MP who left Liberal caucus made offensive remarks and mistreated staff, former employees allege

Four former employeesofToronto MP Yasmin Ratansiwho leftthe Liberal caucus this week after admitting she employed her sister for years on the public dime allege sherepeatedlymade offensive comments and created a "toxic and verbally abusive" environment at heroffice.

The former staffers sayRatansi mistreated employees by yelling at them, insulting their appearances and publiclyridiculing their work.

"It was like walking on eggshells every single day," said a former employee. "You'd come into work knowing that she was going to yell ... She was going to cut someone down and you just hope it wasn't you."

CBC News agreed to protect theidentities of the sources, who say they fearharm to their careers andretaliation by Ratansi herself after speaking out.

WATCH| Ex-employees say Toronto MPmistreated them:

Ex-employees say Toronto MP Yasmin Ratansi mistreated them

4 years ago

Duration 1:55

Former employees raise new concerns about the work environment created by Toronto MP Yasmin Ratansi, who is leaving the Liberal caucus after CBC News found she employed her sister for years against parliamentary rules.

Multiple sources said that, when constituentsfrom South Asian communities called about family reunification and immigration cases,Ratansion some occasionstold staff to stop working on some of their files because she felt the individuals involvedwere "untrustworthy" or suggestedthey "lied" because of their ethnicity.

After CBC News contacted Ratansi for comment, and to askwhy she was employing her sister at the office, the MPannounced on Facebook late last night she told the Prime Minister's Office she is leaving the Liberal party. Ratansi acknowledgedthat she had hired her sister as her constituency assistant a violation of parliamentaryrules but did not address the claims about her behaviour in the workplace.

"To the constituents of Don Valley East and to anyone I may have disappointed by my error of judgment, I take full responsibility, and to all I do apologize," Ratansiwroteon herFacebook pageat 9:38 pm.

• Liberal MP out of caucus after employing sister for years using public funds

Ratansihas not responded to CBC's request for comment submitted on Sunday, despite repeated requests for a response. On Monday night, shesaid she referred the matter to the Ethics Commissioner last week after CBC News' investigation began.

MPs have their own operating budgets and are allowed to pay constituencyassistants a maximum salary of $89,700 a year, according to the House of Commons. That means Ratansi could have paid her sister up to $269,100 over three years.

The government's chief whip Mark Holland said his "understanding is Ms. Rantasi is disputing" the allegations about her statements and treatment of staff. Now that Ratansi is an Independent MP, he said,it's up to the House of Commons' Chief Human Resources Officer to "adjudicate"the matterand Holland encouraged employees to report their complaintsformally.

"We are absolutely committed to ensuring that all workplaces of all members in our caucus are safe workplaces that are positive, supportive and free of any form of harassment," said Holland, adding that no formal complaints have been filed againstRantasi.

The Conservatives are calling on Ratansito resignimmediately.

"One thing is clear Trudeau MPs continue to believe that they are entitled to a different set of rules than average Canadians," said Conservative ethics critic MPMichael Barrett. "That employing their sister with taxpayer dollars is OK, as long as they don't get caught."

Trudeau questioned about Liberal MP hiring her sister against House of Commons rules

4 years ago

Duration 1:11

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced questions today about Don Valley East MP Yasmin Ratansi, who has now left caucus to sit as an independent.

Asked about Ratansihiringher sister, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the case "unacceptable" and lamented the fact that such actscantarnish the reputation of all MPs.

"I am deeply disappointed by the news I learned yesterday from Ms. Ratansi and how she handled the office," he told a press conference. "It is unacceptable and I expect there to be a thorough followup by the House administration on this."

Allegations of racist comments

Ratansi, a backbencher and a trained accountant, becamethe first Muslim woman elected to the House of Commons in 2004.She lost the seat in2011 and wonit back in 2015. She is currently the chair of the Commons standing committee on the environment.

Several former staff membersclaim they heard Ratansi casually make commentsthey considered"racist"by applying stereotypes to Chinese, South Asian and Caribbean constituents and communities.

"She said that there are too many Chinese in [the] riding and [she did not want] any more Chinese," said a former employee."She also said that constituents shouldn't sell their houses to the Chinese because they don't vote."

"There was definitely a lot of explicit as well as casual racism that I observed and heard during my time in that office," said another former employee. "A lot of vitriol directed to certain ethnic groups, religious groups."

Former employee describes offensive comments allegedly made by MP

4 years ago

Duration 0:47

A former employee of Toronto MP Yasmin Ratansi describes comments he heard Ratansi make about constituents. CBC News has obscured his face and changed his voice to protect his identity.

Multiple sources said they heard Ratansi discourage staff from working on some South Asian communities' immigration files because she felt some came to Canada illegally and couldn't be trusted.

"Yasmin maintained a certain scepticism toward certain groups of people," said a former staff member."Stereotypes, really, and [she]used thosestereotypes to basically dictateaction on certain immigration files."

It's not the first time Ratansi has come under fire for her remarks. She was accused of "victim blaming" in 2017 in response tocomments she madeabout sexual violence during a panel discussion, VICE reported.

A member ofthe audience told VICE thatRatansi said "'sexual violence happens because women sexualize themselves' and that when it comes to dealing with sexual harassment, women should have thicker skin and treat the encounters 'like a water off a duck's back.'"

Ratansi originally denied making the comments, thenapologized.

'It was an abusive and toxic environment'

The former employees CBC News spoke to also claim Ratansi created a "toxic environment" at the office. Two former employees said they felt Ratansi was frustrated by her lack of career advancement and tookit out on staff.

"It was always scary, because you never know what will happen when she comes into the office," said a former staffer. "Whether she's in a good mood or bad mood... It was an abusive and toxic environment."

The sources claim Ratansi publicly yelled at staff about their work and called people "stupid" for simple mistakes, such asleaving paperwork in the printer or taking photos she didn't like.

Former employee alleges toxic work environment

4 years ago

Duration 0:18

A former employee of Toronto MP Yasmin Ratansi alleges a toxic environment at her office. CBC News has obscured her face and changed her voice to protect her identity.

In some cases, the comments were aimed at employees' appearances, said the sources.One former staffer saidRatansicalled somestaff members"fat."Another saidsaidRatansitold some staff members on more than one occasion that she was selecting other staffers to attend public eventsbecausethey looked "like shit."

CBC News spoke to a fifth former employee who said that whileRatansi is opinionated,they never felt they were beingmistreated orheardanytroublingcomments.

'This is not good leadership,' said ethics expert

Twootherformeremployees ofRatansi'sofficedefended her and said the claims made against her contradictedtheirexperiences of working with her.Bothsaid they did nothearthe MP make inappropriate comments and did notwitnessstaff being treated badly.

Chris MacDonald isaprofessor at the Ted Rogers School ofManagementwhoteaches business ethics. He said the claims, if true, raise serious questions about Ratansi's leadership style.

"This is not good leadership, this is not good management and it shouldn't be tolerated," he said.

"I think the overall pattern here, if substantiated, is one that should worry Canadians. This is not what we expect from our elected officials and it's not the kind of example they should be setting."