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The Current

TVO pulls Pipe Trouble game & raises questions about political interference

When Ontario's public television station put out a cartoon video game about pipelines that included pipeline bombers, the West wanted in. Now the game is out. Is someone too sensitive? Is the game in bad taste? Is it a political pile-on Ontario? Judge for yourself....
CBC Radio ·
When Ontario's public television station put out a cartoon video game about pipelines that included pipeline bombers, the West wanted in. Now the game is out. Is someone too sensitive? Is the game in bad taste? Is it a political pile-on Ontario? Judge for yourself.


Pop Sandbox Producer, Alex Jansen

The object of the video game Pipe Trouble is to build an oil pipeline in an economical and environmentally responsible way. But if things go wrong, bombers may blow up the line. Things certainly went wrong this month for one of the game's sponsors -- TV Ontario, the province's public broadcaster in Ontario. While the game remains available online and for iPad and Android, it's no longer on the TVO website.

We aired a clip montage with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynn, the Ontario Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation Candice Malcolm and Sun News commentator Ezra Levant, all asking questions about the game TVO helped to promote.

Then we heard from The Current's Farrah Richardson with a little more detail on how Pipe Trouble works as she played the online game.

Alex Jansen helped create the game. He is a producer at the company Pop Sandbox and he joined us in our Toronto studio.

And Mike Bernier is the Mayor of Dawson Creek, B.C.

Ontario Legislative Reporter for The Canadian Press, Maria Babbage

Pipe Trouble may be political trouble for Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynn. But even though taxpayer's subsidize TVO's budget, it's unlike the province to become involved in the station's editorial decisions.

Maria Babbage covers the Ontario Legislature for The Canadian Press. She was in our Toronto studio.

We requested an interview with Premier Wynn, with Premier Redford, Ontario's Education Minister Liz Sandals, and the chair of the board for TVO, Peter O'Brian. They all declined our requests.

This segment was produced by The Current's Jessica deMello and Farrah Richardson.

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Other segments from today's show:

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

Becoming Victoria: The Dirty War (Documentary Repeat)

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