Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

Federal Government Investigators Reviewed CBC For Labour Code Violations

The Canadian Press, 11 Dec, 2015 10:53 AM
    OTTAWA — Newly released documents show the federal government concluded the CBC didn't break any labour laws months before a critical report detailed how the broadcaster failed to address troubling behaviour by former radio host Jian Ghomeshi.
     
    Federal labour investigators quietly reviewed the CBC for possible labour code violations in November 2014, about one month after the CBC parted ways with the radio host amid allegations of sexually harassment and misconduct in the workplace.
     
    The review itself was short: two questions via email to the CBC about its sexual harassment policies.
     
    An April briefing note to then-labour minister Kellie Leitch said investigators found the answers to the questions showed the CBC was in compliance with the requirements in the Canada Labour Code for employers to protect their workers from sexual harassment of any kind, including inappropriate comments, gestures or contact.
     
    In April, the results of an external review ordered by the CBC found the broadcaster knew about misconduct allegations against Ghomeshi, but did little to stop it.
     
    The report made nine recommendations to prevent similar problems in the future.
     
    CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson said the broadcaster is focused on training, surveys, spot audits, and workplace investigations, among other measures, in response to the Ghomeshi report.
     
    Ghomeshi faces five charges of sexual assault and one charge of overcoming resistance by choking. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Ghomeshi has said he has engaged in rough sex but that it was consensual.
     
     
    Ghomeshi's case returns to court in Toronto on Feb. 1, 2016.
     
    The April briefing note obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act suggests the Ghomeshi affair could have implications for the federal government. Those portions that would explain the source of federal concerns have been blacked out in the document.
     
    The Canadian Press first asked Employment and Social Development Canada about the briefing note and investigation on Tuesday. The department has yet to respond.
     
    The labour wing of Employment and Social Development Canada doesn't investigate individual cases of sexual harassment in the workplace, but can reach into federally-regulated businesses to make sure they are following the labour code.
     
    Those who don't can face sanctions or even prosecution.
     
    The Ghomeshi affair caused enough of a stir inside the department that officials wrote to Leitch that they were ready to target other broadcasters for reviews to make sure the problems at the CBC didn't exist in similar workplaces.
     
    Officials wrote in April that they wanted to have the communications and broadcast industry conduct "proactive self-assessment" investigations to make sure they were meeting their responsibilities about preventing sexual harassment in the workplace.
     
    Those self-assessment reviews are designed to nudge employers into following the law and help the department target those companies that show some deficiencies.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Flooding Prompts B.C. First Nation Community To Declare State Of Emergency

    Flooding Prompts B.C. First Nation Community To Declare State Of Emergency
    PORT ALBERNI, B.C. — A First Nations community on Vancouver Island has declared a state of emergency as rising water levels threaten to flood as many as two dozen homes.

    Flooding Prompts B.C. First Nation Community To Declare State Of Emergency

    Dollar Drops, Toronto Stock Exchange Plunges As Oil Plummets To Below US$38 A Barrel

    Dollar Drops, Toronto Stock Exchange Plunges As Oil Plummets To Below US$38 A Barrel
    The price of oil also dropped $2.25 to US$37.85 a barrel, falling to levels not seen since the 2008 financial crisis roiled world markets.

    Dollar Drops, Toronto Stock Exchange Plunges As Oil Plummets To Below US$38 A Barrel

    Critics Pan New Bill That Raises Jaywalking Fines To Nearly $700 In Nova Scotia

    Critics Pan New Bill That Raises Jaywalking Fines To Nearly $700 In Nova Scotia
    HALIFAX — A bill that increases the fine for jaywalking in Nova Scotia to nearly $700 is being roundly criticized by active transportation advocates and pedestrians alike.

    Critics Pan New Bill That Raises Jaywalking Fines To Nearly $700 In Nova Scotia

    Canada's Beef, Pork Sectors Cheer Wto Decision In Meat Labelling Dispute

    Canada's Beef, Pork Sectors Cheer Wto Decision In Meat Labelling Dispute
    OTTAWA — Canada's beef and pork sectors are welcoming a World Trade Organization ruling that allows Canada and Mexico to impose $1 billion in annual tariffs on U.S. products.

    Canada's Beef, Pork Sectors Cheer Wto Decision In Meat Labelling Dispute

    ISIL Are 'Rerrible Terrorists,' But Justin Trudeau Says CF-18s Will Still Come Home

    ISIL Are 'Rerrible Terrorists,' But Justin Trudeau Says CF-18s Will Still Come Home
    Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose says the extremists who have overrun vast swaths of Syria and Iraq are part of a death cult that sells women and children into sexual slavery and murders religious minorities.

    ISIL Are 'Rerrible Terrorists,' But Justin Trudeau Says CF-18s Will Still Come Home

    Indigenous Affairs Minister To Address Missing, Murdered Women Inquiry Tuesday

    Indigenous Affairs Minister To Address Missing, Murdered Women Inquiry Tuesday
    OTTAWA — Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett is set to make an announcement Tuesday on the subject of the promised inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women.

    Indigenous Affairs Minister To Address Missing, Murdered Women Inquiry Tuesday