CBC grilled on workplace culture, DEI and foreign workers at committee hearing

CBC executives are facing heightened scrutiny and questions about the broadcaster’s bias, commitment to diversity of opinion and investigating toxic workplace claims.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

CBC executives are facing heightened scrutiny and questions about the broadcaster’s bias, commitment to diversity of opinion and investigating toxic workplace claims.

During testimony at the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, CBC president Marie-Philippe Bouchard and other executives were repeatedly pressed about former parliamentary reporter Travis Dhanraj’s public resignation. Dhanraj alleged a toxic workplace culture at the broadcaster.

“One individual’s claims does not make a whole organization’s culture,” Bouchard said, insisting employee surveys indicate most CBC staff report high satisfaction and a strong sense of purpose.

Bouchard acknowledged the matter is before the Human Rights Tribunal. She said she had not personally investigated Dhanraj’s claims but maintained CBC’s processes are sound. “As is natural in a large organization, I don’t double up on everyone’s responsibility,” she told the committee.

Conservative MP Rachael Thomas raised concerns that CBC’s DEI practices may promote ideological uniformity rather than inclusion. “How do you square your DEI commitments with a lack of diversity of thought?” she asked.

Bouchard defended the broadcaster’s framework, arguing DEI encompasses a broad range of identities and experiences, including regional and linguistic diversity. “There’s no contradiction between having inclusive goals and reflecting a variety of perspectives in our journalism,” she said.

CBC executives were also challenged over the broadcaster’s use of temporary foreign workers. Thomas cited federal records showing that since 2015, at least 20 high-wage temporary foreign workers were hired by CBC in Ontario alone, filling roles such as broadcast technicians, programmers and marketing consultants. “Why were Canadians not given priority?” she asked.

Vice-president of corporate affairs Bill Sharp responded that as of today, “there are no foreign workers working for CBC,” but acknowledged he was unfamiliar with past practices. He said he could not confirm whether detailed employment records from the last decade exist.

“You’re very good at skirting questions and trying to slough them off as if it’s up to the last CEO,” Thomas said, pressing Sharp to commit to providing the committee with the number and types of temporary foreign worker hires by the end of October. Sharp responded, “If \[the records\] do exist, I will gladly provide them.”

The hearing highlighted an increasingly partisan divide over the role of the public broadcaster. While CBC executives insisted their DEI framework is about broad inclusion and representation, Conservative members questioned whether the corporation reflects the full spectrum of Canadian political and cultural identity, especially in its newsroom practices and hiring history.

Adding to the day’s tensions, CBC on Monday also launched a legal challenge to block the release of its CBC Gem subscription figures, the same viewer data MPs have been demanding for months in the name of transparency.

The dispute comes amid broader concerns about the platform’s programming direction. CBC Gem has increasingly promoted foreign shows in its catalogue, even as the proportion of original Canadian content has declined.