(Ottawa) Federal deputies want to hear in Ottawa the president of CBC/Radio-Canada, Catherine Tait, who has just announced that the public broadcaster will have to reduce its workforce by 10%, without however excluding the possibility of granting bonuses to directors of the state corporation.
The Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage unanimously agreed Thursday to summon the president of the public broadcaster to explain the cuts – and potential bonuses. The committee wants to hear Mme Tait at its first meeting of 2024, after the holiday break, but no date has yet been set for that meeting.
MPs on the committee also agreed to report to the House that given the job cuts, it would be inappropriate for CBC/Radio-Canada to award bonuses to members of management.
The public broadcaster’s spokesperson, Leon Mar, said in an email Thursday that CBC/Radio-Canada was aware of the motion adopted in committee and that its leaders were “looking forward to answering questions from committee members.”
Since the public broadcaster is independent of political powers, MPs cannot decide how CBC/Radio-Canada spends its budgets.
The state-owned company announced Monday that it plans to cut 600 jobs and not fill 200 vacant positions over the next year, as the public broadcaster grapples with a $125 million shortfall.
Interviewed on CBC News flagship show The National if managers received bonuses this year despite the cuts, Mme Tait replied that it was too early to tell. “We will review this, as we will all of our budget items in the coming months,” she said.
Mr. Mar confirmed in his email on Thursday that the public broadcaster would not reconsider the bonuses it would have paid under existing contracts. “Changes to our existing compensation agreements with employees, whether unionized or not, are not under consideration at this time,” Mr. Mar said in an email to The Canadian Press.
“Retention” bonuses
Liberal, Conservative and NDP MPs on the heritage committee expressed dismay at Ms.’s commentsme Keep quiet about bonuses.
“As a former CEO, I can’t imagine laying off employees before Christmas and then considering getting a bonus,” Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed, who is also parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, said Thursday.
“The government does not control Radio-Canada and therefore we cannot tell it what to do,” he admitted. But I think it is very important for us, as parliamentarians, to ask Ms.me Tate these questions, when she appears, on whether executives should consider bonuses. »
CBC/Radio-Canada documents previously obtained through the Access to Information Act reveal that more than $99 million in bonuses were awarded to employees of the public broadcaster between 2015 and 2022. This figure includes $16 million distributed l last year to more than 1,100 employees – the highest amount paid in at least seven years.
CBC/Radio-Canada defines its bonus program as a “short-term incentive plan.” It aims to encourage “employee retention and motivate them to meet or exceed business objectives that are aligned with our strategic plan,” the broadcaster’s spokesperson said earlier this week.
Furthermore, voices have been raised in Quebec to denounce the cuts which are affecting the English and French services of CBC/Radio-Canada equally, even though the French audience ratings of the public broadcaster are much higher.