed by company president Wade Oosterman and senior vice-president Karine Moses. The company will launch an independent, third-party “internal review of our newsroom workplace,” the statement continued. LaFlamme’s firing led some to call for Melling’s removal, and Canadian media reported that CTV News was forced to do damage control with its own employees. Moses said in an email to staff that LaFlamme was given the opportunity to say goodbye to viewers before leaving the anchor chair, but that she “chose not to say goodbye to the audience,” Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. of the anchor was part of a shift toward digital content creation at the news agency, Moses wrote. The backlash to LaFlamme’s firing has sparked its own backlash. In right-wing circles, figures such as Maxime Bernier, head of the far-right People’s Party of Canada, are seizing the moment to draw attention to the layoffs by Canadian companies of thousands of workers who refused coronavirus vaccines. Some prominent media figures, meanwhile, lamented that the controversy surrounding LaFlamme’s ouster obscured the importance of hiring her replacement. Sachedina, an award-winning reporter who has worked at CTV News since 2009, was born in Canada to parents of Ugandan Indian descent — a background underrepresented in Canadian media. “A Muslim running the biggest National news program – history,” tweeted Global News reporter Ahmar Khan. “But diversity doesn’t close the loopholes of mistreatment.” Sammy Westfall and Amanda Coletta contributed to this report.
