OTTAWA —The vice-president of CTV News says he does not believe there was any “malicious intent” on the part of two former employees who altered a clip of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, but says they did so to cut time and to cover a “technical error.”

Richard Gray was invited to testify before the parliamentary ethics committee on Thursday, following CTV News issuing an apology for airing a story in late September which included a clip of Poilievre that was edited in such a way it manipulated what he had actually told reporters.