A Liberal-appointed senator apologized Wednesday for censoring a newspaper commentary written by a Conservative opponent. Senator Lucie Moncion invoked her authority as chair of the Senate’s committee on internal economy in rewriting an opinion piece she deemed “incorrect.”

“I would like to issue a statement of apology,” Moncion told the Senate. “I assure all senators the committee is taking necessary steps to ensure this doesn’t occur again,” she added.

Senator Moncion noted last month that members of the government have a duty to correct media thinking. She revised an August 21 commentary in the Ottawa weekly Hill Times that complained of Senate overspending. 

Senator Donald Plett, Opposition Leader in the Senate, penned the op-ed headlined, “Trudeau’s Experimental Senate Changes Are Turning Out To Be A Dud.”

“Inaccurate information was presented,” Moncion told the Senate on September 18. “We had to remain vigilant,” she added.

Hill Times complied with the request to edit, which did not involve any libel or misstatement of facts, reported Blacklock’s Reporter. 

“They wanted to change the meaning of the text, trying to minimize the increase in Senate expenses since Justin Trudeau took power,” Senator Plett said last month. “This is outrageous.” 

Moncion offered a “personal, unreserved and unqualified apology Wednesday. “I offer it with genuine intent and humility,” she said. Senator Plett accepted the apology last evening, reported Blacklock’s Reporter.

Hill Times is subsidized under a federal $595 million federal bailout. It benefits from more than $1 million in taxpayer handouts and sole-sourced government contracts annually, as Canada’s most heavily subsidized weekly.

Publishers who pocket subsidies must prove “a consistent practice of providing rebuttal opportunity for those being criticized,” according to a 2019 document Guidance On The Income Tax Measures To Support Journalism issued by the Canada Revenue Agency that manages payouts.

Plett called it “part of a larger pattern with this Liberal government of doing anything to silence dissent and opposition.” The Hill Times earlier admitted it deleted a 2020 column critical of then-governor general Julie Payette at the request of an unidentified official.

Senators expressed astonishment that Liberal appointees were comfortable in editing the subsidized press. 

“We can disagree in terms of public opinion, public interviews, exchanges and op-eds,” said Senator Leo Housakos, chair of the Senate transport and communications committee. “But I don’t have the right to instruct my staff to call any news outlet in the country to edit anything you say.”

Senator Pamela Wallin, a Canadian Broadcast Hall of Famer, said plain censorship was practiced under the guise of fact-checking. 

“The basic concept here is free speech, the right to say what you believe,” said Senator Wallin. “That is fundamentally expressed in an op-ed, an opinion piece. That is where people can say what they believe, what they feel,” she added.

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