Two months after being fired by the CBC for using his contacts to broker sales for an art dealer, for which he received commissions totalling an estimated $300,000, Evan Solomon is returning to journalism.

Solomon has been hired by national weekly news magazine Maclean’s, with his first column appearing in its August 5 edition. Solomon has also joined satellite radio company, SiriusXM Canada, where he will host a show covering the federal election.

The radio show, called Everything is Political: Campaign 2015, debuts on August 6 at 6 p.m. and will air weekly throughout August before going daily from Monday to Friday from September to Nov. 5.

In June, The Star revealed that Solomon, the former host of Power & Politics and The House on CBC Radio, was acting as a broker for art collector Bruce Bailey, connecting him with contacts he’d met through his job.

They included former Bank of Governor Mark Carney and businessman Jim Balsillie. Emails obtained by the Star showed Solomon assigned code names to both men and told Bailey those connections could lead to other sales.

Star reporter Kevin Donovan talks about the investigation and Star story that led to the firing of CBC host Evan Solomon.

Solomon referred to Carney, now governor of the Bank of England, as “Guv” and noted in one exchange that Carney “has access to the highest power network in the world.”

Solomon, a two-time Gemini Award winner who came to the public broadcaster in 1994, was considered a possible successor to veteran anchor Peter Mansbridge before his dismissal.

Janice Neil, associate chair of the School of Journalism at Ryerson University, said it’s clear Solomon’s actions were an “obvious breach” of journalistic ethics, but that she’s not surprised to see his return to journalism.

“It’s one thing to be friendly with the people that you are interviewing. That happens on every beat. It happens in the sports department and it happens in politics. But this went beyond that,” she added.

But Neil noted the veteran journalist has “paid a price” for his mistakes.

“He (Solomon) paid a huge price in terms of losing his job. I think it is not unethical and it is reasonable that he would appear again. He’s got, obviously, tons of expertise,” Neil said.

“I think, though, it is incumbent upon him — and I see that this hasn’t happened yet — to be completely transparent with (radio) listeners and with Maclean’s (readers) and to say, ‘This is what happened,’ ” Neil said.

Neil said she is surprised Maclean’s didn’t insist that Solomon level with readers about his departure from the CBC, calling it a “missed opportunity.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

A spokesperson for Maclean’s did not respond to a request for comment.

Ethics in journalism is a key component of Ryerson’s journalism program, which has one full-time course on the subject, Neil said.

“We teach (ethics) from the first week . . . how journalists have an obligation to be ethical and what that means. We take it very seriously,” she said.