TORONTO - Steve Paikin, a veteran journalist with Ontario's public broadcaster who is facing sexual harassment allegation, says his accuser's claims are 100 per cent false.

In a Facebook post, the host of TVO's current affairs show "The Agenda" says he was "gobsmacked" by the allegation contained in an email he received from a Toronto woman on Saturday.

Paikin says he immediately informed the TVO management and its lawyers about the allegation and answered "every imaginable question" they had.

TVO announced on Monday that an independent third party will investigate the allegation, during which time Paikin will continue to host the current affairs program.

Paikin says the broadcaster did the right thing to call in the investigator, adding he has no doubt that a thorough analysis of the allegations will point to the truth.

He says the .MeToo movement, which has sparked an international conversation on sexual harassment, is too important to be undermined by spurious allegations.