Category: Culture

CBC's President, in 2013, dismissed all allegations of sexual harassment in Toronto

On Friday, in the wake of all the allegations against former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi, CBC President Hubert Lacroix issued a statement noting, among other things, that:

“As I told a parliamentary committee last year, we have a robust system of training and policy in place to try to create a safe work environment, and to investigate and respond appropriately if incidents occur. This case raises concerns that our systems have not been enough, and that upsets us deeply.”

The parliamentary committee he speaks of is the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women. Lacroix appeared before it on March 5, 2013 as part of the committee’s study into sexual harassment in federal government workplaces. Lacroix, in his testimony then, was dismissive of the work my colleague Brian Lilley had done using Access to Information requests about sexual harrassment at CBC.

Here is what Lacroix told the parliamentary committee in the spring of 2013, a time, we now know, when Ghomeshi was engaged in behaviour which is now the subject of a broader CBC investigation [the emphasis below is mine] : Continue reading CBC's President, in 2013, dismissed all allegations of sexual harassment in Toronto

Pete, Roger: Tho I love your work, I won't be at your concert next week

The Who on tour 2012
DULUTH, Ga. – Roger Daltrey, left, and Pete Townshend, perform as The Who on Nov. 5, 2012. (AFP/Rick Diamond)

In a few days, The Who will play a concert at ScotiaBank Place, the hockey arena where the Ottawa Senators play and which is a five-minute drive from my home.

Now, my all-time favourite band on most days of the week is The Clash. But on those days of the week when it is not The Clash, my favourite band is The Who.  And as The Clash is no longer touring, this tour by The Who is about my only chance to see my other favourite band of all time in live performance.

But I’m not going.

And here’s why. Continue reading Pete, Roger: Tho I love your work, I won't be at your concert next week

John Cleese has advice for politicians (and all of us) on thinking creatively

Fascinating lecture on creativity from John Cleese of Monty Python fame…

To be at our most efficient, we need to be able to switch backwards and forward between [open and closed] modes [of thinking]. But — here’s the problem — we too often get stuck in the closed mode. Under the pressures which are all too familiar to us, we tend to maintain tunnel vision at times when we really need to step back and contemplate the wider view.

This is particularly true, for example, of politicians. The main complaint about them from their nonpolitical colleagues is that they’ve become so addicted to the adrenaline that they get from reacting to events on an hour-by-hour basis that they almost completely lose the desire or the ability to ponder problems in the open mode.

via John Cleese on the 5 Factors to Make Your Life More Creative | Brain Pickings.

CBC blew more than $70,000 for a Strombo party

I’m with Wells when it comes to Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s hotel bill to attend an important security conference in Munich.

Nonetheless, despite the reasonable argument put forward by M. Wells, there has been much hyperventilating from the opposition (and from several news organizations) about this hotel bill.

Well, for those who were hyperventilating over Mackay’s $3,000 hotel bill, you’re gonna love this: CBC spent more than $72,000 to throw a B-list party for George Stroumboulopoulos to promote the late-night talk show he hosts on CBC. Continue reading CBC blew more than $70,000 for a Strombo party

From the U of T biz school: Dear Santa, Who's Your City?

A fun little seasonal data project from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto:

After the many years of commuting on Christmas Eve, jolly old St. Nicholas is reconsidering his home at the North Pole. Given his job description, extreme isolation has lost its appeal. In true Christmas spirit, the MPI is offering Santa a top 10 list of places Continue reading From the U of T biz school: Dear Santa, Who's Your City?