Premier Kathleen Wynne denies interfering with TVO documentary
By Antonella Artuso, Queen's Park Bureau Chief
First posted: Friday, May 22, 2015 06:23 PM EDT
TORONTO - Premier Kathleen Wynne is denying she had anything to do with a decision by TVOntario to pull the plug on an independent documentary that looked at the lead up to her 2015 spring budget.
“I still hope it will go ahead,” Wynne said Friday.
The premier said she learned only Thursday, well after her staff had reviewed some of the footage, that the project was up in the air.
When asked if the documentary may have run afoul of her office because it focused on the Sudbury byelection where police allege Liberal operatives offered a would-be candidate a job to go away, Wynne said she did not know what the issues were with the footage.
She said her staff didn’t try to interfere in the editorial process.
TVOntario issued a release Friday confirming it was ending its agreement with documentary producer White Pine Pictures and would seek the return of a $114,075 advance.
The public broadcaster claimed in its statement that the company failed to live up to its contractual obligations including having a director and obtaining signed access agreements for several people who participated.
A spokesperson for Toronto-based White Pine Pictures said the company is withholding comment for now, but its website says it has been producing documentaries successfully for 30 years.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the blame for the failure of the documentary lies with Wynne, not TVO or the producer, and puts the lie to the premier’s ongoing claim she runs an open government.
“It’s quite frightening that the most ‘transparent and open premier in the history of the world’ has decided that she doesn’t want to see this film see the light of the day,” Horwath said. “That’s worrisome.”
Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown said in a statement that he also saw no evidence of Wynne’s promised open and transparent government.
“The stifling of the TVO documentary on her government appears to be yet another example of her showing she doesn’t really believe in the transparency she likes to talk about,” he said.
Wynne said she was convinced to participate in the documentary, which followed the premier in the months before her spring budget, because a similar project had been undertaken with former premier Bill Davis.
Such a project is important because it helps people understand how government works beyond the daily headlines, she said.
Premier Kathleen Wynne denies interfering with TVO documentary | Ontario | News
OPP wants to see part of TVO Wynne documentary
By Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun
First posted: Saturday, May 23, 2015 12:00 AM EDT | Updated: Friday, May 22, 2015 09:09 PM EDT
TORONTO - Ontario Provincial Police investigators want to see footage from an un-aired documentary on Premier Kathleen Wynne that may shed some light on an investigation into February’s Sudbury byelection.
At question is a portion of the documentary White Pines Pictures has been working on for TVO called Premier: The Unscripted Kathleen Wynne which reportedly delves in-part into the controversy surrounding allegations made by former Liberal candidate Andrew Olivier that Wynne’s deputy chief of staff Pat Sorbara and Sudbury Liberal organizer Gerry Lougheed offered him a job so that he would step aside to allow another candidate to run for the party.
Both Sorbara and Lougheed have denied any wrongdoing.
“If anything comes up in an investigation that pertains to what is already being probed, we would always want to see it,” said an OPP source, adding they are currently perusing investigative methods to do so. “We are not making any judgments or doing any speculating. Looking at material is a part of doing an investigation.”
Commissioner Vince Hawkes said Friday that the OPP would not comment on the investigation other than to say, “All investigative avenues are being examined and any new information should be brought to the attention of the OPP (anti-rackets branch) for consideration.”
In a January press release White Pine Pictures said its president Peter Raymont had begun production on a documentary that “explores the decision-making process in the lead up to the Ontario 2015 budget. With exclusive behind-the-scenes access, the film will follow Premier Kathleen Wynne and her senior team.”
“I expect that following the TVO broadcast, this film will be used to teach civics in classrooms across the country,” Raymont is quoted as saying.
It may instead teach about censorship and political interference in Ontario after, as the Toronto Star reported, the film’s director Roxana Spicer and film editor Michael Hannan walked away from the project over journalistic concerns after a meeting with senior Liberal government officials where a portion of the film was viewed but release forms were not signed.
You might expect such government control in Maoist China and those putting the film together took their stand against i happening in Ontario by stepping away.
In a news release Friday, TVO said it is terminating the agreement with White Pine Pictures on the Wynne documentary and wants reimbursement for $114,075 it has already advanced.
The Sudbury byelection is just one of three active OPP investigations underway on the Liberal government — the Ornge helicopter case and another on deleted e-mails from the premier’s office being the other two.
As reported by the Toronto Sun’s Antonella Artuso, Tracy McLaughlin and Christina Blizzard on Feb. 5, 2015, the OPP in an Information to Obtain expressed a view that independent Olivier, who ran as a Liberal under Wynne in the 2014 general election, was “lured” to vacate.
The documents were submitted to the court by OPP anti-rackets Det.-Const. Erin Thomas who wrote: “I do believe that Gerry Lougheed and Patricia Sorbara both engaged in soliciting and negotiating with Andrew Olivier in their respective conversations,” and “I believe the words spoken by both Lougheed and Sorbara to Olivier assists me in my belief the Criminal Code offence has been committed.”
No charges have been laid.
An OPP source said their options include asking White Pine if they can view the video, subpoena the documentary or do it through an Information To Obtain search warrant.
Wynne’s spokesperson Zita Astravas said Friday: “We worked closely and continue to work with the producer, Peter Raymont, to determine the parameters of the film – which was supposed to be behind the scenes look at preparation of the budget. Over the course of filming, we had concerns that the project was deviating from those original parameters in a number of areas. We shared those concerns with Peter Raymont, our sole contact for this project – not TVO. There was always a clear understanding we would have no editorial control but would be allowed to review portions of the film with government lawyers for issues like breaches of cabinet confidentiality or privacy legislation.
That review was supposed to happen next week and we were set to sign the final agreement and release forms. We’re really hoping that can still happen as we would like to see the film go to air.”
But Tory MPP Steve Clark said let the police and the public see the footage for themselves.
Since the premier’s office “denies their interest and interference with this project has anything to do with something explosive that’s been captured on film ... then get out of the way of a documentary that’s been paid for by the taxpayers.”
Something in this film has caused the premier not to sign the necessary legal documents that would allow the filmmakers produce the documentary and the public might never get a chance to view it.
But the OPP just may.
OPP wants to see part of TVO Wynne documentary | WARMINGTON | Ontario | News | T
BLIZZARD
Queen's Park should get out of the TV business
By Christina Blizzard, Queen's Park Columnist
First posted: Saturday, May 23, 2015 07:00 PM EDT | Updated: Saturday, May 23, 2015 09:35 PM EDT
TORONTO - It turns out this province has a lot in common with the former Soviet Union.
We too, buy, sell and censor news coverage.
Our very own state-funded TV station, TVO, has been caught in the middle of a nasty little spat in which Premier Kathleen Wynne’s office stepped in to scrap a documentary about the government.
Just a couple of weeks ago, at the PC Party leadership debate hosted by TVO’s Steve Paikin, reporters were invited to the premiere of the film, Premier, The Unscripted Kathleen Wynne, June 6.
Now it’s off the table.
TVO commissioned the documentary to be made by White Pine Pictures.
Director Roxana Spicer resigned from the project after airing a small segment of the documentary to Wynne’s office, as agreed to in the contract. When the premier’s office asked to see the entire documentary, Spicer balked and quit. Wynne refused to sign the required releases to allow the film to be aired.
There are reports the part of the film the premier’s office objected to focused on the Sudbury byelection Scandal.
Wynne told reporters Friday she’s not seen any of the footage.
She said the idea was to produce a documentary on how the budget is put together.
The last such documentary was made during the Bill Davis years and Wynne said there’s a need to update it.
“I think it’s important for people to see how government works; I think it’s important for people to have insights into how government works, because as thorough as daily or frequent briefings are in terms of media availability, that doesn’t tell the whole story,” she said.
Clearly, this is a failure to communicate. Spicer thought Wynne wanted an honest documentary. The Premier’s Office was expecting a puff piece. It’s an easy mistake to make.
There are three ongoing OPP investigations involving her government. If you made a documentary about the Liberal government, it’s more likely to be Law & Order: Queen’s Park or CSI: Deleted E-mails, than an infomercial for good government.
In a statement released Friday, TVO says it wants the $114,075 it paid White Pine returned.
“TVO consistently supported the director’s vision for the film. Once she left the project, we felt we had no choice but to do so as well. In addition to the fact that this project no longer has a director, several of White Pine Pictures’ other obligations were not met and therefore regrettably we are terminating the agreement,” said TVO’s VP of Current Affairs and Documentaries John Ferri by e-mail.
White Pine’s Executive Producer Peter Raymont was not available for comment. Spicer could not be reached.
This all goes to show it’s not Hydro One the province should be selling off. It’s TVO.
What is the government doing in the TV business?
The station had a conflict of interest when it comes to covering provincial politics. They’re covering the people who sign their paycheques.
Government should not be competing with the private sector. They have a bottomless pit of taxpayers’ money to rely on and the private sector is scrambling for advertising dollars.
Meanwhile, the day before this story broke, what was the big question Paikin had for the premier?
He wanted to know if the provincial flag needed to be updated to be more inclusive.
Look, I’m a huge fan of Paikin. He’s brilliantly talented and greatly admired.
But we’ve got kids out of school in a teacher strike, the sell-off of Hydro One on the horizon — and he’s worried about the provincial flag?
It’s fine the way it is. Unless you want run a pirate flag up the flagpole and see what happens.
Andrea Horwath said her party was not part of the documentary.
“It’s quite frightening that the most transparent premier in the history of the world has decided she doesn’t want this film to see the light of day,” Horwath told reporters.
She called it, “Stephen Harper tactics.” Except I can’t recall Harper ever forbidding CBC to run a documentary about him.
PC leader Patrick Brown said it’s “yet another example of (Wynne) showing she doesn’t really believe in the transparency she likes to talks about.”
Welcome to Queen’s Park, Mr. Brown.
This is as transparent as it gets.
Queen's Park should get out of the TV business | BLIZZARD | Ontario | News | Tor
By Antonella Artuso, Queen's Park Bureau Chief
First posted: Friday, May 22, 2015 06:23 PM EDT
TORONTO - Premier Kathleen Wynne is denying she had anything to do with a decision by TVOntario to pull the plug on an independent documentary that looked at the lead up to her 2015 spring budget.
“I still hope it will go ahead,” Wynne said Friday.
The premier said she learned only Thursday, well after her staff had reviewed some of the footage, that the project was up in the air.
When asked if the documentary may have run afoul of her office because it focused on the Sudbury byelection where police allege Liberal operatives offered a would-be candidate a job to go away, Wynne said she did not know what the issues were with the footage.
She said her staff didn’t try to interfere in the editorial process.
TVOntario issued a release Friday confirming it was ending its agreement with documentary producer White Pine Pictures and would seek the return of a $114,075 advance.
The public broadcaster claimed in its statement that the company failed to live up to its contractual obligations including having a director and obtaining signed access agreements for several people who participated.
A spokesperson for Toronto-based White Pine Pictures said the company is withholding comment for now, but its website says it has been producing documentaries successfully for 30 years.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the blame for the failure of the documentary lies with Wynne, not TVO or the producer, and puts the lie to the premier’s ongoing claim she runs an open government.
“It’s quite frightening that the most ‘transparent and open premier in the history of the world’ has decided that she doesn’t want to see this film see the light of the day,” Horwath said. “That’s worrisome.”
Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown said in a statement that he also saw no evidence of Wynne’s promised open and transparent government.
“The stifling of the TVO documentary on her government appears to be yet another example of her showing she doesn’t really believe in the transparency she likes to talk about,” he said.
Wynne said she was convinced to participate in the documentary, which followed the premier in the months before her spring budget, because a similar project had been undertaken with former premier Bill Davis.
Such a project is important because it helps people understand how government works beyond the daily headlines, she said.
Premier Kathleen Wynne denies interfering with TVO documentary | Ontario | News
OPP wants to see part of TVO Wynne documentary
First posted: Saturday, May 23, 2015 12:00 AM EDT | Updated: Friday, May 22, 2015 09:09 PM EDT
TORONTO - Ontario Provincial Police investigators want to see footage from an un-aired documentary on Premier Kathleen Wynne that may shed some light on an investigation into February’s Sudbury byelection.
At question is a portion of the documentary White Pines Pictures has been working on for TVO called Premier: The Unscripted Kathleen Wynne which reportedly delves in-part into the controversy surrounding allegations made by former Liberal candidate Andrew Olivier that Wynne’s deputy chief of staff Pat Sorbara and Sudbury Liberal organizer Gerry Lougheed offered him a job so that he would step aside to allow another candidate to run for the party.
Both Sorbara and Lougheed have denied any wrongdoing.
“If anything comes up in an investigation that pertains to what is already being probed, we would always want to see it,” said an OPP source, adding they are currently perusing investigative methods to do so. “We are not making any judgments or doing any speculating. Looking at material is a part of doing an investigation.”
Commissioner Vince Hawkes said Friday that the OPP would not comment on the investigation other than to say, “All investigative avenues are being examined and any new information should be brought to the attention of the OPP (anti-rackets branch) for consideration.”
In a January press release White Pine Pictures said its president Peter Raymont had begun production on a documentary that “explores the decision-making process in the lead up to the Ontario 2015 budget. With exclusive behind-the-scenes access, the film will follow Premier Kathleen Wynne and her senior team.”
“I expect that following the TVO broadcast, this film will be used to teach civics in classrooms across the country,” Raymont is quoted as saying.
It may instead teach about censorship and political interference in Ontario after, as the Toronto Star reported, the film’s director Roxana Spicer and film editor Michael Hannan walked away from the project over journalistic concerns after a meeting with senior Liberal government officials where a portion of the film was viewed but release forms were not signed.
You might expect such government control in Maoist China and those putting the film together took their stand against i happening in Ontario by stepping away.
In a news release Friday, TVO said it is terminating the agreement with White Pine Pictures on the Wynne documentary and wants reimbursement for $114,075 it has already advanced.
The Sudbury byelection is just one of three active OPP investigations underway on the Liberal government — the Ornge helicopter case and another on deleted e-mails from the premier’s office being the other two.
As reported by the Toronto Sun’s Antonella Artuso, Tracy McLaughlin and Christina Blizzard on Feb. 5, 2015, the OPP in an Information to Obtain expressed a view that independent Olivier, who ran as a Liberal under Wynne in the 2014 general election, was “lured” to vacate.
The documents were submitted to the court by OPP anti-rackets Det.-Const. Erin Thomas who wrote: “I do believe that Gerry Lougheed and Patricia Sorbara both engaged in soliciting and negotiating with Andrew Olivier in their respective conversations,” and “I believe the words spoken by both Lougheed and Sorbara to Olivier assists me in my belief the Criminal Code offence has been committed.”
No charges have been laid.
An OPP source said their options include asking White Pine if they can view the video, subpoena the documentary or do it through an Information To Obtain search warrant.
Wynne’s spokesperson Zita Astravas said Friday: “We worked closely and continue to work with the producer, Peter Raymont, to determine the parameters of the film – which was supposed to be behind the scenes look at preparation of the budget. Over the course of filming, we had concerns that the project was deviating from those original parameters in a number of areas. We shared those concerns with Peter Raymont, our sole contact for this project – not TVO. There was always a clear understanding we would have no editorial control but would be allowed to review portions of the film with government lawyers for issues like breaches of cabinet confidentiality or privacy legislation.
That review was supposed to happen next week and we were set to sign the final agreement and release forms. We’re really hoping that can still happen as we would like to see the film go to air.”
But Tory MPP Steve Clark said let the police and the public see the footage for themselves.
Since the premier’s office “denies their interest and interference with this project has anything to do with something explosive that’s been captured on film ... then get out of the way of a documentary that’s been paid for by the taxpayers.”
Something in this film has caused the premier not to sign the necessary legal documents that would allow the filmmakers produce the documentary and the public might never get a chance to view it.
But the OPP just may.
OPP wants to see part of TVO Wynne documentary | WARMINGTON | Ontario | News | T
BLIZZARD
Queen's Park should get out of the TV business
By Christina Blizzard, Queen's Park Columnist
First posted: Saturday, May 23, 2015 07:00 PM EDT | Updated: Saturday, May 23, 2015 09:35 PM EDT
TORONTO - It turns out this province has a lot in common with the former Soviet Union.
We too, buy, sell and censor news coverage.
Our very own state-funded TV station, TVO, has been caught in the middle of a nasty little spat in which Premier Kathleen Wynne’s office stepped in to scrap a documentary about the government.
Just a couple of weeks ago, at the PC Party leadership debate hosted by TVO’s Steve Paikin, reporters were invited to the premiere of the film, Premier, The Unscripted Kathleen Wynne, June 6.
Now it’s off the table.
TVO commissioned the documentary to be made by White Pine Pictures.
Director Roxana Spicer resigned from the project after airing a small segment of the documentary to Wynne’s office, as agreed to in the contract. When the premier’s office asked to see the entire documentary, Spicer balked and quit. Wynne refused to sign the required releases to allow the film to be aired.
There are reports the part of the film the premier’s office objected to focused on the Sudbury byelection Scandal.
Wynne told reporters Friday she’s not seen any of the footage.
She said the idea was to produce a documentary on how the budget is put together.
The last such documentary was made during the Bill Davis years and Wynne said there’s a need to update it.
“I think it’s important for people to see how government works; I think it’s important for people to have insights into how government works, because as thorough as daily or frequent briefings are in terms of media availability, that doesn’t tell the whole story,” she said.
Clearly, this is a failure to communicate. Spicer thought Wynne wanted an honest documentary. The Premier’s Office was expecting a puff piece. It’s an easy mistake to make.
There are three ongoing OPP investigations involving her government. If you made a documentary about the Liberal government, it’s more likely to be Law & Order: Queen’s Park or CSI: Deleted E-mails, than an infomercial for good government.
In a statement released Friday, TVO says it wants the $114,075 it paid White Pine returned.
“TVO consistently supported the director’s vision for the film. Once she left the project, we felt we had no choice but to do so as well. In addition to the fact that this project no longer has a director, several of White Pine Pictures’ other obligations were not met and therefore regrettably we are terminating the agreement,” said TVO’s VP of Current Affairs and Documentaries John Ferri by e-mail.
White Pine’s Executive Producer Peter Raymont was not available for comment. Spicer could not be reached.
This all goes to show it’s not Hydro One the province should be selling off. It’s TVO.
What is the government doing in the TV business?
The station had a conflict of interest when it comes to covering provincial politics. They’re covering the people who sign their paycheques.
Government should not be competing with the private sector. They have a bottomless pit of taxpayers’ money to rely on and the private sector is scrambling for advertising dollars.
Meanwhile, the day before this story broke, what was the big question Paikin had for the premier?
He wanted to know if the provincial flag needed to be updated to be more inclusive.
Look, I’m a huge fan of Paikin. He’s brilliantly talented and greatly admired.
But we’ve got kids out of school in a teacher strike, the sell-off of Hydro One on the horizon — and he’s worried about the provincial flag?
It’s fine the way it is. Unless you want run a pirate flag up the flagpole and see what happens.
Andrea Horwath said her party was not part of the documentary.
“It’s quite frightening that the most transparent premier in the history of the world has decided she doesn’t want this film to see the light of day,” Horwath told reporters.
She called it, “Stephen Harper tactics.” Except I can’t recall Harper ever forbidding CBC to run a documentary about him.
PC leader Patrick Brown said it’s “yet another example of (Wynne) showing she doesn’t really believe in the transparency she likes to talks about.”
Welcome to Queen’s Park, Mr. Brown.
This is as transparent as it gets.
Queen's Park should get out of the TV business | BLIZZARD | Ontario | News | Tor
