By Sherani Theophilus, Times Chronicle
Last week social media was set abuzz with a video published by CTV National News anchor Lisa LaFlamme. It detailed how she was “blindsided” by the decision to end her contract. This contract had less than two years left in it, yet Bell Media dismissed her early based on a “business decision.”
I’m not sure how the powers that be made this decision without seeing how ageism and sexism would not be brought up in the fallout. Remember that LaFlamme replaced Lloyd Robertson who retired at the age of 77 which is almost 20 years older than she is now.
The Globe and Mail reported on Thursday that Michael Melling raised questions about the 58-year-old LaFlamme shortly after taking the position of CTV News Vice-President, asking who had approved the decision to “let Lisa’s hair go grey.”
Women are still evaluated based on their appearance and our hair is a very visible part of us. As hair dye became safer to use, women began using it as a tool to avoid the stigma of aging; a stigma that isn’t carried equally by aging men. Before the 20th century, older women were expected to sport grey hair. Now society seems to expect women to not go grey.
This goes much deeper than artificial pigment. We already know that women are paid less and expected to work more for the same job. You would think that in journalism, and specifically an anchor position, gender bias can easily be eradicated. One must have intelligence, experience, credibility, empathy, and curiosity. It seems Lisa LaFlamme carried all the necessary characteristics required and then some.
Government of Canada statistics reports show that the performance differences in majority female owned small enterprises and male owned small enterprises were no longer statistically relevant. That’s comforting but there are still many people who do not believe this or are unwilling to share the power.
This is really about power, and prejudice. Bell, you made a mistake. You underestimated the reaction from the public, many of whom are your clients.
Bell has declared in a statement that it regrets the handling of LaFlamme’s departure. I’m sure it does. They will shortly announce a third party to conduct an internal review. I hope it shines a light so bright that vague corporate speak cannot disguise the truth.
The irony of Bell positioning themselves with mental wellness with Bell Let’s Talk, is not lost on any of us. According to their website, in 2021, only five B.C. organizations were funded with a community fund, and one in the diversity fund category. That’s all.
We have a lot of mental health organizations that are struggling to afford to reach everyone they should. As the chair of the South Okanagan Similkameen Mental Wellness Society, I was asked to be interviewed on Sun FM as a former recipient of Bell funds. I made it clear that we haven’t received anything in many years, but I did take the opportunity to share what resources SOSMWS offers in the community. There is not a giant funding presence in B.C. with Bell.
The campaign does help raise awareness. The criticism is that people with mental health challenges need more than talk, they need more than a marketing campaign created to feel good about a corporate giant.
Meaningful change can start with having a corporate culture that doesn’t foster misogyny, discrimination, and disrespect. If that isn’t too much to ask. But can a player that benefits from corporate pillaging for profit ever have the credibility to stand for anything else?
I’d like to see Bell stand for Lisa LaFlamme and make an effort to change its culture to align more with what their marketing team has created. I’d like to see Bell make their own workplace a place where employees are valued and not blindsided.
I’d like to see Bell donate telecommunication services to mental health agencies, and through them to the ones struggling to pay for their phones and wi-fi.
Let’s make it easier to share our stories of positive social change, and not of tired, sexist, ageist stories about grey hair.
