Internal CBC records obtained through Access to Information legislation show the public broadcaster received a wave of critical emails from viewers after former television host Travis Dhanraj testified before Parliament that managers discouraged Conservative voices from appearing on air.The 142-page file, released this week, details audience complaints following Dhanraj’s March 10 appearance before the House of Commons heritage committee, where he alleged “centralized control and bias” within CBC News and claimed Conservative politicians were routinely excluded from coverage opportunities.“You guys are awful,” one viewer wrote. “Your bias is there for the world to see.”Another email stated, “Finally the truth has come out. Canadians have lost trust in the CBC.”A third viewer accused the broadcaster of favouring the governing party, writing: “Taking money from all Canadian taxpayers while only representing the Liberal point of view is a travesty. The CBC has become Canada’s Pravda. I am saddened and disgusted.”During his committee testimony, Dhanraj said he encountered repeated resistance when attempting to book Conservative guests for interviews.“There were repeated episodes of Conservatives being blocked,” he told MPs.“At one point I heard that maybe I could have NDP folks on, but Conservatives were a no. It would blow the Canadian public’s mind that this was the stuff that was going on.”.Dhanraj, the former host of CBC News Network’s Canada Tonight, testified that he was prevented from seeking an interview with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and faced repercussions after inviting Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman onto his program.“I wasn’t even allowed to pick up the phone and call to request Pierre Poilievre,” he said.Dhanraj further alleged he was “threatened with being pulled off the air” and later removed from his prime-time role after pushing for broader political representation.“I fought for real diversity and equal standards,” he testified. “I tried to do my job as a journalist. Within months I was pulled off the air, disciplined, restricted from speaking, stripped of my prime time program and eventually forced out altogether.”The Access to Information records also show viewers criticized CBC management for not providing broader coverage of Dhanraj’s parliamentary testimony.“Where is your coverage?” one viewer asked. “Where is your statement concerning censorship?”Another wrote: “You are a coward for not airing Travis Dhanraj’s testimony. How far can this go before you realize you have a problem?”One particularly angry email sent to the CBC ombudsman described the broadcaster as “useless” and “biased” before adding, “Oh my God, you elitist scum.”The ombudsman responded by asking the viewer to communicate in a “polite and respectful manner” in future correspondence.In internal communications included in the release, CBC editor-in-chief Brodie Fenlon acknowledged the network does not always achieve balance in every piece of coverage but defended its broader editorial approach.“We don’t hit the mark in every story, every newscast, every program,” Fenlon wrote.He said complaints about bias come from audiences across the political spectrum.“We hear from people who perceive our bias as right wing and as left wing, as pro-Liberal and as pro-Conservative, as pro-Israeli and as pro-Palestinian, as pro and con issues of public interest from vaccine hesitancy to trans rights,” wrote Fenlon.“These perceptions of bias, whatever direction they take, are of great concern to me and to our editorial leadership.”
