CTV fires Newsnet anchor after she makes off-the-cuff comments that minorities found offensive

The Canadian Press

Tuesday January 18 3:37 AM ET

CTV fires Newsnet anchor after she makes off-the-cuff comments that minorities found offensive

TORONTO (CP) - CTV has fired one of its Newsnet anchors after she made off-the-cuff comments deemed offensive by a number of minority groups. Avery Haines, on probation at the network, was fired Monday by Henry Kowalski, vice-president of CTV News.

"The nature of her comments did not leave CTV News with any alternative," he said in a news release.

In the tape that aired Saturday morning, Haines mocks her flubbing of a news script a moment earlier, saying: "I kind of like the stuttering thing. It's like equal opportunity, right?

"We've got a stuttering newscaster. We've got the black, we've got the Asian, we've got the woman. I could be a lesbian, folk-dancing, black woman stutterer." She added, laughing: "In a wheelchair ... with gimping, rubber legs. Yeah, really. I'd have a successful career, let me tell you."

Haines told the Toronto Sun on Monday that she re-taped the story introduction with no mistakes. But, somehow, the original version with her joking was broadcast nationwide later in the morning.

"I'm sorry," she said in an interview. "I was knocking myself and I wasn't taking aim at any group."

Angry viewers complained after Haines made the comments, prompting her to apologize twice in the hours after the gaffe.

A number of organizations, including the Council of Canadians with Disabilities and the Canadian Abilities Foundation, also complained that Haines's remarks were hurtful, insensitive and could reflect widespread bigotry against minorities in Canada.

Her comments demonstrated that racism is still alive and well in Canada, the executive director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.

"I find it disturbing that Avery Haines's remarks are only attracting attention because she was caught in the act," Moy Tam said Monday.

"Would CTV even consider apologizing for her comments if she had made them off the air?"

But Kowalski said her comments were unacceptable.

"Her remarks were disrespectful and unprofessional and cannot be excused," he said.

The network is continuing to investigate the incident.

January 18, 2000
Courtesy of the Canadian Press