A national CBC host announced his resignation from the public broadcaster Monday in a letter alleging he could not continue to work there “with integrity.”
Travis Dhanraj describes leaving the network where the veteran journalist once hosted his own show.
“I am stepping down not by choice, but because the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has made it impossible for me to continue my work with integrity,” he wrote.
“After years of service — most recently as the host of Canada Tonight: With Travis Dhanraj — I have been systematically sidelined, retaliated against, and denied the editorial access and institutional support necessary to fulfill my public service role.”
Dhanraj has spent 20 years in broadcasting, with stints at Global and Bell Media.
“When I joined CBC, I did so with a clear understanding of its mandate and a belief in its importance to Canadian democracy,” he wrote.
“I was told I would be ‘a bold voice in journalism.’ I took that role seriously. I worked to elevate underrepresented stories, expand political balance, and uphold the journalistic values Canadians expect from their public broadcaster.”
But, according to Dhanraj, “what happens behind the scenes at CBC too often contradicts what’s shown to the public.”
He accused the public broadcaster of “performative diversity, tokenism, a system designed to elevate certain voices and diminish others.”
Dhanraj’s lawyer, Kathryn Marshall, said Monday that the CBC didn’t want him booking “Conservative voices” on his show.
“It turned out, to Travis’ surprise, there was a strong editorial direction that he was supposed to promote,” Marshall said.
Dhanraj is of Caribbean heritage.
“CBC, when they hired him, thought that they were getting someone who would espouse a certain world view,” Marshall said. “I think they looked at him and they looked at the colour of his skin and they made some assumptions.”
Marshall is weighing making a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission about her client’s treatment at the CBC.
His allegations would include discrimination, reprisal and harassment, she said.
Dhanraj said he “was repeatedly denied access to key newsmakers. Internal booking and editorial protocols were weaponized to create structural barriers for some while empowering others—particularly a small circle of senior Ottawa-based journalists.”
Dhanraj said when he “questioned these imbalances,” he was “met with silence, resistance, and eventually, retaliation. I was fighting for balance and accused of being on a ‘crusade.’”
His show, according to Dhanraj, was rebranded. “My name removed. My access curtailed. My medical leave was whispered about in the newsroom.”
Dhanraj claims he got in hot water over his April 2024 post on the social media platform now dubbed X about how the top CBC honcho at the time declined an interview request to discuss new budget funding for the public broadcaster.
Dhanraj said he “was presented with (a non-disclosure agreement) tied to an investigation about a tweet about then CBC President Catherine Tait. It was designed not to protect privacy, but to sign away my voice. When I refused, I was further marginalized.”
Marshall said that “CBC wanted him to sign an NDA in exchange for his job.”
Dhanraj went on leave in July 2024 and returned to full-time hours last December, she said.
“Within basically the first week of his return he was immediately retaliated against by CBC for not signing the NDA,” Marshall said.
“He was, at that point, permanently removed as the host of Canada Tonight, and his salary got slashed, and it was evident at that point that he had no future or career at the CBC.”
According to Dhanraj, “these were not isolated actions. They were part of a pattern that sent a clear message: fall in line or be removed. I stayed as long as I could, but CBC leadership left me with no reasonable path forward.”
That’s “taken a real toll — on my health, my career, and my trust in an institution I once believed I could help reform from within,” Dhanraj wrote. “But the greater harm is to the public: a broadcaster that no longer lives up to its mandate, a culture that resists accountability, and a system that punishes those who dare to challenge it.”
The CBC rejected Dhanraj’s claims.
“This morning Travis Dhanraj, a unionized employee of CBC/Radio-Canada who is currently on leave, sent internal notes making serious allegations. While we are limited in what we can say in response due to privacy and confidentiality considerations, CBC categorically rejects the accusations made about CBC News, our staff and management,” Kerry Kelly, who speaks for the public broadcaster, said in an email.
Dhanraj’s show was announced in late 2023, hit the airwaves in early 2024 and was done within the year.
“Travis’s engaging curiosity and incredible range of experience allows him to translate complex stories into personal terms and help audiences make sense of the news, which will be key as Canada Tonight sharpens its focus on stories that matter at home and make a difference in this country,” CBC executive Andree Lau said in a statement at the time.
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