The CEO of one of Canada’s national museums committed serious code of conduct breaches by yelling, mistreating staff and using inappropriate language including calling a senior leadership team “sluts” publicly, the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner’s investigation found.
In a report published Wednesday, Commissioner Harriet Solloway found that Marie Chapman, who holds the most senior job at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, engaged in a pattern of behaviour over a decade that caused emotional harm to employees.
The report says some people impacted reported contemplating self-harm.
“This was not a one-time lapse in judgment, but a repeated problem that persisted for over a decade,” Solloway said in a video statement.
“This sort of breach poses a serious threat to confidence in the integrity of the public sector, and specifically the museum.”
The Harper government appointed Chapman in 2011 as the first director of the museum. She was later reappointed by the Trudeau government in 2016 and again in 2021. One of the museum’s roles is to help the public understand immigrants’ experiences arriving and settling in Canada.
Chapman told the commissioner she disagrees with the findings of her report and wrote that “given the gravity of the situation,” she should revisit the case.
After a two-year investigation that involved interviewing 19 witnesses, almost one-third of the museum’s employees and Chapman, the report found some of the director’s actions could “reasonably be characterized” as bullying.
Some employees told investigators they were “terrified,” had panic attacks and feared speaking up because Chapman said everyone is replaceable.
The report also claims Chapman ranked women working at the museum by age, said there are “no good-looking men” at the museum and referred to some staff by pseudonyms about how they looked or acted which led to “hurtful nicknames.”
Chapman referred to a senior leadership team, or SLT for short, using the term “sluts” including in public and in front of museum staff. She told a delegation from another country “I call them sluts” while laughing about it, the investigation found.
“While some witnesses recounted that Ms. Chapman was trying to be funny, the use of such language in the workplace is inappropriate and inconsistent with the standards expected of someone in a leadership position in the federal public sector,” the report said.
Chapman also said that a famous female athlete “looks like a man” and was too masculine to be featured in a museum product while making a disgusted facial expression, Solloway’s report said.
“Suggesting that a woman does not have the right appearance to be able to be representative of women is offensive, and it is even more problematic coming from a chief executive like Ms. Chapman,” Solloway’s report said.
The commissioner’s office launched its investigation into Chapman’s conduct in 2023 after receiving information about several alleged incidents.
Since 2012, Chapman raised her voice while angry more than once, the report said.
In one instance, an employee was so afraid they took the next day off after Chapman threw a stack of union cards at them and claimed they used the museum’s equipment to make them, the report said.
The investigation’s report concluded that Chapman wasn’t professional and directly violated the federal government’s values when she used her power to “strike fear into employees” and target people.
“The situation was particularly troubling, given that Ms. Chapman occupied the most senior position at the museum, and many employees were reluctant to raise concerns, for fear of negative consequences,” the report said.
The report found that Chapman breached the federal government’s values and ethics code along with the museum’s code of conduct.
As a governor-in-council appointee, Canadians expect people in a position like this to “behave in a manner that can bear the closest of public scrutiny,” the report said.
Her behaviour “was not trivial, but a repeated demonstration of poor judgment,” investigators found.
Solloway recommended corrective measures to Chapman and that an external expert assess employees’ wellness to find appropriate support measures for them.
Chapman issued a lengthy response to the commissioner’s office refuting many of the allegations and “acknowledged” the recommendation.
“While I disagree with the findings outlined in the case report, I acknowledge and embrace my responsibility as a leader of the museum,” Chapman wrote in her response.
“I welcome opportunities for learning and improvement and I look forward to engaging an external expert to guide us in the process.”
The commissioner wrote that response “fell short” and is “not satisfactory.”
Chapman wrote she wants the report to be changed to include specific dates and numbers because it creates a “false impression of the frequency and scale of these events.”
“At no point have I threatened anyone’s employment or fostered a climate of fear,” she wrote.
Chapman also raised questions about the impartiality, objectivity and fairness of the report. She said only one former museum board member was interviewed, and a more diverse range of witnesses including key board members should have been included.
She admitted that she used the word “sluts,” but said she was never asked by investigators to clarify what she said.
“I referred to the senior leadership team as ‘sluts,’ but it was not directed specifically at ‘MY senior leadership team’ as cited,” Chapman wrote.
“This distinction is important because I always considered myself part of the group.”
Chapman said that some people told investigators her comment was made “in solidarity, not intended to disrespect our team.”
She said that claims involving raising her voice and throwing a stack of cards refer to events that took place between 2012 and 2015, and have since been formally addressed and contested.
In response to the claim she said a famous athlete looked too manly, Chapman said she didn’t intend any harm and talked about how including more women in the “museum’s film’s sports section could discourage comments about [redacted].”
She said her comment about “no good-looking men” refers to an interaction at an event before her appointment as CEO.
CBC News asked Chapman for comment on Wednesday night and has not received a response yet.
The Prime Minister’s Office also has yet to respond to questions about Chapman’s future.
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