Editing W5 (TV program) (section)

== Controversies ==
''W5'' came under controversy during the 1970s when it aired a feature called "Campus Giveaways", hosted by [[Helen Hutchinson]]. The feature used incorrect statistics to conclude that foreign students were eroding white Canadians' opportunities for a secondary education and benefitting from public universities that were being funded by Canadian taxpayers, without exploring the statement's backgrounds.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Wong |first=Tony |date=2019-08-26 |title=How a false W5 story 40 years ago became a watershed moment for Chinese-Canadians |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/how-a-false-w5-story-40-years-ago-became-a-watershed-moment-for-chinese-canadians/article_2c615733-b631-5322-8359-0fca4b244b4a.html |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=Toronto Star |language=en}}</ref> The host of the program stated:
: ... there are so many oriental foreign students that they rarely mix with their Canadian classmates. It's as if there are two campuses at Canadian universities—foreign and domestic. Certainly this Chinese theatre attracts a full house, but not one Canadian student attended.<sup>1</sup>

It has been alleged that the feature was specifically directed to form a negative view towards [[Chinese race|Chinese]] and [[Chinese Canadians]]. As well, it did not determine if the people filmed in that particular episode were actually Chinese or Chinese Canadian.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Hawthorn |first=Tom |date=2009-09-22 |title=Thirty years ago one documentary awoke a silent community |language=en-CA |work=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/thirty-years-ago-one-documentary-awoke-a-silent-community/article790434/ |access-date=2023-10-04}}</ref> 

The feature led to widespread protests by Chinese Canadians, including [[Joseph Yu Kai Wong]] (later founder of the [[Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care]]). The feature was also criticized by politicians like [[Bob Rae]] and [[Stephen Lewis]], both of whom narrated a rebuttal. With the looming threat of a lawsuit, ''W5'' retracted the feature's statement and apologised.<ref name=":1" /> The president of CTV at the time, [[Murray Chercover]], issued the following statement on April 16, 1980:

: ... our critics—particularly Chinese Canadians and the universities—criticized the program as racist; they were right.... We share the dismay of our critics that this occurred. We sincerely apologize for the fact that Chinese Canadians were depicted as foreigners and for whatever distress this stereotyping may have caused them in the context of our multicultural society.<sup>2</sup>

This event also led to the formation of the [[Chinese Canadian National Council]] in order to form a stronger voice representing Chinese Canadians nationwide.