CBC fires rising star Evan Solomon
ARTS DEALS: Allegations popular host took ‘secret commissions’ revealed in Toronto newspaper report
TORONTO — The CBC has severed ties with rising star Evan Solomon after an investigation concluded he broke the public broadcaster’s code of ethics by allegedly using his contacts to broker lucrative art deals and collect huge fees.
Solomon, the 47-year-old host of the television series Power and Politics and the weekly political affairs radio show The House, was dismissed only hours after a newspaper reported on the allegations involving “secret commissions.”
“I regret to inform you CBC News has ended its relationship with Evan Solomon host of Power and Politics and The House,” CBC general manager and editor-in-chief Jennifer McGuire said in a note to staff.
Solomon was taken off the air Monday as CBC investigated allegations that were made public in the Toronto Star investigation.
He is alleged to have used his position at the CBC to broker art deals with Jim Balsillie, co-founder of Research In Motion (BlackBerry) and Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England and formerly with the Bank of Canada.
The newspaper alleged Solomon was taking “secret commission payments” related to art sales between a Toronto-area art collector and people he dealt with as a host at CBC. In at least one case, the Star reported, Solomon took commissions of more than $300,000 and allegedly didn’t tell buyers he was being paid fees for his involvement.
CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson said Solomon disclosed he was in a business partnership with his wife and art collector Bruce Bailey in April. Solomon told CBC he was not active in the business.
“It was made clear at the time that this partnership would not intersect with his work at CBC,” Thompson said.
Thompson said after new information about the partnership was made available Monday, an internal review took place, which led to Tuesday’s dismissal.
The CBC code of ethics states employees cannot use their positions to further personal interests.
“We have determined that (Solomon’s) activities were inconsistent with our conflict of interest and ethics policies as well as our journalistic standards and practices and in light of that, we made the decision that we did,” Thompson said.
Solomon, who joined the broadcaster in 1994 and has won two Gemini awards, is also a guest anchor on CBC News’s flagship nightly newscast, The National.
Solomon’s case is only one of a recent string of investigations into CBC employees. CBC Radio fired Q host Jian Ghomeshi in October 2014 after the company was made aware of “graphic evidence” he assaulted a woman.