Full text: CBC statement on Kathryn Borel and Ghomeshi scandal

On Wednesday afternoon, CBC Head of Public Affairs Chuck Thompson issued a statement:

What Ms. Borel experienced in our workplace should never have happened and we sincerely apologize for what occurred.

As we said in April of 2015, the incidents that came to our attention as it relates to Mr. Ghomeshi’s conduct in our workplace were simply unacceptable. We apologized then and we do again today.

To be clear, like the trial in February and the subsequent ruling, this particular court case is also unrelated to our decision to end Jian Ghomeshi’s employment with CBC. As we said in March, based on the evidence that came to our attention, Mr. Ghomeshi’s actions were not in line with the values of the public broadcaster nor with our employee code of conduct and we stand by this decision.

We accepted the findings of the Rubin report and have since made significant progress on all the elements of our year-one action plan. We’ve launched new mandatory training programs for HR staff, for managers and for all employees. We’ve introduced a new bullying and harassment helpline. We’ve revised our process for capturing the details of bullying and harassment complaints. We are responding to complaints with renewed discipline and rigour, and learning from the data to improve prevention and early resolution.

The past year’s progress has set a strong foundation for what’s next and the work that remains. That is, to have a broader conversation around culture with a clear focus on a healthy climate to support the wellbeing of all our staff.

Chuck Thompson
Head of Public Affairs
CBC English Services