Canada star politics journalist Evan Solomon fired over alleged secret art deals

The Toronto Star said Solomon had taken commissions in excess of Can$300,000 for several art pieces. Photo: Tholden28/Wikipedia.org.

OTTAWA (AFP).- Canada's public broadcaster has fired its top politics reporter Evan Solomon after discovering he earned hefty commissions on art sales to wealthy Canadians he interviewed. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in a statement late Tuesday cited a conflict of interest and ethics policy, as well as a breach of journalistic standards and practises for the dismissal. It comes after the daily Toronto Star reported that Solomon had brokered the sale of paintings belonging to art collector Bruce Bailey to BlackBerry founder Jim Balsillie and former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney. Carney had been a frequent guest on his daily politics show, while Balsillie had been courted to appear. The Toronto Star also said Solomon had taken commissions in excess of Can$300,000 for several art pieces. The newspaper cited an email in which Solomon discusses access to a wealth of potential new customers after Carney moved to Britain to head the Bank of England. "He has access to highest power network in the world," Solomon reportedly wrote. Solomon said in a statement he formed a business in 2013 to broker Canadian art, and informed the CBC earlier this year. "I did not view the art business as a conflict with my political journalism at the CBC and never intentionally used my position at the CBC to promote the business," he said in a statement. Solomon also apologised for "the damage that my activities have done to the trust that the CBC and its viewers and listeners have put in me."

Soloman, 47, came to the CBC as a host in 1994. He most recently hosted the television show "Power & Politics" as well as "The House" on CBC Radio. Some reports said he was also being groomed to take over the nation's top on-air job as CBC evening news anchor when the current veteran anchor retires. His firing is just the latest ethical imbroglio involving CBC journalists. Financial news host Amanda Lang was accused of being in a conflict over her 2013 reporting on a Canadian bank that sponsored several speeches she gave. She was also said to have been dating a senior executive at the bank. The CBC cleared her of wrongdoing but banned all paid appearances by its on-air journalists. The following year, syndicated radio host Jian Ghomeshi was fired by the CBC after at least a dozen women came forward with accusations he strangled them, punched them or slammed them against walls. Ghomeshi, who has been charged with sexual assault, has argued that his acts were consensual rough sex of the kind found in erotic novels such as the best-seller "Fifty Shades of Grey."

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