How a cross-border CBC program sparked intense anger before it aired

We use this editor’s blog to explain our journalism and what’s happening at CBC News. You can find more blogs here.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Have you lost your f–king mind?”

These were two messages among a few hundred we received over the weekend in advance of a special cross-border edition of Cross Country Checkup. 

Our long-running Sunday national call-in show hosted by Ian Hanomansing is not normally a flashpoint of controversy, though it has certainly tackled difficult and divisive topics in the past, giving a voice to a wide range of perspectives from regular Canadians from across the country. 

But this special edition, which was co-hosted by Jeremy Hobson and simulcast on NPR stations and C-SPAN across the U.S., was an outrage for many people — in Canada at least — before a single word had been spoken on air. 

What prompted the anger (and, in a few cases, startling claims CBC was engaged in “treason,” “sedition” and “betrayal”) were two things: the program’s title and the proposed question to the audience. 

The program title, “51st State: A Cross-Border Conversation,” angered a number of people who felt it legitimized the idea of annexation of Canada by the United States. Some called it clickbait; others felt it suggested CBC was “platforming” U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated and hostile mocking of Canadian sovereignty as a legitimate policy proposal worthy of debate and consideration. 

That’s not at all what was intended. As regular listeners to Cross Country Checkup know, the program asks its listeners to respond to newsy topics and questions. And they do, often with great passion and personal stories that shed new light on the news of the day and how it impacts regular people who don’t often get a microphone. 

The producers of Sunday’s show not only wanted to surface the great swell of upset and changing views about the United States that have washed over Canada in the weeks since the new administration began threatening Canada with tariffs and takeover, they also wanted to open a channel to regular Americans so people on both sides of the border could hear from each other without politicians in the mix. 

The way the original question to the audience was framed — “What does Canada as the 51st state mean to you?” — also upset a number of CBC fans who viewed it as legitimizing an idea anathema to the vast majority of Canadians. Again, this was not the producers’ intent. They quickly adjusted and changed the question to: “What do you think of Trump’s comments about Canada becoming the 51st state?”

There are important lessons in all of this about the precision of language, the framing of questions and the challenges of conveying complex ideas when you have only a few words to use in a program title or description. There are also lessons about how good intent can be derailed by word choice. 

The flood of heated complaints by people who had not yet heard the program is also an interesting litmus test of the state of our nation: many Canadians are apparently so fed up by Trump’s 51st state rhetoric, they will no longer tolerate it and greatly fear it being given a serious airing.

As for the program itself, the producers and I believe it was an entirely worthwhile exercise. They opened the show by addressing the controversy head-on. As Hanomansing said, “There’s no question that the original show question … struck a nerve. It was never our intent to normalize the idea that Canada would ever become the 51st state.”

“We are very careful about how we do a program like this. We are not in any way endorsing what Trump has been saying,” he said. “The whole point of our show … is to hear what those of you who are listening and watching have to [say]. This is a place where people can speak out on issues where politicians up until now have been doing most of the talking.”

And the program did just that. It surfaced all of these views and difficult emotions, allowing Canadians and Americans to hear from each other at a pivotal, historic moment in our relationship. Said one caller from Salt Lake City, “Thanks for having the show. I find it really interesting to hear from Canadians.” 

I encourage you to listen and/or watch — and then make up your own mind:

LISTEN | Cross Country Checkup

WATCH ON YOUTUBE | Your thoughts on Trump’s ‘Canada as the 51st state’ comments | Cross Country Checkup