Latest news with #CanadianNorthernEconomicDevelopmentAgency
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Manitoba cabinet minister harassed college employee in past job, external investigation concluded
Recently appointed federal cabinet minister Rebecca Chartrand harassed a former employee at Winnipeg's Red River College Polytechnic over a period of several months in 2019, according to an external investigation commissioned by the college and conducted by a Winnipeg law firm. Chartrand, elected in April as the Liberal member of Parliament for the northern Manitoba riding of Churchill-Keewatinook Aski, was appointed by Prime Minister Mark Carney in May as the minister of northern and Arctic affairs and the minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency. According to documentation provided to CBC News in April — but first reported this week by Canadaland — Chartrand was the subject of a harassment investigation during the final months of her two-year stint as executive director of Indigenous strategy for RRC Polytech, a Winnipeg post-secondary institution with annual enrolment of approximately 21,000 students. In a complaint filed with RRC Polytech under its discrimination and harassment policy in September 2019, a former college employee claimed she was "targeted, undermined, bullied and harassed" by Chartrand over a period of eight months. The harassment took the form of threatening the employee's position, undermining her work and her management of other staff, interfering with her career, negatively impacting her reputation, increasing her workload and imposing unreasonable deadlines, according to the complaint. In a letter dated Dec. 19, 2019, RRC Polytech human resources director Curtis Craven informed the former employee that investigators with the Winnipeg law firm Rachlis Neville LLP substantiated the harassment complaint. The law firm found Chartrand's conduct "amounted to personal harassment in that over a period of time, the manner in which she engaged with you and the approach used to assign work and manage your performance constituted conduct which was severe," Craven said in the letter. "Such conduct could reasonably cause an individual to be humiliated or intimidated and was repeated, and had a lasting, harmful effect on you," he wrote. However, "given that Ms. Chartrand is no longer with the college, the college will not be taking any further corrective actions arising from this investigation," Craven's letter said. Chartrand was employed by RRC Polytech from June 2017 until December 2019, when she resigned, college spokesperson Emily Doer said in a statement. Chartrand was not available to speak about her time at the college, spokesperson Kyle Allen said this week. "Minister Chartrand is committed to fostering a healthy work environment for all persons in the workplace, characterized by collegiality and mutual respect," Allen said in a statement. RRC Polytech also declined to address Chartrand's time at the post-secondary institution. "In keeping with privacy legislation and college policy, we do not discuss personnel matters regarding current or former employees," Doer said in a statement. 'Months of psychological warfare': former employee The former college employee who filed the harassment complaint left RRC Polytech in 2020. In an interview, she said she had no intention of disclosing the investigation until Chartrand was nominated by the Liberal Party as its candidate for Churchill-Keewatinook Aski. The employee, whom CBC News is not identifying out of concerns about the potential impact on her employment, said she first attempted to contact Liberal Party officials about her experience but was unsuccessful. "I really did just want to forget about this and move on," said the former employee, who describes herself as a Liberal supporter. "I was voting for Mark Carney. I did not want what happened to me to happen to anybody in Ottawa. I didn't want Mark Carney to be hurt by any further actions, whether something of this nature ever happened again." Liberal Party spokesperson Jenna Ghassabeh said the party does not comment on the specifics of the candidate vetting process. "Canadians expect all political parties to do their due diligence on all prospective candidates, and the Liberal Party of Canada has a rigorous process to appropriately conduct such reviews," Ghassabeh said in a statement. The former RRC Polytech employee said she ultimately contacted several media outlets about her experience after Chartrand made social media comments relating to her own time at the college. The former employee said she came to know Chartrand in 2015, when the now-MP made an earlier run for office in Churchill-Keewatinook Aski. She came in second in that race to the NDP's Niki Ashton, who Chartrand then defeated in April's federal election. The former employee said she left another job to work under Chartrand at the college and had a good working relationship until 2019, when a nine-page survey was prepared to determine the needs of incoming students in the Indigenous studies program. The former employee said the survey was amended to include questions about drug and alcohol use, against the recommendations of an external consultant. The college did not disclose that the responses to these questions might determine whether respondents would receive financial assistance, the former employee said. The survey was withdrawn following complaints from prospective students and prompted an apology from Chartrand, according to a Global News story in 2019. The former employee said after she advised against including the questions in the survey, what had been a positive working relationship with Chartrand deteriorated into harassment. "It was like months of psychological warfare," the former employee said. "I've just tried to move on from all of my own personal grief and trauma around this because it has impacted me personally and professionally, and I wanted to just forget about it and move on. But it hasn't gone away." In a Facebook post on election night, a former resident of Churchill-Keewatinook Aski named Kyle Ross drew attention to the RRC Polytech survey issued during Chartrand's time at the college. In a since-deleted post of her own, Chartrand accused Ross of engaging in "lateral violence" and sought information about his whereabouts. "If anyone has any information on where this individual works or resides, please reach out publicly," she wrote. Chartrand spokesperson Allen said the minister regrets the post. "Regarding the social media post referenced, Minister Chartrand deeply regrets the language and tone she expressed. She unreservedly offers her apologies for the language of the post," Allen said in a statement. Ross said in an interview he would have preferred a direct apology for trying to discern where he lives and works. "I feel like a direct message would be nice," he said.
Global News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Global News
Manitoba MP Rebecca Chartrand named to Prime Minister Carney's new cabinet
The only Manitoban named to Prime Minister Mark Carney's new cabinet is a rookie MP representing the province's far north. Rebecca Chartrand has been named minister of northern and Arctic affairs, as well as minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency. Chartrand was elected in Churchill-Keewatinook Aski last month, unseating longtime NDP MP Niki Ashton, who had represented the riding for more than a decade and a half. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Under the previous government, Winnipeg MP Terry Duguid served as a cabinet minister with a number of different portfolios, including environment and climate change, sport, and as minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada. Duguid was re-elected in Winnipeg South — a riding he's served for a decade — by a large margin in last month's federal vote.
CBC
24-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Yukon secures funding for Whitehorse convention centre in the 11th hour before election call
Social Sharing A delegation that included Yukon MP Brendan Hanley and Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai flew to Ottawa late Thursday night to secure funding for a new convention centre in Whitehorse. Around 48 hours before Prime Minister Mark Carney officially kicked off a federal election, the delegation secured his approval on a $56.25 million funding deal with the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency to build the facility. "We're tired," Pillai told a crowd of officials, media and stakeholders on Saturday. "This came down to the very end to get this in place." The project, which is being called the Yukon Gathering Place is expected to cost around $75 million in total. The facility is projected to span 9,500 square metres and have the capacity to accommodate up to 750 guests for seated banquets or 1,000 people in a theatre setting. Hanley said the project is a key economic development piece for the Yukon's tourism industry. "I've heard over and over again how many national meetings, conferences, events are dying to come here, but can't, because of the lack of meeting space," he said. The facility will be built just north of the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre on First Nations settlement land. Chu Níikwän, the First Nation's development corporation, is leading the project's design and construction. "We're looking at building a sustainability economy," said Kwanlin Dün Chief Sean Smith. "Tourism is a priority for us as a community, but also looking at ways we can continue to build connections and opportunities.… This [facility] will bring people together from all parts of Canada and the world." A red-eye flight to secure the deal In a March 19 social media post, Canyon City Construction said the convention centre project had been "postponed due to lack of funding." The next day in the legislature, Porter Creek MLA Geraldine Van Bibber grilled John Streicker, the minister responsible for tourism, about that post and the project's status. "Can the minister explain what this means for the project?" she asked In response, Streicker said the territorial government was working to secure federal funding. "On the initial RFP … the Yukon government seemed to give the impression that there was funding secured for this project," Van Bibber pressed. "Many companies spent a lot of money and put a lot of time and effort into the bids because…. They assumed that the government had some assurances of funding. Can the minister tell us whether or not the federal government ever actually committed to this project?" Streicker reiterated that the facility is a top priority. "We just got the numbers recently – tourism total spending in the Yukon is up 45 per cent over 2019," he said. "We know that a convention centre is the next step for us as a territory." A Yukon contingent got on a red-eye just hours later "to get that last signature, which was the prime minister's signature," explained Pillai. "Because this is a really significant amount of money." Back in 2024, the completion date for the Yukon Gathering Place was expected to be in 2027. When asked if that timeline was still realistic, Pillai said supply chain challenges could create additional difficulties during the construction process, but the goal is that it'll be a three-year project. Once the facility is ready, officials anticipate a surge of visitors to the territory. "We're going to be in a position to see a tremendous amount of Canadians and international guests come here and spend time and money in our communities," he said.
