EXCLUSIVE: CBC defends Hasan Piker interview on Alberta separatism
Canada’s state broadcaster is under fire after giving a softball interview on Alberta separatism to far-left U.S. streamer Hasan Piker.
Author: Clayton DeMaine
Canada’s state broadcaster is under fire after giving a softball interview on Alberta separatism to far-left U.S. streamer Hasan Piker, the same personality who drew recent controversy after being accused of using a shock collar on his own dog during a livestream.
Now, the CBC is defending its host, denying that the program failed to challenge Piker on his most outrageous views, including his history of justifying anti-capitalist violence and promoting Islamic terrorism.
“Piker is a controversial and influential figure whose recent public appearance in Canada was noteworthy and in the public interest,” Chuck Thompson, a spokesman for the CBC told Juno News. “Our role as the national public broadcaster is to examine the figures and ideas shaping our current cultural and political landscape, even - and perhaps especially - when those figures are deeply polarizing.”
CBC News’ The National released a nearly 10-minute feature about Piker asking only to respond to ambiguous claims of antisemitism without confronting him with examples that the Jewish community in the U.S. and Canada are saying amounts to antisemitism. The only major controversial statement they ask him about is his statement that “America deserved 9/11.”
Piker’s most recent controversy, which drew significant online criticism, stemmed from allegations that he allegedly used a shock collar on his dog to keep him sitting as a background prop during a livestream. Piker has denied the allegations.
During the CBC interview, Piker alleged that the Alberta Separatist movement was a U.S. led initiative similar to what the CIA has done in Latin American countries.
“I don’t understand Alberta separatists at all. As someone who lives in America, you don’t want to know what it looks like when you have no health care that’s backed by the government at all. It’s not great,” he said in the broadcast released at the beginning of the month.
“It’s interesting to see the same exact separatist movements being implemented in a Western country that’s such a close ally to the United States of America, because this is what we have done for decades to Latin American countries, the countries in the Middle East, and now almost feels like we’re doing it haphazardly to one of our most loyal allies in the north.”
During the interview, Piker identifies himself as a “socialist, anti-Imperialist, anti-fascist, anti-genocide” commentator and states that his rise to popularity online is due to his unorthodox opinions that are largely ignored by “mainstream resources.”
The interview took place after Piker spoke to Canadian fans at the University of B.C.’s Chan Centre. CBC host Erica Johnstone asked Piker for his thoughts on what she called a “crackdown on free speech.” Johnstone mentioned student protests but did not mention they shut down campuses, were accused of antisemitic remarks, or physically prevented Jewish students from attending class.
She also claimed that “what happened in Minneapolis” was a free speech crackdown, showing footage of the moments before Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse who attempted to disrupt ICE agents while armed, was shot. Johnstone also claimed talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel’s statements attempting to tie Charlie Kirk’s killer to MAGA Republicans, which allegedly led to his suspension from ABC, were another example of a U.S. free speech crackdown.
Johnstone asked Piker about being labelled antisemitic, but did not provide context for why the Centre of Israel and Jewish Affairs lobbied to have Piker barred from speaking in Canada.
Piker dismissed the antisemitism label as a smear, saying he’s “spent his professional media career combatting anti-semitism as an avowed anti-Zionist.”
“The host directly confronted Mr. Piker on the very controversies that have made him a subject of national debate - including allegations that he has made antisemitic statements - allowing our audience to hear his responses firsthand,” Thompson said. “We believe the interview was rigorous, responsible and fully in line with our Journalistic Standards and Practices.”
The CBC was asked to respond to a slew of controversial statements and apparent promotion of terrorism and Marxist violence, and to answer why the host didn’t push back on these statements.
However, Piker has repeatedly and openly supported anti-Israel Islamist terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen, including former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was eliminated by Israel in September 2024.
As previously reported by True North, Nasrallah famously called for Jews to be hunted down worldwide and said “If they [Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide,” in response to an Israeli incursion into southern Lebanon in the 1990s.
Unlike Hezbollah, Hamas’s charter explicitly states that its struggles against “the Jews” is “very great and very serious” and that its mission is to eventually “vanquish” this “enemy” in order to “realize” victory for Allah.
Piker has also defended his support for violent “intifada,” stating that “Americans are “supposed to like revolutions.” In the context of the Israel-Hamas conflict, the “Second Intifada” was characterized by terrorist attacks such as bombings, shootings and stabbings in civilian areas like bus stations and movie theatres.
He also said “armed resistance against the IDF and settlers is justified” in every situation, while at another time declaring that even babies can be settlers.
Piker has also said, “Any Zionist should be treated as a rabid neo-nazi, you shouldn’t even let them be a dog catcher if they’ve exhibited any positive feelings about Israel.” A 2024 study by Robert Brym, a professor emeritus of sociology, found that 91 per cent of Canadian Jews could be classified as “Zionist,” believing Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state. Another six per cent were unsure.
Johnstone, the CBC host, did at least press Piker on his previous statement that “America deserved 9/11. F*** it i’m saying it.” Piker stated he was actually referring to “blowback” from U.S. intervention in the Middle East.
Piker has identified himself as a communist and lamented that it was “unfortunate” that the USSR was defeated by the U.S.
The Black Book of Communism by Stéphane Courtois and other academics estimated that under Marxist-Leninist regimes in the 20th century alone, 94 million people were killed by the state. Other estimates suggest as many as 110 million. The Black Book of Communism estimates that the USSR killed anywhere from six to 20 million of its own citizens in the 20th century.
When talking about landlords, Piker also said, “Kill them, kill those motherf**kers. Let the streets soak in their f**king red capitalist bloods,” later claiming he was being “hyperbolic.”