Canada's public broadcaster was wrong to show a skit¹ that joked about the possible assassination² of US President Barack Obama and suggested he could be a thief, an industry panel ruled on Monday.

The New Year's Eve "Bye Bye" comedy program -- shown by the French-language Radio Canada network -- generated more than 200 complaints. In one segment, two hosts discussed Obama's election in November 2008. Obama, who took office in January, is the first black U.S. president.

"We're not racists. It will be good to have a Negro in the White House. It will be practical. Black on white, it will be easier to shoot him," one of the show's hosts remarked.

The Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council said it found "nothing redeeming⁴ in the allegedly comedic notion that an American president should be shot, still less that this would be easier to achieve because of the color of the president's skin. It was a disturbing, wounding, abusive racial comment."

The show also featured an interview with an actor pretending to be Obama. The host said, "The blacks, you all look alike," and then warned viewers to hide their purses.

The council said the comments and sketches⁵ breached⁶ regulations, adding they went "too far in terms of Canadian broadcast standards."

The producers of the show denied the skits⁷ had been racist³, saying they had meant to mock the characters making the offensive remarks.

Polls show that Canadians like Obama far more than they do their own leaders. Tens of thousands turned up to cheer him when he made a brief visit to Ottawa in February. A spokeswoman for the US embassy said she did not know whether the White House had complained about the show.

加拿大某行业协会于本周一裁定，该国一家公共电台在节目中拿美国总统开玩笑不当，节目称奥巴马有可能被暗杀，还暗示奥巴马是个贼。

这家加拿大法语广播电台于去年元旦前夜播出了一档名为“拜拜”的喜剧节目，遭到二百多位听众投诉。两位主持人在某时段节目中讨论奥巴马在去年11月参选总统一事。奥巴马于今年一月就职成为美国第一位非洲裔总统。

其中一位主持人评论道：“我们不是种族主义者。黑人入主白宫是件好事，这很实际，黑白分明，向他开枪也更容易。”

加拿大广播标准委员会称：“拿枪杀美国总统开玩笑这种所谓的幽默感毫不可取，而且提到总统的肤色便于进行暗杀更让人不能容忍。这是一种冒犯他人、令人伤心、恶意的种族主义言论。”

节目还采访了一位假扮奥巴马的演员。主持人说：“你们黑人都长得差不多”，并提醒观众看好钱包。

委员会称，该节目的内容和形式触犯了条例，并称他们“严重违反了加拿大广播行业标准”。

节目制片人否认玩笑带有种族主义性质，称本意是嘲笑那些使用冒犯言论的人。

民调显示，比起本国领导人来，加拿大人更衷情于奥巴马。奥巴马于今年二月短暂访问渥太华期间，数万名加拿大人向他欢呼致意。美国驻加拿大大使馆的一位女发言人称，她不知道白宫是否对该节目表示了不满。

Vocabulary:

breach：an infraction⁸ or violation⁹, as of a law, trust, faith, or promise（触犯，违背）

reprimand：a severe reproof¹⁰ or rebuke¹¹, esp. a formal one by a person in authority（惩戒，训斥）