The Southern Chiefs Organization distributed printouts of comments left by CBC website readers in response to stories on aboriginal issues in Manitoba, British Columbia and other provinces. Dozens of the comments suggested natives were drunks, criminals or incapable of supporting themselves.
"Those (comments) definitely have no place in the public domain," said Grand Chief Morris Swan-Shannacappo.
Swan-Shannacappo said he has seen similar comments on other media websites which allow readers to post their thoughts, but his organization is singling out the CBC partly because it is federally funded and should be held to a high standard of accountability.
Steve Ashton, Manitoba's acting attorney general, called the comments offensive and racist, but said there is little the province can do. Because the CBC is federally regulated, the chiefs organization should take its complaint to the federal human rights commission, the RCMP or the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, he said.
It never stops...