<\/p>\n
\n\tThe CEO of a Canadian national stepped down on Thursday following a special commissioner\u2019s determination that she had mistreated staff throughout her decade-long tenure, using slurs and misogynistic language to refer to senior leadership.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIn early December as the board was gaining a better understanding of the report\u2014its timing, content and the expectations of government\u2014the board confirmed CEO Marie Chapman\u2019s decision to retire, and effective today, she has stepped away from her role,\u201d Cynthia Price Verreault, chair of the Museum of Immigration at Pier 21\u2019s board of trustees, wrote in a letter to stakeholders and staff on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner released the findings of its investigations into Chapman on Wednesday night, as first reported by CBC. The report accused Chapman of \u201cserious code of conduct breaches\u201d that jeopardized the \u201cconfidence in the integrity of the public sector, and specifically the museum.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tChapman was appointed CEO under former Canadian prime minister Stephen J. Harper was reappointed by the Trudeau government in 2016 and 2021. Her four-year contract expired in October, however the museum\u2019s board of trustees had granted her a 90-day transitional term that would have concluded in January, according to the CBC.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe commissioner\u2019s investigation, launched in 2023, centered around workplace misconduct that was reportedly so severe that some staff told investigators they had contemplated self-harm. Chapman was accused of violating the federal government\u2019s core values by using her position to \u201cstrike fear into employees\u201d leaving them too intimidated to report concerns. According to the report, Chapman referred to the senior leadership team\u2014commonly abbreviated as SLT\u2014as \u201csluts\u201d in front of the public, other staff, and even a visiting foreign delegation. She also reportedly ranked female employees by age, commented that there were \u201cno good-looking men\u201d at the museum, and bestowed \u201churtful nicknames\u201d based on staff\u2019s behavior or appearances.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe museum\u2019s board of trustees told CBC it \u201cacknowledges\u201d the report and is addressing the matter \u201cwith the utmost urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe accept the commissioner\u2019s findings and are taking action immediately, working in partnership with the government,\u201d Price Verreault wrote in the letter, thanking Chapman for her\u00a0\u201c22 years of dedicated service.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIn her response, Chapman challenged the report\u2019s impartiality and denied fostering a workplace culture of fear and humiliation. She admitted, however, to calling the senior leadership team \u201csluts,\u201d saying she considered herself part of the group and intended no disrespect.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cDuring my nearly two decades at the museum, my conduct and performance have never been questioned by the board, to whom I report,\u201d Chapman wrote, as quoted by the CBC. \u201cYear after year, I have achieved excellent ratings under the Privy Council Office\u2019s performance management system. I have not received any warnings, disciplinary actions or negative evaluations, nor have I been subject to performance management measures. My performance has consistently met and exceeds the expectations of the board.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMarc Miller, Canada\u2019s identity and culture, described Chapman\u2019s departure as \u201cdeveloping news, but most likely the right move.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The CEO of a Canadian national stepped down on Thursday following a special commissioner\u2019s determination that she had mistreated staff throughout her decade-long tenure, using slurs and misogynistic language to refer to senior leadership. \u201cIn early December as the board was gaining a better understanding of the report\u2014its timing, content and the expectations of government\u2014the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-art"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-25 21:34:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}