QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Canadian Heritage
CBC/Radio-Canada
December 6, 2023
This week, CBC/Radio-Canada announced that it will be cutting hundreds of positions across its French and English platforms. When you dig deeper, it’s evident that this is more of a hiring freeze than it is a loss of jobs. Regardless, the backdrop of this announcement are documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation showing that CBC handed out more than $51 million in bonuses and pay raises in 2020 and 2021.
When asked whether they will be proceeding with bonuses this year, CBC President Catherine Tait said that they haven’t discussed that yet. They have discussed cutting hundreds of jobs but haven’t discussed Christmas bonuses with Christmas just a few weeks away. The pandemic didn’t stop the bonuses, and hundreds of job cuts announced this week won’t stop the bonuses.
Minister, will you stop the bonuses to an organization whose ratings are abominable?
First of all, hearing that there are workers who are about to lose their jobs and income is never good news. My thoughts go out to all these CBC/Radio-Canada workers struggling with uncertainty today.
The President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada was asked a good question. She has to be transparent and answer perfectly valid questions about her management and the decisions that lay ahead.
The compensation policy is determined internally and approved by the board of directors. It is one of the decisions that fall under their responsibility. However, they are accountable to the Canadian public and are required to answer questions.
Minister, CBC has been a disaster. It’s easy to wash your hands by saying it’s an independent organization, which your government continues to find ways to fund with more and more of taxpayers’ money. Minister, it’s not even clear from this week’s announcement who, if anyone, at the CBC will actually lose their jobs. Employees have actually been told that it could be months before people are notified of which positions are being cut. It’s like a runaway train at the CBC.
Given your confirmation that CBC will be eligible for a portion of the funds generated by Bill C-18, possibly with a cap, how can this be seen as anything other than a complete shakedown over there?
Once again, thank you for your question.
As I said earlier, CBC/Radio-Canada management has to explain its decisions and this week’s announcement.
However, we cannot ignore the financial difficulties confronting all of Canada’s media. CBC/Radio-Canada relies not only on public funding but also on private revenue, and it is also struggling financially.
She must manage the Crown corporation with that reality in mind, and then explain her decisions not only to employees, who will be the first to be affected, but also to the Canadian public as a whole.
