Reinstating Shoan ‘not in public interest’: AG

OTTAWA — Last week’s decision from a Federal Court judge setting aside an investigation and decision that former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan committed workplace harassment should weigh heavily in his favour for granting a temporary reversal of his termination, the federal Appeal Court heard Tuesday. “The finding and investigation report upon which the governor-in-council’s decision was based was wholly invalidated,” Craig Stehr, Shoan’s lawyer, said during the hearing at the Ottawa courthouse. “It doesn’t matter.” On Friday afternoon, judge Russel Zinn released his decision accepting Shoan’s application for judicial review of the 2015 CRTC finding that he harassed a member of the commission’s senior staff, putting aside the investigation report, chairman Jean-Pierre Blais’ decision and the corrective measures taken against Shoan. On Tuesday, Stehr said that a February letter from Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly warning Shoan that she was considering his termination built upon concerns first outlined by her predecessor Shelly Glover in 2015 correspondence about the harassment investigation and subsequent report. Though Joly’s letter outlined four areas where she found fault with Shoan’s conduct, “once the finding of harassment is invalidated, the foundation of other concerns is largely wiped away,” Stehr said. Sean Gaudet, representing the attorney general’s office, said that Stehr “takes Justice Zinn’s decision and elevates it a little bit too highly.” Zinn’s reasons for the decision outlined a flawed process that didn’t ultimately pass judgement on whether Shoan’s emails with executive communications director Amanda Cliff constituted harassment, Gaudet argued. “What’s clear, with Mr. Shoan, there is a storm brewing around him and as a result of his presence in the workplace these things were happening around him… to the point that the governor-in-council has lost confidence in his capacity to exercise his duties,” Gaudet said. And that loss of confidence is why it wouldn’t be in the public interest to reinstate Shoan as the Ontario regional commissioner until his full appeal can be heard, Gaudet argued. “The public interest in the smooth and effective functioning of the CRTC… would be prejudiced more if he’s reinstated,” he said, adding that the loss of confidence “won’t be restored by staying the order-in-council,” that removed Shoan from his post. Justice Anne Mactavish questioned whether — regardless of who is at fault — it was fair to say that the relationship at the CRTC was toxic. “There’s a bit of bad feelings on both sides,” she said. But there’s no finding that Shoan is the reason behind any strained relationships, Stehr said, arguing that Shoan is more inconvenienced than the CRTC and the government by not granting him temporary relief of his termination. “The impact of termination on Mr. Shoan while it must be inferred, I submit is quite apparent and no doubt impacts in a fatal way, if the decision stands, his career trajectory,” Stehr said. A decision from Mactavish is expected in the coming weeks. — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadegljia at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Reinstating Shoan ‘not in public interest’: AG

Broadcast | September 6, 2016

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Reinstating Shoan ‘not in public interest’: AG

Broadcast | September 6, 2016

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