I read over the weekend that Ben Chin, the one-time CBC anchor, has become the Liberal Party of Ontario's by-election candidate in Toronto-Danforth. (The riding was vacated by the NDP's Marilyn Churley for her recent unsuccessful federal run.) Most people seem to be saying he won't win the riding, but bank on it to be close.
The reason I am bringing this up is that I will always remember Ben Chin as an excellent broadcast journalist for the way he handled Elinor Caplan in an interview during the 2000 election after she called Canadian Alliance members "bigots and Holocaust deniers."
I was following that story closely, as was everyone else involved at the time. Caplan's comments were a disgrace. But of all the interviews I saw her give on the topic, Chin was the one and only reporter to ask Caplan how she make such a statement given her own party's shameful record on Jewish refugees during World War II. Caplan looked stonefaced! It was a great TV moment. I guess he wasn't that upset about it personally, though, or he wouldn't be running for them, would he?
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:23 AM
