Former “Canada Tonight” host Travis Dhanraj says he has been 鈥渇orced to resign鈥 from CBC.
In a Monday morning email sent to all CBC and Radio-Canada staff and viewed by the Star, Dhanraj said he was 鈥渟hut out鈥 when he began questioning what he alleges are systemic issues and editorial imbalance at CBC.
In a statement to the Star, CBC said it “categorically rejects the accusations made about CBC News, our staff and management.” It said it is limited in what it can say due to privacy and confidentiality considerations.
Dhanraj has been on leave since at least February. His time slot was replaced by Ian Hanomansing鈥檚 鈥淗anomansing Tonight.鈥
“This was not a voluntary decision,” Dhanraj said in the email. “It comes after trying to navigate a workplace culture defined by retaliation, exclusion, and psychological harm.”
Kathryn Marshall,听Dhanraj’s lawyer, said CBC presented Dhanraj with an “ultimatum that was so unconscionable and morally wrong, there was no way he was going to say yes.” She declined to share more details.
Dhanraj had made a series of complaints about CBC’s culture, Marshall said, including of “toxic, bullying (and) malicious” behaviour by a “small circle of senior Ottawa-based journalists.”
Dhanraj plans to file a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, Marshall听added.
In his all-staff听email, Dhanraj said he was once 鈥渙ne of CBC鈥檚 most visible journalists.鈥 He began as a reporter for CBC in Edmonton and 色色啦, then moved to CP24 and CTV News. After serving as the Queen鈥檚 Park bureau chief for Global News, he returned to CBC in 2021 as a senior parliamentary reporter.
He co-hosted Marketplace and began hosting Canada Tonight in January 2024. In April 2024, Dhanraj that his show had requested an interview with then-CBC president Catherine Tait, but said the request was denied. “This is unfortunate,” Dhanraj wrote.
Marshall said CBC听asked Dhanraj to sign an NDA in July 2024 tied to an investigation by the broadcaster into the post. He declined, according to Marshall.
鈥淐BC calls itself a champion of inclusion, and public trust,鈥 Dhanraj wrote in Monday’s email. 鈥淏ut those ideals are too often deployed as branding tools, not lived principles. And Canadians are noticing.鈥
Dhanraj said CBC needs 鈥渞eform,鈥 and the 鈥渙nly way things change is when people speak.鈥
鈥淵ou will hear more from me soon,鈥 he wrote.
In a late-morning post to X, Dhanraj linked to a Google Form, which included a note from him.
“When the time is right, I鈥檒l pull the curtain back, I’ll share everything,” Dhanraj said. “I’ll tell you what is really happening inside the walls of your CBC.”
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