Canada's broadcast regulator said Monday the country's French-language broadcaster broke television regulations and should apologize to the public for airing a comedy sketch that suggested that Barack Obama would be easy to assassinate because the first black American president would stand out against the White House.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said it received over 250 complaints about a popular New Year's Eve show that featured wisecracks about the U.S. president.
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council issued a public reprimand of Radio-Canada in May and the CRTC agreed. Radio-Canada is the French-language broadcasting arm of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
The CRTC said the CBC breached a number of license conditions with the broadcast of its satirical show "Bye Bye" in 2008. The CBC has been ordered to apologize to its viewers and ensure that the situation does not repeat itself.
In one of the more outrageous sketches, a comedian suggested during an interview that Obama would be an easy target.
"It will be practical. Black on white. It will be easier to shoot him," the comedian says.
"We expect the CBC to apologize to its viewers and implement mechanisms to prevent such an unfortunate situation from occurring again in the future," CRTC Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said in a statement.
