JT and I welcomed David St-Germain, former Canadiens manager, for the second part of episode 8 of our Stanley25 podcast.
Halfway through the podcast, JT seemed tired of talking about jobs, money, former Canadiens players and season tickets, so he asked St-Germain about office parties and the social life inside the company. I think he knew exactly what he was doing…
David St-Germain then confirmed that France Margaret Bélanger, President, Sports and Entertainment, was in a relationship with Vincent Damphousse, and had been for several years. Everyone around the team knew it, but to hear someone say it on the record seemed like a scoop ( gossip-wise, that is).
A few hours after our podcast went online (Sunday evening), Rodger Brulotte and his Journal de Montréal photographer captured a close-up photo between Vincent and France Margaret, who were attending Brian Mulroney’s funeral.
Except that Sunday wasn’t the first day this relationship was mentioned in the Quebec media. No!
In December 2022, theICI Radio Canada Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine website referred to Vincent Damphousse as the spouse of France Margaret Bélanger when the latter was honored in Matane.
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A year later (almost to the day), Isabelle Éthier hosted Vincent Damphousse on her program Femme d’Hockey, and referred to him as the spouse of the Groupe Habs president for over four years.
The Damphousse-Bélanger relationship is no longer a private matter. It was even public before our podcast.
But the relationship between a former GM of the Canadiens and his then boss (well explained by David St-Germain in the Stanley25 podcast) was much more delicate…
Whatever…
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Does it really matter?
On the face of it, any personal relationship shouldn’t be a professional issue. Private life is private… and it shouldn’t have anything to do with public life. In theory, at least.
Except that when two politicians of different allegiances go out together, the various parties often rush to publicize the relationship and avoid the appearance of conflict of interest (while controlling the message). Because the appearance of a conflict of interest can sometimes have the same impact as a real conflict of interest in the public sphere.
Except that, as soon as the said relationship becomes public knowledge, people have to accept it and assume by default that the two people involved are professional enough not to mix the private and the public. That’s how it works.
A bit like the stock market, where you have to declare your relationships with certain members of listed companies or certain advisors before you can buy securities on the markets. We want to avoid insider trading, or at least protect ourselves if there ever is any…
Back to our lovebirds…
There is one small question to ask ourselves this morning: are we losing the neutral and totally objective coverage of our favorite sports clubs that we once had (or at least, that was less tainted than it is today)?
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Vincent Damphousse comments on the activities of the club of which his wife is president… on TV owned by the club’s co-owner and close business partner.
Cogeco, TVA Sports, BPM Sports, 985Sports… our sports media(radio/TV) are all partners with the NHL, the Canadiens, the Rocket, CF Montreal or the Alouettes (owned by Pierre-Karl Péladeau, whose games are broadcast on RDS). Everyone knows that you don’t criticize your partner as you would someone or something you have no tangible connection with.
Many good journalists (and good people) have left the so-called mainstream media in recent months to join the NHL directly. Writing about a league that also signs their paychecks is more advertorial or PR than journalism, we agree…
And Apple, who, with MLS, hires the best soccer journalists and columnists in North America… while asking them not to talk about such and such a thing (conflict with referees in particular): so much for autonomy and independence, strong concepts in journalism. At least, that’s what they teach in journalism schools…
We seem to have forgotten the proverb: don’t bite the hand that feeds you… a proverb that sums up the state of mind of people who cover the activities of an organization that, in the end, pays them to do so.
I almost forgot all those members of the media who claim to be pure… but who promote online betting sites (often illegal in Quebec). That too is at odds with what is taught in journalism schools.
But hey, I’m the bad guy. Death to Truman!