The journalist Robyn Doolittle (Globe and Mail) discusses her new book Had It Coming: What’s Fair in the Age of #MeToo? (Allen Lane, 2019), with Joseph Planta.

Had It Coming: What’s Fair in the Age of #MeToo? by Robyn Doolittle (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2019). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Had It Coming

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Robyn Doolittle joins me now. The acclaimed investigative journalist has just published a new book Had It Coming: What’s Fair in the Age of #MeToo? It’s a book that grew out of a series she did at the Globe and Mail that looked at how Canadian police were handling sexual assault cases. These dismissed complaints across the country, deemed “unfounded,” numbered higher than assault cases that were considered baseless or resulting in no further investigation. Some change happened soon after her reporting came to light, including Statistics Canada collecting and publishing unfounded rates, as well as the government funding programs to combat gender-based violence. Also, there would be a review of more than 10,000 sexual assault cases. I’ll ask Ms. Doolittle about her reporting and the impetus for this book. It also looks at the #MeToo movement, and the number of powerful men who have gotten away with sexual assault and harassment. She looks critically at the concept of consent, and how we as well as our systems, legal and criminal, may have a different view. Our laws may not convict as often as people would like, as an example, Robyn Doolittle breaks apart the Jian Ghomeshi matter and looks at how the lack of a guilty verdict in that case though legally correct, may not have satisfied people morally or ethically. She also looks at redemption, and whether those who have gone down in allegations in the era of #MeToo can come back and resume working or a place in the public eye. Robyn Doolittle, now at the Globe and Mail, made international headlines with her reporting of Rob Ford in the Toronto Star. She won the Michener Award for public service journalism, and her previous book Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story was a bestseller, and earned her the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. The Twitter handle is @robyndoolittle. This new book is published by Allen Lane, which is an imprint of Penguin. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Robyn Doolittle; Ms. Doolittle, good morning.

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