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If you're listening to this, I already know you have
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great taste in podcasts. But maybe, if you're like me,
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That's where the Sounds Good newsletter can help you out.
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Every other Thursday, the audiophiles at CBC Podcasts highlight one
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They do conversation starters, they do hidden gems, and they
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didn't make. Go to cbc.ca slash soundsgood to subscribe. This
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is a CBC Podcast.
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The following episode contains difficult subject matter and accounts of
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sexual assault. Please take care.
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I started the Free Press in 1986 to 2016, so
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actually I think it was 85 to 2016.
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Catherine Mitchell spent years as a reporter at the Winnipeg
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Free Press. the city's largest daily newspaper. I met her
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when I first started working on this story, looking into
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Peter Nygaard. Decades earlier, her groundbreaking reporting had begun to
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reveal early hints of the allegations Nygaard faces today. But
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there was always some mystery surrounding her work, a rumor
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I'd heard about how her investigation had somehow been cut short.
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You asked me in terms of regret, and I guess
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the one regret that I had was that story deserved
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to be told.
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A story buried by wealth and power.
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I think that's why I'm here, because this woman was
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hurt and was abused. I don't think that she ever
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had appropriate justice for what happened. I just wanted to
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support what she is saying still to this day.
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I'm Timothy Sawa, and this is Evil by Design. Episode 5.
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It's always been known in Winnipeg.
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Evil by Design.
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Definitely people knew who Peter Nygaard was and what Nygaard
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International meant to the city.
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It was the 90s, a time when Nygaard and his
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company loomed large over Winnipeg. The city's
Load full transcript
once-booming garment trade
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was shrinking, but he was still a major employer.
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He definitely had a big share of the market in
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the retail, the clothing manufacturing, and certainly Winnipeg was concerned
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about the fashion industry, because with the trade deal coming in,
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a lot of that work was being sent offshore.
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By this time, there had been rumors and whispers about
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Nygaard's predatory behavior for years.
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People tell women to stay away from Peter Nygaard. There's
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an undercurrent of, he's not a reputable guy.
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Bev Suick is a rights advocate who has spent much
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of her life trying to improve the conditions of working
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women in Winnipeg.
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You hear someone who had a friend who worked there
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and felt she had to leave because of harassment. It's
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always been known in Winnipeg that there's a problem there.
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While numerous women quietly exchanged warnings about Nygaard, only one
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allegation ever made it to criminal court at the time.
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In 1980, Nygaard was charged with the rape of an 18-year-old,
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an accusation he denied. Prosecutors got the young woman to
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the stand, but she refused to answer questions, leaving the
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judge no option but to call a halt to the proceedings.
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The charge was then stayed, and Nygaard came away vindicated.
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I've talked to people recently with this whole issue coming
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up and saying, well, did you know that there was
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something going on? I haven't met a person yet who
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said no. You know, old, young, everybody seems to. know
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that there's something going on, but there was just nothing tangible.
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Nygaard continued to enjoy his reputation as a womanizer. One
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magazine called him one of Canada's most eligible millionaires. A
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profile began with the line, Peter Nygaard was in bed
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with Miss Sweden when the telephone call came. That article
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was published just weeks after he was charged with rape.
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And even into the 90s, Nygaard was asked in a
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free press interview about his playboy, jet-setter lifestyle. For decades,
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his public image remained mostly unscathed. But a group of
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women who'd worked for Nygaard were about to change that.
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It was three women who had left Nygaard because of
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the abusive atmosphere and brought their complaints to the Manitoba
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Human Rights Commission. and so launched a suit against Nygaard
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for abusive behavior, harassment, and sexual harassment. I spoke to
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those three initially, and then was, you know, the cascade
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effect was given other names, people that not only could
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corroborate what they were talking about, but who had also
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suffered similar abusive behavior.
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So they generally.
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Talked about picking up the phone and then just a
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cascade of screams, a torrent of abuse that way. He
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would make sexual comments constantly, sort of in the joking manner,
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description of his office, as we've all heard, the bed
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in the office, how he would touch them inappropriately, touching
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their bodies, and also fondling himself. And it was just
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remarkable that these women put up with what they did
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for so long.
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The allegations came at a time when women everywhere, all
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too often, faced difficult and abusive work environments.
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I do remember very clearly what it was like. It
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was kind of like put up or shut up. Most women,
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when they faced sexual harassment and couldn't put up with it,
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would leave. Like, that was really your only option. You
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might think about complaining, but it wouldn't do you any good.
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First of all, people wouldn't take you seriously. It's either
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you must have brought it on yourself, it's the way
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you dress. Did he really do that? You know, he
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might have touched your bum, but like, how serious is that? So,
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you know, what could you do? You did put up
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with it. And, you know, for a lot of women,
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you didn't want to be the spoilsport in the place either, especially,
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you know, most
women then were not in management positions
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or positions of power. They were clerks, secretaries, waitresses, and
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If you wanted to get ahead, you wanted to pretend
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you were like one of the boys. You could laugh
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at the jokes, the sexist, gross jokes that you really
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didn't want to laugh at, but you did. And that's
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just the way it was. You just put up with it.
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To be clear, these attitudes weren't unique to this small
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Canadian prairie city. We only need to look to the
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biggest sex scandal of the 90s, the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, to
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see how a powerful man's behavior got a pass, and
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the woman raked over the coals.
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It's against the law to get your friend a job. Shit,
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she blew him for a couple of months.
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The least he could do is give her a recommendation.
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He ain't reverend Clinton.
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It ain't passed to Clinton.
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It is just Bill Clinton.
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He's just a man.
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A man gonna be a man. A man is basically
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as faithful as his options.
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Despite the attitudes of the time, a group of women
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in Winnipeg risked their reputations to take on Nygaard. Catherine's
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story comes out in the summer of 1996. It dominates
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the Saturday edition of the Winnipeg Free Press. Disturbing, deeply
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reported allegations of abuse and sexual harassment are against Winnipeg's
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Golden Boy. It's a blockbuster, among the first reporting of
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its kind to take on Peter Nygaard.
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I came into work on the Monday morning and my
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voicemail was full. And the phone calls continued through the week.
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It was just sort of a string of people who
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were coming out of the woodwork with their stories about
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what they put up with when they worked there.
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In addition to former co-workers or workers who were still there,
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who were sharing their stories, they were being called by
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Nygaard employees, management employees, because needless to say, Nygaard International
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was not happy about this.
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I mean, there's always a cost when you come forward,
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and I think.
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It speaks to their courage, their bravery.
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Almost immediately, Nygaard threatened the paper with a lawsuit. But
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Catherine continued to gather women's accounts, planning for more stories
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to follow.
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This was obviously pre-Me Too era. We were still dealing
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in a general culture, I would say, societal culture of
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can't you take a joke kind of thing. And it
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was clear that this wasn't the occasional comment that was
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misinterpreted or just the guys having fun kind of thing.
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This was a pattern of behavior, and it was very abusive.
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Of the many tips that flooded the newsroom, there was
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one story that stood out.
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Well, I'm born in the country on a family farm.
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We're sitting in Jana Larsson's home in northern Denmark. Her
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house is tucked away on one of the town's main streets,
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near a small square with cafes, a church, and a museum.
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The town itself overlooks the fjords. Jana is in her
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70s now and retired. She's warm and welcoming, but also
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looks as though she's bracing herself for what's to come.
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She takes a seat in her favorite chair. Her daughter
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Sita hovers nearby.
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When I was very young, my mom and dad told
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me that they wanted to go to Canada.
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For Janne's family, Canada seemed to promise a better future.
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Then after many years, like I was working with the
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clothing industry and I got pregnant when I was 18,
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so I never got a degree. But I was very
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good at being a seamstress and designing things.
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It was the early 70s. Jana was an ambitious 20-something
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when a door opened. She was offered work in Canada.
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I have never been afraid of trying new things. Well,
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I fell in love with Canada right away. My daughter
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came and joined me, and I got a good job.
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At Levi's.
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Then, after being headhunted, she's offered a job at Nygaard's company,
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called Tanjay at the time.
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I'd never heard about it. I didn't wear Nygaard clothing.
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I've never seen it anywhere.
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In 1980, while she was getting ready for her first day,
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Nygaard was in the news.
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They said that Mr. Nygaard of 10J was charged with
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raping a girl. And I was like, what? I hadn't
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met him. I didn't know who he was. I have
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checked the company I was in. But I've never seen
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anything at that time about accusations of sexual harassment or anything.
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And I was just shocked. And I thought, well, what
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do I do now? Well, I'll have to ask some questions.
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She talked with a company executive.
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So he said, there are so many girls, they just
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say a lot of things about Nygaard, and he has
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lots of money, and they think they can get a
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lot out of him, and this is not true, and
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this has never happened before, or like, He was trying
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to polish the whole thing. I arrived and saw all
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these posters of Nygaard. By that time, I hadn't met
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him in person. I just thought he looked ugly. Sorry,
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but that's what I thought. Like an overgrown teenager in
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his open shirts and his pointed fingers in the belt loops.
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I thought, oh, At first, Jonna's interactions with Nygaard were rare.
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But the longer she was at Tangier, the more she
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found herself in Nygaard's company.
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He was overly nice, but I didn't think of him
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as a nice person. He looked strange. I can't explain it.
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He tried to smile, but his mouth was smiling, but
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not his eyes.
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I was.
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put on a pedestal like I was something fantastic from
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Denmark and I was good at designing and it made
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me feel comfortable. But Nygaard made me feel uncomfortable. Even
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when I had to present the line that I had
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designed and was called up on the podium to show
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the things I had done and I used myself as
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a model a suggestion from an eye guard, that he
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would go up and he would touch my breast and, well,
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you have to lift this because your one breast is
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too low.
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The others in the room said nothing.
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They were just the ten men sitting there like they
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had nothing to do. Nobody has ever put me in
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such an uncomfortable situation. But I knew that at that time,
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that he had the final word in everything. And I
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could not afford to complain about anything because we were
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going to establish a life in Canada. And I was
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beginning to form plans not being a tendier. But everything
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went so fast. Then I had to do this. Then
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I had to go across Canada. Then I had to
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make a line. Then I had all eight seamstresses working
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for me or under me. And I was working almost
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24 hours a day.
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One of the few perks of the job was business travel.
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Before long, Jana's role required her to fly to Southeast Asia,
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where Nygaard had production centers.
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He announced that he was going to take me on
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a trip to the Far East.
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Yana's travel itinerary from 40 years ago is a blur.
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She visited various cities in Asia more than once, including
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Hong Kong and Taipei. And she has the passport stamps
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to prove it. Her recollection, however, has changed over time
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about exactly where it happened. But she's never wavered about
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what happened.
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The manager took me to my room that was on
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00:16:46.379 --> 00:16:51.019
the top floor and a huge room. And I was
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00:16:51.090 --> 00:16:55.370
just a country girl still at that time. I'd never
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00:16:55.450 --> 00:17:01.830
seen anything like it. There was chocolates and stationery with
247
00:17:01.929 --> 00:17:07.599
my name on it and one room connected to another room.
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00:17:09.730 --> 00:17:12.769
Jana asked a hotel employee to secure the door to
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00:17:12.789 --> 00:17:13.569
the adjoining room.
250
00:17:15.390 --> 00:17:20.119
He locked the door, took the
handle out, and showed
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00:17:20.150 --> 00:17:24.619
me the key and put it in his pocket. I
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00:17:24.660 --> 00:17:32.279
just wanted to be safe. I had jet lag. I
253
00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:37.039
was tired. I was just so happy finally to get
254
00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:41.720
to bed. That was a long trip from Winnipeg. And
255
00:17:41.859 --> 00:17:45.559
about 1.30, and I know the time because there was
256
00:17:45.579 --> 00:17:50.380
a clock with the illuminated numbers on it. There was
257
00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:58.349
somebody in my bed. And I woke up and I
258
00:17:58.410 --> 00:18:03.250
saw it was Nygaard. And I was about to say
259
00:18:03.329 --> 00:18:07.799
something and he put his hand over my mouth. He said,
260
00:18:08.440 --> 00:18:12.920
just don't worry, you're a nice girl and I'm not
261
00:18:12.980 --> 00:18:27.329
going to hurt you. But he raped me. I felt dirty.
262
00:18:28.849 --> 00:18:33.609
He's a big person. Like I couldn't do anything. And
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00:18:33.650 --> 00:18:37.460
he said, well... This is just it. Don't go to
264
00:18:37.480 --> 00:18:41.119
the police. You won't get anything out of it. But
265
00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:44.440
after he left, I got up and I sat in
266
00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:48.059
a chair and I cried and I thought it was,
267
00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:53.119
I just couldn't stay at Tangier anymore, but I didn't
268
00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:57.160
know what to do. Everything was just.
269
00:18:59.160 --> 00:18:59.509
Bad.
270
00:19:04.210 --> 00:19:08.329
Thinking back, I could have quit my job right there,
271
00:19:08.490 --> 00:19:14.109
but I didn't know how to survive. I buried it.
272
00:19:15.650 --> 00:19:19.190
Like I remember saying to myself, I'll make sure that
273
00:19:19.299 --> 00:19:24.680
I'm never alone with this man again. I think I
274
00:19:24.740 --> 00:19:28.900
was afraid of being fired. I wasn't ready for that
275
00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:32.799
because I didn't have a plan what to do next.
276
00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:39.720
I remember sitting in the chair crying that everything was
277
00:19:39.779 --> 00:19:47.029
just a bit a mess. And I thought, well, maybe
278
00:19:47.049 --> 00:19:53.480
it will go away. now it's like it happened yesterday.
279
00:20:02.269 --> 00:20:05.130
All of this time Jana's daughter Zita has been sitting
280
00:20:05.210 --> 00:20:08.970
quietly at a nearby table she gets up and walks
281
00:20:09.069 --> 00:20:13.039
over to her mother They embrace and cry quietly together.
282
00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:16.220
She tells her mother she loves her.
283
00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:24.089
It's good having my daughter here as well. I never
284
00:20:24.569 --> 00:20:28.349
think that I really told her the details. It's unpleasant,
285
00:20:29.069 --> 00:20:32.089
but yet I feel good about her knowing it.
286
00:20:38.710 --> 00:20:41.700
In the morning, Jana saw no other option but to
287
00:20:41.740 --> 00:20:42.440
return to work.
288
00:20:44.619 --> 00:20:47.799
The next morning, we were called down at 8 o'clock,
289
00:20:47.900 --> 00:20:53.940
full office of workers and people showing fabrics and very
290
00:20:54.039 --> 00:21:00.460
busy around, and Nygaard was already there, and I didn't
291
00:21:00.509 --> 00:21:03.650
really know where to look and what to do with myself,
292
00:21:03.769 --> 00:21:06.490
but I felt his eyes on my back all the time.
293
00:21:07.490 --> 00:21:12.849
But I was very careful, not to be too close
294
00:21:12.890 --> 00:21:17.690
to him. I didn't want to think about it. Because
295
00:21:17.750 --> 00:21:24.920
I was doing my job, I had a desire to
296
00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:27.859
talk to somebody about it the next day.
297
00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:33.250
Jana says she told a senior Nygaard executive, who was
298
00:21:33.289 --> 00:21:35.029
traveling with her in Asia at the time.
299
00:21:37.329 --> 00:21:40.059
He asked if I was going to do something about it.
300
00:21:41.990 --> 00:21:45.410
I took that to mean go to the police. I said, well,
301
00:21:45.430 --> 00:21:49.869
I don't think that's an option to me in my situation.
302
00:21:50.769 --> 00:21:56.250
And then he was very, like, empathetic. I felt he
303
00:21:56.289 --> 00:22:00.809
was sorry. Whether he believed me or not, I don't
304
00:22:00.869 --> 00:22:01.410
really know.
305
00:22:03.670 --> 00:22:07.200
We tracked that executive down. He had stayed and moved
306
00:22:07.240 --> 00:22:10.039
up the ranks of the Nygaard companies, but says he
307
00:22:10.099 --> 00:22:13.700
has no recollection of Jana at all, or her allegation.
308
00:22:15.539 --> 00:22:18.700
When Jana returned to Winnipeg, she threw herself into her
309
00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:21.009
work and the launch of a new clothing line.
310
00:22:22.829 --> 00:22:26.309
So I was working, working, working. And as long as
311
00:22:26.390 --> 00:22:30.089
I was working, I didn't think about this and what
312
00:22:30.150 --> 00:22:35.730
happened to me. It was secondary. I was working. And
313
00:22:35.789 --> 00:22:39.930
I was making sure that we had a life, my
314
00:22:39.950 --> 00:22:43.299
daughter and I, in Winnipeg. And that was the most
315
00:22:43.380 --> 00:22:44.519
important thing to me.
316
00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:51.460
But in the months that followed, Janice's Nygaard continued to
317
00:22:51.500 --> 00:22:52.079
torment her.
318
00:22:55.420 --> 00:22:59.970
He followed me home. He followed me in his Excalibur.
319
00:23:00.289 --> 00:23:03.210
So I knew it was him. And he scared me.
320
00:23:04.369 --> 00:23:05.230
I was afraid of him.
321
00:23:08.019 --> 00:23:10.599
We've already heard of Nygaard keeping tabs on the women
322
00:23:10.700 --> 00:23:12.000
he's been accused of assaulting.
323
00:23:14.660 --> 00:23:18.420
Then one day he came to the front door with
324
00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:21.900
an excuse, and if I had a few minutes, so
325
00:23:21.980 --> 00:23:27.759
I let him
in. And he sat down and he
326
00:23:27.799 --> 00:23:31.079
had lots of time. I said, well, I'm helping Sita
327
00:23:31.099 --> 00:23:35.200
with her homework, and I don't really have time. What
328
00:23:35.299 --> 00:23:39.039
is it you want? And Then he made something up.
329
00:23:40.089 --> 00:23:46.109
But she knew or she felt that I wanted to
330
00:23:46.150 --> 00:23:48.829
get rid of him. So she was like, Mom, are
331
00:23:48.849 --> 00:23:51.730
you finished soon? Because I have to do this homework.
332
00:23:52.329 --> 00:23:53.950
So then he left.
333
00:23:57.140 --> 00:24:00.660
Jana felt safer at home. But at work, it was
334
00:24:00.700 --> 00:24:01.940
impossible to escape him.
335
00:24:04.980 --> 00:24:09.240
Nygaard had been on my back for quite a while,
336
00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:16.059
yelling and screaming. Thinking about it, I think because I
337
00:24:16.119 --> 00:24:21.940
started to develop a lot of resentment. I thought he
338
00:24:21.980 --> 00:24:26.779
was a jerk. And I remember that I had a
339
00:24:26.859 --> 00:24:31.680
hard time not showing it. So when he got up
340
00:24:31.740 --> 00:24:35.720
and he would do, your breast is too low and
341
00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:39.569
you have to do this here because I would just
342
00:24:40.289 --> 00:24:46.950
take his arm away. He wasn't in doubt that I
343
00:24:47.009 --> 00:24:51.339
didn't like him at all. Because of the rape, because
344
00:24:51.380 --> 00:24:56.619
of the sexual harassment, because of the harassment in front
345
00:24:56.680 --> 00:25:01.819
of all the people I worked with daily, he was
346
00:25:01.880 --> 00:25:04.980
just yelling and screaming at me at the end.
347
00:25:07.529 --> 00:25:11.329
Then, in the summer of 1981, less than two years
348
00:25:11.490 --> 00:25:14.509
since she began working for Nygaard, Jana is called into
349
00:25:14.529 --> 00:25:18.190
the office of another senior executive, a man Jana had
350
00:25:18.269 --> 00:25:19.150
never reported to.
351
00:25:20.910 --> 00:25:25.549
I see him still sitting in his chair with the
352
00:25:25.630 --> 00:25:29.109
legs on the table in front of him, leaned back.
353
00:25:30.089 --> 00:25:34.019
I said, you called me. Yes, you're fired.
354
00:25:35.880 --> 00:25:37.619
She wants to know Why?
355
00:25:37.640 --> 00:25:45.069
I said, well, Mr. Nygaard had asked me to fire you.
356
00:25:46.549 --> 00:25:50.869
And then I cried. And all of a sudden, I
357
00:25:50.910 --> 00:25:55.390
got extremely mad. And I yelled at him. I remember
358
00:25:55.630 --> 00:26:00.049
I said, Mr. Nygaard will regret this. I'm going to
359
00:26:00.089 --> 00:26:05.170
the police. Then he was up in a second. What
360
00:26:05.190 --> 00:26:09.789
do you mean? And I told him he had raped me.
361
00:26:09.809 --> 00:26:15.190
And then I walked out and I remember slamming the
362
00:26:15.230 --> 00:26:17.609
door because I was so mad I just had to
363
00:26:17.630 --> 00:26:29.940
get it
out of my system. I remember having a thought,
364
00:26:30.779 --> 00:26:35.609
I have to have a new job fast and Are
365
00:26:35.650 --> 00:26:41.089
they going to believe me? And the company might turn
366
00:26:41.150 --> 00:26:46.079
it around that I had done something wrong. Like, I
367
00:26:46.130 --> 00:26:50.759
really didn't know what to do. I was sad and
368
00:26:50.819 --> 00:26:51.480
I was mad.
369
00:26:54.579 --> 00:26:57.359
Within hours of her dismissal, Jana says she got a
370
00:26:57.400 --> 00:27:01.210
visit from two senior Nygaard employees. They'd come to make
371
00:27:01.250 --> 00:27:04.950
a deal. If she agreed to stay quiet... they would
372
00:27:04.990 --> 00:27:13.789
change her firing to a resignation and give her $ 8, 000.
373
00:27:10.630 --> 00:27:13.309
With no other work lined up, Jana felt she had
374
00:27:13.390 --> 00:27:17.259
no choice but to take it. For months, she tried
375
00:27:17.299 --> 00:27:20.680
to find another job in fashion, but doors closed on
376
00:27:20.740 --> 00:27:21.940
her at every turn.
377
00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:30.470
I thought, does Nygaard have something on anybody in the
378
00:27:30.529 --> 00:27:36.359
jean business in Winnipeg? since nobody dared to speak to me.
379
00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:42.740
I tried to hang in there, selling Mary Kay products
380
00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:49.109
in 82. I was unemployment, and we barely made it.
381
00:27:51.970 --> 00:27:55.589
Then, nearing the end of the year, Jana's younger brother died.
382
00:27:56.670 --> 00:27:57.670
She had to return home.
383
00:28:00.250 --> 00:28:05.130
Everybody thought it took such a courage of me to
384
00:28:05.829 --> 00:28:13.480
establish a life in Canada and I felt defeated.
385
00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:20.660
Jana returned to her family in Denmark, unable to tell
386
00:28:20.680 --> 00:28:23.200
them why. It was overwhelming.
387
00:28:26.079 --> 00:28:31.569
A mixture of a lot of things. Maybe I even
388
00:28:31.650 --> 00:28:37.029
had their dream about Canada in my thoughts. And they
389
00:28:37.109 --> 00:28:39.990
pushed me in the sense, we'll take care of Sita.
390
00:28:40.809 --> 00:28:47.650
And because my parents were just so enthusiastic about Canada
391
00:28:47.730 --> 00:28:49.380
and the Canadian way.
392
00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:53.339
But her Canadian dream was now dead.
393
00:28:55.259 --> 00:29:01.980
And I got killed it. First, because of the rape. Secondly,
394
00:29:02.220 --> 00:29:07.500
because he was instrumental, I'm sure. I never saw him
395
00:29:07.900 --> 00:29:10.740
that day. I was fired without notice.
396
00:29:13.809 --> 00:29:17.730
Through his lawyer, Nygaard says he categorically denies Jana's allegations,
397
00:29:18.349 --> 00:29:25.349
saying they are, quote, completely false. Jana rebuilt her life
398
00:29:25.410 --> 00:29:29.150
in Denmark, met her husband, and continued to devote herself
399
00:29:29.190 --> 00:29:34.180
to her daughter. She moved on,
or tried to, doing
400
00:29:34.220 --> 00:29:36.779
her best to leave the rape and her Canadian nightmare
401
00:29:36.839 --> 00:29:40.529
in the past. And for a while, she thought they
402
00:29:40.569 --> 00:29:45.250
might stay there. Until 14 years after leaving Winnipeg, Yana
403
00:29:45.369 --> 00:29:47.990
got a call from a reporter with the Free Press.
404
00:29:56.329 --> 00:29:59.609
Early morning on a Manhattan sidewalk, a shooting caught on
405
00:29:59.630 --> 00:30:00.309
surveillance video.
406
00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:04.809
It was an assassination-style killing, and everybody saw it.
407
00:30:05.069 --> 00:30:08.269
Now, as Luigi Mangione prepares to stand trial for the
408
00:30:08.309 --> 00:30:12.769
murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, which he denies, a
409
00:30:12.829 --> 00:30:17.190
new podcast series from ABC Audio in 2020 goes inside
410
00:30:17.210 --> 00:30:22.150
this captivating case. I'm ABC News legal analyst Brian Buckmeyer.
411
00:30:22.730 --> 00:30:26.619
Listen to Burden of Proof, Luigi Mangione, wherever you get
412
00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:27.279
your podcasts.
413
00:30:29.349 --> 00:30:31.779
Yeah, we know what you're thinking. How good can a
414
00:30:31.819 --> 00:30:34.599
coffee from Mackey's be? Well, when it's made with a
415
00:30:34.660 --> 00:30:37.500
new lighter roast at a great price, that means you
416
00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:40.000
can enjoy it every day. And with a cheeky hash
417
00:30:40.039 --> 00:30:43.369
brown when you feel like it, turns out pretty good.
418
00:30:44.869 --> 00:30:47.250
Subject to availability. Hash brown served until 11 a.m. Lighter
419
00:30:47.269 --> 00:30:50.509
roast available from 8th of September, 2026.
420
00:30:53.130 --> 00:30:55.950
Jana Larson was one name that I was given because
421
00:30:56.529 --> 00:30:59.269
at the time she was in Denmark so I managed
422
00:30:59.289 --> 00:31:01.390
to reach her and interview her over the phone.
423
00:31:04.049 --> 00:31:06.859
Catherine Mitchell knew her story needed to be told.
424
00:31:09.259 --> 00:31:11.119
It was heartbreaking because.
425
00:31:12.299 --> 00:31:17.700
Very credible woman but had continued to work there because
426
00:31:17.720 --> 00:31:21.589
she was a single mother at the time and her
427
00:31:21.650 --> 00:31:24.069
story had many of the echoes of the stories that
428
00:31:24.089 --> 00:31:27.509
we're still hearing that Hurt by somebody in a position
429
00:31:27.529 --> 00:31:31.019
of power, not knowing who I could turn to, who
430
00:31:31.059 --> 00:31:31.940
would believe me.
431
00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:37.579
Including Yana's story, Catherine was preparing more coverage of Nygaard's
432
00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:38.640
sexual misconduct.
433
00:31:40.180 --> 00:31:43.569
So I just gathered, as I said, interviewing a number
434
00:31:43.589 --> 00:31:47.369
of other women, just gathered more evidence, backing up the
435
00:31:47.410 --> 00:31:47.950
women's claims.
436
00:31:50.130 --> 00:31:52.779
Until the journalists were told, stop.
437
00:31:57.029 --> 00:31:59.819
It was made clear that we weren't going to continue
438
00:31:59.859 --> 00:32:00.400
with the story.
439
00:32:03.640 --> 00:32:06.460
Catherine says the publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press killed
440
00:32:06.500 --> 00:32:09.460
her investigation and spiked any further stories.
441
00:32:12.359 --> 00:32:14.519
When the word went out that there would be no
442
00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:18.240
more stories, people were upset. It's like, hey, what the
443
00:32:18.289 --> 00:32:19.049
hell's going on?
444
00:32:20.529 --> 00:32:23.609
Paul Mackay, as you'll remember, was also at the Free Press.
445
00:32:24.950 --> 00:32:25.210
Because.
446
00:32:25.990 --> 00:32:30.150
It challenges the integrity of the newsroom. They always have
447
00:32:30.210 --> 00:32:34.089
these very high-minded ideals on the masthead of the paper
448
00:32:34.170 --> 00:32:38.549
about the freedom of liberty and speech and all that.
449
00:32:39.630 --> 00:32:44.170
And to spike a story that you know has been
450
00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:52.119
cleared for journalistic integrity and legal integrity, and yet you're
451
00:32:52.180 --> 00:32:57.029
still spiking it. People were upset and angry about it.
452
00:32:58.589 --> 00:33:00.549
What happened with the spiking? What do you remember about that?
453
00:33:01.869 --> 00:33:04.569
Not much, just that it was clear that the spiking
454
00:33:04.630 --> 00:33:08.690
came from the office of the publisher, which was very unusual.
455
00:33:09.369 --> 00:33:13.480
But this, to my knowledge, was the first time a
456
00:33:13.559 --> 00:33:19.220
story had been spiked for nefarious reasons, that some outside
457
00:33:19.339 --> 00:33:21.799
force had intervened.
458
00:33:25.410 --> 00:33:28.269
Of course, we asked the publisher at the time, Rudy Redikop,
459
00:33:28.410 --> 00:33:32.009
about this. He denies the threat of a lawsuit affected
460
00:33:32.049 --> 00:33:35.779
his decision to spike further stories. Instead, he says he
461
00:33:35.819 --> 00:33:38.410
wasn't sure whether the paper was following the right angles.
462
00:33:39.470 --> 00:33:43.799
He worried it was going to sensationalize the story. Redikop
463
00:33:43.819 --> 00:33:47.240
says Nygaard never contacted him about the coverage. He says
464
00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:52.200
the pressure came from, quote, high-positioned Winnipeggers, Nygaard compatriots, and
465
00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:56.640
kingpins of the city. He told us, those people thought
466
00:33:56.660 --> 00:33:59.099
that we were on a witch hunt. I guess they
467
00:33:59.119 --> 00:34:01.440
didn't know how to believe that Peter was involved in
468
00:34:01.460 --> 00:34:06.519
these things. And so what did the newsroom do about it?
469
00:34:08.090 --> 00:34:11.349
There was a reporter at the time who was not
470
00:34:11.389 --> 00:34:15.949
involved in the story. And they were very upset
about
471
00:34:16.030 --> 00:34:20.150
it and started up a petition. And said, well, I
472
00:34:20.150 --> 00:34:26.909
want to present this to Rudy Reddickpop. We sat down
473
00:34:27.730 --> 00:34:33.070
saying we're here to protest the decision to spike further
474
00:34:33.090 --> 00:34:40.159
stories on the Nygaard issue. And he took the paper.
475
00:34:41.159 --> 00:34:44.039
He didn't even look at it. And he threw it
476
00:34:44.099 --> 00:34:47.159
to the side of his desk and it went straight
477
00:34:47.219 --> 00:34:52.260
into his garbage pail. And the two of us were
478
00:34:52.300 --> 00:34:55.920
just in complete shock. We knew he didn't want to
479
00:34:55.980 --> 00:34:58.699
receive the petition, but we never thought he'd do that.
480
00:34:59.920 --> 00:35:02.260
From the look on his face, he clearly saw the
481
00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:06.400
looks on our face and immediately reached into the garbage
482
00:35:06.440 --> 00:35:11.239
can and pulled it out and just patted it once
483
00:35:12.409 --> 00:35:17.210
and said, I'll look at it later. And basically what
484
00:35:17.250 --> 00:35:21.010
he said essentially was, I'm not going to be the
485
00:35:21.130 --> 00:35:26.949
publisher of the free press that sends hundreds of Nygaard
486
00:35:27.030 --> 00:35:31.690
jobs out of the city. And that was it. That
487
00:35:31.730 --> 00:35:32.530
was his argument.
488
00:35:36.610 --> 00:35:39.949
Retikop says he doesn't remember saying this, nor does he
489
00:35:39.989 --> 00:35:43.219
recall the meeting with Paul or receiving this petition at all.
490
00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:47.480
But reflecting on his decision in 1996, he says it
491
00:35:47.500 --> 00:35:50.559
was a different time and he would do things differently today.
492
00:35:52.860 --> 00:35:53.280
It's true.
493
00:35:53.860 --> 00:35:56.440
While many employers were moving jobs offshore at the time,
494
00:35:57.039 --> 00:36:01.170
Nygaard kept much of his operations in Canada. In the 90s,
495
00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:04.139
he employed more than 1,000 people in his Winnipeg factories,
496
00:36:04.400 --> 00:36:08.260
retail stores, and offices. In a letter to the editor,
497
00:36:08.519 --> 00:36:11.239
published by the Free Press at the time, Nygaard's late
498
00:36:11.300 --> 00:36:15.960
sister warned, quote, your quest for sensationalism may well have
499
00:36:15.980 --> 00:36:19.420
a severe impact on the 1,200 employees who depend on
500
00:36:19.480 --> 00:36:29.730
Nygaard International for their paychecks. The jobs and prestige that
501
00:36:29.789 --> 00:36:32.889
Nygaard and his company brought to the Prairie City became
502
00:36:32.909 --> 00:36:37.780
a sort of camouflage. In 1981, a year after Iona
503
00:36:37.820 --> 00:36:40.719
says she was raped, the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce gave
504
00:36:40.800 --> 00:36:45.880
Nygaard an Award for Canadian Distinction. And in 1985, he
505
00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:49.960
was given the Winnipeg Community Service Award. It all raises
506
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:53.840
the question, was Nygaard too valuable to Winnipeg to be outed?
507
00:36:55.179 --> 00:36:57.769
It seems Peter Nygaard had enough influence at the top
508
00:36:58.380 --> 00:37:00.980
that those around him were willing to defend and look
509
00:37:01.039 --> 00:37:04.730
beyond his vicious behavior, with little regard for the women
510
00:37:04.909 --> 00:37:05.530
he abused.
511
00:37:09.710 --> 00:37:13.889
Peter Nygaard definitely has power, and he definitely has money,
512
00:37:13.969 --> 00:37:17.309
and he has a reputation. That would make it difficult
513
00:37:17.369 --> 00:37:21.860
to pursue a rape charge. You would certainly think twice,
514
00:37:22.489 --> 00:37:25.179
three times, four times, before you would say anything.
515
00:37:26.920 --> 00:37:27.500
You just wouldn't.
516
00:37:34.099 --> 00:37:37.860
Jana certainly deserved to have her story told, and it wasn't. And,
517
00:37:37.960 --> 00:37:39.059
I mean, that's regrettable.
518
00:37:40.380 --> 00:37:41.360
It's all very regrettable.
519
00:37:43.739 --> 00:37:46.309
Catherine still has the transcript of her interview with Jana
520
00:37:46.329 --> 00:37:50.389
from the 1990s. And while it was never published, Jana's
521
00:37:50.570 --> 00:37:54.510
identical retelling, decades later, strengthens her case today.
522
00:37:57.090 --> 00:38:02.030
She has just stayed true to her story. She's very credible.
523
00:38:02.809 --> 00:38:05.630
And so again, just really admire her courage.
524
00:38:08.269 --> 00:38:10.860
Catherine hopes something good will come from Yana telling her
525
00:38:10.889 --> 00:38:13.340
story again, now publicly.
526
00:38:15.400 --> 00:38:20.860
One sort of common element for those who have been
527
00:38:20.900 --> 00:38:26.639
sexually harassed, those who have been sexually abused, is that self-doubt.
528
00:38:27.909 --> 00:38:31.289
general recrimination nobody's going to believe me you know that
529
00:38:31.349 --> 00:38:35.550
kind of thing and so it's really important to get
530
00:38:35.590 --> 00:38:39.099
these stories out not just as sort of a as
531
00:38:39.139 --> 00:38:44.900
a warning to other women but also to alleviate if
532
00:38:44.960 --> 00:38:50.579
not eliminate the stigma that's attached to this and maybe change.
533
00:38:50.300 --> 00:38:56.760
Behavior There had been rumors for years that the Winnipeg
534
00:38:56.780 --> 00:39:00.250
Free Press' reporting on Peter Nygaard had somehow been halted
535
00:39:00.269 --> 00:39:04.230
in the 90s. But pressure faced by journalists to kill
536
00:39:04.389 --> 00:39:07.750
or change stories is usually subtle and hard to pin down.
537
00:39:08.630 --> 00:39:12.349
And because of that, it stays hidden. I honestly thought
538
00:39:12.389 --> 00:39:14.340
we would never know the truth about what happened at
539
00:39:14.380 --> 00:39:18.260
the Winnipeg Free Press in 1996. But now we do,
540
00:39:18.900 --> 00:39:25.679
and there was nothing subtle about it. While Jana never
541
00:39:25.760 --> 00:39:30.380
reported her assault to authorities, she hasn't kept quiet. She
542
00:39:30.409 --> 00:39:33.460
told Nygaard executives at the time of her rape, only
543
00:39:33.500 --> 00:39:35.800
to have employees come to her home with a cheque.
544
00:39:37.079 --> 00:39:40.039
More than a decade later, she told a reporter, only
545
00:39:40.079 --> 00:39:43.780
to have her story buried. Over the years, she spoke
546
00:39:43.820 --> 00:39:46.420
to other journalists to try to get her story out there.
547
00:39:47.639 --> 00:39:49.909
And today, Jana is telling us.
548
00:39:49.929 --> 00:39:59.489
It still affects me. Making me dirty somehow. Making me
549
00:39:59.619 --> 00:40:03.539
feel that I should have done something. But I don't
550
00:40:03.579 --> 00:40:09.159
know what. I don't get anything out of telling my
551
00:40:09.239 --> 00:40:16.550
story except maybe a bit more peace inside. It's difficult
552
00:40:16.929 --> 00:40:23.030
to tell, but I asked for some peace. I asked
553
00:40:23.070 --> 00:40:27.210
myself for some peace after all those years.
554
00:40:32.989 --> 00:40:35.760
I'd waited a decade to meet Jana, to hear her
555
00:40:35.820 --> 00:40:39.380
story from her. I had learned about her assault at
556
00:40:39.420 --> 00:40:43.739
the start of my investigation into Nygaard back in 2009.
557
00:40:43.739 --> 00:40:45.820
I'd done everything I could to try to speak to her,
558
00:40:46.519 --> 00:40:49.110
but she said she didn't want to talk. not after
559
00:40:49.159 --> 00:40:51.139
what had happened to her with the Winnipeg Free Press.
560
00:40:52.280 --> 00:40:54.320
At the time, I had no idea how much she'd
561
00:40:54.340 --> 00:40:58.019
been through. But soon I'd be facing what the Free
562
00:40:58.059 --> 00:41:02.440
Press did in 1996, pressure to stay silent, to end
563
00:41:02.579 --> 00:41:06.090
our investigation. But this time it would go much further
564
00:41:06.130 --> 00:41:08.789
than phone calls from powerful friends and the threat of
565
00:41:08.849 --> 00:41:13.110
a lawsuit. I'd be facing up to five years in prison.
566
00:41:16.389 --> 00:41:21.880
Coming up on Evil by Design. I'm calling about the
567
00:41:21.960 --> 00:41:28.360
issue of potential prosecution for defamatory libel under the criminal code.
568
00:41:30.019 --> 00:41:30.800
What was I going to do?
569
00:41:31.360 --> 00:41:34.760
Just turn a blind eye and carry on and just
570
00:41:35.380 --> 00:41:38.320
let him abuse and victimize people?
571
00:41:39.559 --> 00:41:43.000
When I first was hired, Nygaard told me that the
572
00:41:43.039 --> 00:41:44.300
reason why Jesus.
573
00:41:44.019 --> 00:41:46.199
Is so popular is because he had a good PR team.
574
00:41:46.539 --> 00:41:47.880
So he wanted everything filmed.
575
00:41:48.920 --> 00:41:49.619
We received.
576
00:41:50.300 --> 00:41:55.159
summonses informing us that we were being criminally charged under
577
00:41:55.179 --> 00:41:56.460
the Criminal Code of Canada.
578
00:41:59.900 --> 00:42:02.099
If anything you've heard in this episode has left you
579
00:42:02.119 --> 00:42:07.300
looking for someone to talk to, please visit cbc.ca slash uncover.
580
00:42:08.139 --> 00:42:10.079
We have a number of resources there for those in
581
00:42:10.139 --> 00:42:13.860
need of help and support. Evil by Design is a
582
00:42:13.889 --> 00:42:18.070
co-production between CBC Podcasts and The Fifth Estate. You can
583
00:42:18.130 --> 00:42:22.090
find The Fifth Estate's latest documentary Peter Nygaard, The Secret Videos,
584
00:42:22.449 --> 00:42:26.599
on YouTube. This podcast is written by producer Ashley Mack,
585
00:42:26.960 --> 00:42:31.860
associate producer Alina Ghosh, and me, Timothy Sawa, with assistance
586
00:42:31.980 --> 00:42:35.239
from Lynette Fortune at The Fifth Estate. Mixing and sound
587
00:42:35.260 --> 00:42:39.119
design by Evan Kelly, with technical assistance from Laura Antonelli.
588
00:42:39.860 --> 00:42:43.360
For this episode, special thanks goes to Kimberly Ivany, Linda Guerrero,
589
00:42:43.639 --> 00:42:47.869
Lisa Mayer, and Bob McEwen. Emily Canal is our digital producer.
590
00:42:48.590 --> 00:42:53.360
Fact-checking by Emily Mathieu, Legal advice from Sean Moorman. Original
591
00:42:53.400 --> 00:42:57.619
music by Olivia Pasquarelli. Our senior producer at CBC Podcasts
592
00:42:57.840 --> 00:43:01.280
is Chris Oak. And our executive producer is Arif Noorani.
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00:43:10.769 --> 00:43:15.590
For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.