Canadian Museum of Human Rights Board announces immediate departure of CEO amid accusations of racism, homophobia, and sexual harassment

The Board of Trustees of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) has announced immediate action to address recent allegations of systemic racism, discrimination and claims of sexual harassment at the Museum.

“These allegations were not properly escalated to the Board of Trustees,” said Board Chair Pauline Rafferty. “Now that we have a more complete understanding of these events, we are taking immediate action and will undertake long‐term steps to address these issues.”

The Board and CMHR President & CEO Dr. John Young have agreed that it is in the best interest of the Museum that he step down, effective immediately. Rafferty has agreed to lead the organization as Interim CEO until a new CEO is in place.

“We will act quickly to improve Museum processes and our policies, and to rebuild relationships and trust with our staff and those we have let down, especially the Black and Indigenous communities, people of colour and LGBTQ2+ communities,” stated Rafferty. “We apologize unreservedly for what has happened and we know that the fight against systemic racism, homophobia, inequality and all forms of othering must be ongoing, and must be a priority.”

Read more here. The CMHR previously released an apology for censoring LGBTQ2+ content. Multiple accusations of discrimination have been covered by news media, and employee stories have been compiled on this Instagram account.