Read Travis Dhanraj's full resignation letter to CBC, email to colleagues
Full resignation letter accuses state broadcaster of behind-the-scenes bias, infighting
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Jul 07, 2025 • Last updated 7 hours ago • 4 minute read
Travis Dhanraj.
Travis Dhanraj.
Former CBC journalist and TV host Travis Dhanraj resigned from the state broadcaster in spectacular form Monday morning, accusing CBC of bias and opposing a diversity of opinions. The Toronto Sun‘s Brian Lilley broke the news in a column that you can read here.
CBC in a statement to the Toronto Star said it “categorically rejects the accusations made about CBC News, our staff and management” and that it is limited in what it can say due to privacy and confidentiality concerns.
Below is the letter that Dhanraj sent to CBC executives informing them of his resignation. Following that is the all-staff email that Dhanraj sent to his now-former colleagues at CBC.
Subject: Resignation Under Duress – CBC Leadership Has Left Me No Choice
Dear CBC Leadership,
This is an involuntary resignation.
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. 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.
When I joined CBC, I did so with a clear understanding of its mandate and a belief in its importance to Canadian democracy. 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 what happens behind the scenes at CBC too often contradicts what’s shown to the public. Performative diversity, tokenism, a system designed to elevate certain voices and diminish others.
I 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. When I questioned these imbalances, I was met with silence, resistance, and eventually, retaliation. I was fighting for balance and accused of being on a “crusade.”
My show, which I was initially told was a strategic priority, was rebranded. My name removed. My access curtailed. My medical leave was whispered about in the newsroom. I was presented with an NDA 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.
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.
This has taken a real toll — on my health, my career, and my trust in an institution I once believed I could help reform from within. 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. It is why the CBC is losing trust with Canadians and its audience.
My departure is not the end of this story. There is more to come — and it will be shared when the time is right. You have taken away my job, but you cannot and will not silence my voice.
Sincerely,
Travis Dhanraj
Below is the internal email Dhanraj sent to CBC employees shortly after tendering his resignation.
Dear colleagues,
After more than 20 years in Canadian television journalism, I have been forced to resign from CBC News.
This was not a voluntary decision.
It comes after trying to navigate a workplace culture defined by retaliation, exclusion, and psychological harm. A place where asking hard questions — about tokenism masquerading as diversity, problematic political coverage protocols, and the erosion of editorial independence — became a career-ending move.
I was once one of CBC’s most visible journalists: a senior parliamentary correspondent, co-host of Marketplace, and most recently, host of Canada Tonight. Promoted as a symbol of progress — until I began questioning the gap between CBC’s stated values and its internal reality.
When I pushed for honest conversations about systemic issues and editorial imbalance, I was shut out. Sidelined. Silenced. And ultimately, erased.
CBC calls itself a champion of inclusion, and public trust. But those ideals are too often deployed as branding tools, not lived principles. And Canadians are noticing.
What’s happening inside this institution is no longer just an internal problem. It’s a public one.
The erosion of trust in the CBC didn’t happen overnight. It’s the result of years of dysfunction at the highest levels — where a small group of insiders on air and in management wields outsized influence, prioritizes spin over substance. Leadership clings to reputation while failing to confront the real reasons viewership is in free fall.
CBC doesn’t need more workshops. It needs accountability. It needs reform. It needs courage.
To those still inside: silence shouldn’t be the price of your paycheque. The only thing that sustains broken systems is fear. And the only way things change is when people speak.
I don’t know what’s coming next but I know there will be efforts to discredit me. Spin. Smears. The usual playbook.
But I’m not here to protect comfort. I’m here to speak truth — even if I have to do it from the outside.
To those who stood by me: thank you. I’ll miss the good people I worked with — many of whom are still trying to do journalism the public deserves, under impossible conditions.
I leave with clarity and my voice intact. You will hear more from me, soon.
Travis
A letter from former host Travis Dhanraj to CBC leadership and an email to colleagues accuses the CBC of bias and infighting.
torontosun.com