NDP Leader Andrea Horwath was referred to as a “whore” on air at a Toronto radio station Wednesday morning.The comment came during a panel discussion as part of the John Oakley Morning show on AM640.
Lou Schizas, a frequent guest on the show, was on air along with retired Canadian Auto Workers union president Buzz Hargrove and Catherine Swift, chair of the board for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
In audio of the panel posted to an Internet blog, Schizas refers to a prior discussion about the NDP leader, and says “Just to get back to our previous quick quotes on Andrea Horwath. I think whore is the operative syllable there.”
Oakley then jumps in, telling Schizas not to “take it that far,” to which Schizas replied “What do you mean? She was bought.”
Oakley then says, “All right, bought and paid for. All right, it’s pejorative and I just didn’t want to go there.”
Schizas apologizes, and Oakley tells him, “That’s all right.”
“I was taken back,” said Hargrove, who added he regularly goes head-to-head with Schizas on air, but didn’t say anything because Oakley addressed his comments.
Swift, Hargrove and former premier Ernest “Ernie” Eves are regular contributors on Oakley’s weekly “The Econoclash Panel.”
Hargrove told the Star the comment came after Oakley asked a question about former premier Dalton McGuinty’s legacy, and the NDP’s support of the Liberal government.
Schizas, AM640, and Corus Entertainment, the station’s parent company, did not return requests for comment.
NDP MPP Taras Natyshak sent an open letter to the radio station Wednesday, saying Schizas “crossed the line” in using the word to refer to his party’s leader.
“We can disagree on political points. We can have heated debates and we at the NDP don’t shy away from a fight. But let’s not forget respect,” it reads.
Schizas is the voice of the “Happy Capitalism” segment on the John Oakley Morning Show. He also has a website with the same name.
The audio from the panel discussion has not been posted to Schizas’s page or on Oakley’s show page on AM640’s website.
Schizas is an equities analyst, investor and entrepreneur, according to his website, “and a true believer in the happiness-inspiring powers of capitalism.”
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council deals with complaints about its member stations, and AM640 is a member of the council. Its executive director, John MacNab, said it is too early to know if any complaints about Schizas’s comments have come in, but he did say the council would act even if only one complaint was made.
He said all members of the CBSC must adhere to its code, which states that radio broadcasters must take care to ensure programming does not contain “unduly coarse and offensive language.”
He did not comment on whether the comments would warrant a reprimand, saying that each complaint is evaluated and consequences are decided on a case-by-case basis. Reported by Toronto Star 2 days ago.