CBC is responding to leaked audio of a disciplinary discussion between former host Travis Dhanraj and senior staff after the journalist said he was forced to resign due to “systemic issues.”
Earlier this month, Dhanraj, who was the host of CBC’s CANADA TONIGHT, announced his resignation from the company after being on leave since February.
The journalist made his debut as the host of daily show CANADA TONIGHT in 2024, succeeding Ginella Massa. The time slot for the show has now been replaced by “Hanomansing Tonight,” led by Ian Hanomansing.
In a post on X, the reporter accused the broadcaster of forcing him out of the job after he questioned some of its editorial processes. He also promised to speak out on the company’s internal issues.
“By now, many of you know I’m no longer at CBC. What you may not know is what it cost me — and why I had no real choice but to walk away,” he said. “When the time is right, I’ll pull the curtain back, I’ll share everything.”
At the time, CBC denied that Dhanraj was forced to resign.
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Now, audio leaked by the National Post reveals part of a disciplinary meeting between Dhanraj, a union representative and a CBC senior staff member, identified as Director of Digital Publishing and Streaming Andree Lau, on April 19, 2024.
The meeting allegedly addressed an X post by Dhanraj revealing he had been denied an interview with CBC’s President and CEO Catherine Tait over new budget funding and priorities within the company.
“At a time when the public broadcaster is under increasing scrutiny and when transparency is needed, #CanadaTonight requested an [interview with] @PresidentCBCRC Catherine Tait…Our request was declined. This is unfortunate,” he wrote.
The audio begins with Dhanraj defending his post, saying that since the budget issues had already been extensively covered by other outlets, his comments didn’t have any “insider information.”
To that, Lau responded by suggesting that given the reporter was still a CBC employee at the time, the post could be a conflict of interest, which goes against journalistic standards.
“That is an employee who has a personal stake in the matter whose job is part of it…. The issue is, you know, does this post meet the standards of integrity? Does it meet the conflict of interest under the code of conduct?” she said in the audio.
But Dhanraj continued to defend his position, pointing out that he had an issue with the disciplinary meeting itself being a conflict of interest.
“I find it problematic that we are in a meeting where we are discussing something that is in the interests of the corporation. So, I’m not seeing the separation, right now, between the journalism and the interest of the corporation,” he said.
The reporter then referenced CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices, which states that when the broadcaster has to cover itself “there should be clear editorial separation between those people reporting on the stories and those whose priority it is to protect the interests of the Corporation, or its partner.”
“Those who have the interest of the corporation should not be influencing reporters,” he added.
Although part of the audio is unclear, Lau also appears to reference other journalistic principles that could be involved in the issue, including “the principle of integrity and the perception of who has a stake in the matter,” emphasizing the fact that Dhanraj was still an employee at CBC.
CBC RESPONDS
In an email to Now Toronto on Tuesday, a CBC spokesperson said that the discussion featured in the leaked audio discussed more than just Dhanraj’s X post, which they say would’ve violated other journalistic standards and protocols.
“The discussions in April with Mr. Dhanraj were about a range of issues outside the tweet; there was a particular emphasis on CBC News policies about conflicts of interest, violations of journalistic standards and protocols on how we report on ourselves. Mr. Dhanraj violated these policies and was asked about them by his manager with his union representative present,” the spokesperson said.
The public broadcaster also said that the former host was never “formally disciplined” for the post, and accused him of recording the meeting after agreeing not to do so.
“We would also add the President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada is routinely interviewed by CBC journalists,” the spokesperson wrote.
Last week, Dhanraj’s lawyer Kathryn Marshall also claimed that CBC has still not accepted the host’s letter of resignation.
The lawyer has also been encouraging other CBC employees or former employees to speak out about the company.
“My inbox is overflowing with messages from current and former CBC employees—echoing stories of exclusion, retaliation, and being silenced. This isn’t a one-off. It’s systemic,” she said on X.
Now Toronto reached out to both Dhanraj and Marshall for comment, but didn’t receive a response by the time of publication.
