Mayoral candidate Glen Murray tried to find out who made complaints when he led think-tank, emails suggest
CBC
Winnipeg mayoral candidate Glen Murray tried to find out who made anonymous bullying complaints about him when he led the Pembina Institute, according to emails obtained by CBC News.
The internal Pembina correspondence CBC obtained also reveals the environmental organization's ombuds director — whose job entailed fielding employee complaints — quit Pembina after accusing Murray of undermining her independence.
The emails appear to contradict Murray's claim he was never made aware of complaints about him during the year he ran the Pembina Institute and that the institute had a system in place to ensure anonymous complaints made their way to the board.
Murray's mayoral campaign stated Thursday the candidate had no knowledge of any complaints against him and noted the chair of Pembina's board said the institute's management did not bring complaints to Murray's attention.
Murray, who was Winnipeg's mayor from 1998 to 2004, worked mostly from Toronto as the executive director of the Alberta-based Pembina Institute from September 2017 to September 2018.
He opted to resign after being handed a termination notice by Pembina board chair David Runnalls, according to correspondence obtained by CBC in September.
A CBC News investigation published last month revealed Murray's year at what he called his "dream job" was mired by what former Pembina employees described as chaotic management, as well as allegations he drank to excess at company functions, engaged in sexual innuendo in workplace settings and rubbed himself up against one employee on the dance floor at a company social function in Banff.
Murray has repeatedly denied the grinding allegation but has not commented on the sexual innuendo allegations. He also denied the alcohol consumption allegations when asked about them on Oct. 3 by the Winnipeg Free Press.
At a Sept. 29 news conference following CBC's initial report, Murray apologized to Pembina staff for allowing his personal life to affect his work.
He then retracted that statement at a mayoral forum on Oct. 5, saying "I don't bring my problems to work."
At an Oct. 7 news conference, he said that his initial written and spoken statement was issued in error.
Murray has repeatedly stated Pembina's board and leaders never made him aware of harassment complaints.
In a one-on-one interview with CBC News on Oct. 11, he also said he was not made aware of any complaints of any sort.
"There is a respectful workplace policy [at Pembina] which I have respected that allows people to make anonymous complaints at any time that don't go to the executive director. They go to the board," Murray told CBC's Marcy Markusa.
