Tim Ralfe (27 October 1938 - 27 October 2000)[1] was a Canadian television journalist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation who provoked one of the most famous and controversial moments in Canadian political history. During the October Crisis on October 13, 1970, Ralfe pointedly asked then-Prime Minister Trudeau how far he would go to deal with terrorists. Trudeau responded, "Well, just watch me".[2] Ralfe continued to question Trudeau about the use of the military to protect cabinet ministers and senior officials in Ottawa. After about 10 minutes, Trudeau shot back: "Well, there are a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don't like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is, go on and bleed, but it is more important to keep law and order in the society than to be worried about weak-kneed people."[3]
Ralfe's persistence was rewarded with condemnation by CBC managers who accused him of being too aggressive during a time of national crisis. Peter Trueman, executive producer of national television news wrote a message to Ralfe on an open, inter-office teleprinter link. It said that Ralfe's questioning of Trudeau violated every journalistic standard that Trueman had ever heard of.[4] Trueman ordered severe cuts to the video tape to eliminate Ralfe's most argumentative questions.[5] He also insisted that a formal reprimand be placed on Ralfe's employment file.[6]
Ralfe was a reporter for CTV when in 1973 he exploited a loophole in Canadian law that allowed surreptitious recording under certain circumstances. He placed a recording device in the New Democratic Party caucus room at Parliament Hill then confronted party leader David Lewis with an audio tape of a meeting in that room. The report earned CTV a Michener Award the following year. Canadian law was later changed to further restrict such recordings.[7]
He died on October 27, 2000 in Ottawa after suffering a heart attack two weeks before. He was 62 and worked as a consultant at that time.