CBC/Radio-Canada President and CEO Catherine Tait has been reappointed for a shortened second term as head of the public broadcaster, Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez announced Thursday.
As a general rule, the bosses of the state corporation hold office for periods of five years. However, Ottawa entrusts Mme Was a mandate of only 18 months, i.e. until January 2025.
“Mme Tait has agreed to stay on to complete several crucial files, including the CRTC’s review of the public broadcaster’s license renewal; the launch of the company’s first National Indigenous Strategy; as well as preparations for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics,” Minister Rodriguez said in a statement.
Stemming from audiovisual production, particularly the cinematographic and digital sectors, Mme Tait became the first woman to lead CBC/Radio-Canada on July 3, 2018. Her first term was marked by high tensions between French and English services in the public broadcaster’s newsrooms, especially over issues related to the EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion).
Upon taking office, Mr.me Tait has made these issues a priority area for action. “As the first woman president of the public network, it is unthinkable for me to drop diversity, she confided to our colleague Nathalie Petrowski in 2018. I hope that with a first woman in this position, it will generate other ideas, other perceptions. That’s what makes a culture rich, isn’t it? »
The use of the “word beginning with an N”, his participation in a demonstration in memory of the victims of residential schools for Aboriginals or the interpretation in Radio-Canada’s Journalistic Standards and Practices are all issues that have given rise to to controversies in the last five years.
Laws and bills
Mme Tait is also a strong supporter of Bill C-18, currently before the Senate. She quickly reached out to other broadcasters, wanting to make them partners rather than competitors. “It is useless to make war between us, she explained in an interview. Our real competitor is not Bell or TVA. It’s Netflix, Amazon, Google and Facebook. We absolutely must collaborate and form a united front against them. »
“Given the magnitude of the changes resulting from the implementation of the Online Streaming Act [C-11] and the Online News Bill [C-18]the continuity [le] role [de Mme Tait] at the head of the public broadcaster is crucial during this period,” said Minister Rodriguez.
An advisory committee will “in due course” launch a selection process to find the next president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada. He will take office in January 2025.
With Joel-Denis Bellavance, The Press