Questioned in the House of Commons, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Pascale St-Onge, did not specify whether she still had confidence in the CEO of CBC / Radio-Canada, Catherine Tait, after the announcement of cuts major in the workforce of the public broadcaster.
On the contrary, Pascale St-Onge invited Mme Tait “to answer the questions that people are currently asking” about the remuneration of Radio-Canada executives.
“The public broadcaster that receives support from public funds is accountable to the Canadian population,” responded the minister to a question from Bloc Québécois MP Martin Champoux, who asked her if Catherine Tait still had her trust.
In an interview with her own network on Tuesday, Catherine Tait did not want to guarantee that senior executives at CBC / Radio-Canada should do without bonuses this year, after sharing $16 million last year.
The public company had confirmed the day before the information first published in The duty to the effect that the public television broadcaster intends to eliminate hundreds of positions to generate up to $125 million in savings. Around 800 positions are affected, or around 10% of the total workforce.
This, less than two months after Catherine Tait had instead prepared her troops for a simple hiring freeze in order to save around a hundred million dollars. In the meantime, the federal government finally reached an agreement with Google to finance Canadian media, without specifying whether CBC / Radio-Canada would have access to the financial windfall.
In defense of Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is an independent Crown corporation, but the Minister of Canadian Heritage is ultimately responsible for answering questions about it in the House of Commons. His predecessor, Pablo Rodriguez, renewed Catherine Tait’s mandate until January 2025, while he found a replacement.
Minister Pascale St-Onge did not want to say whether she now intended to demand his departure. She instead dodged the question by repeating that the Liberal government had replenished the coffers of Radio-Canada, while accusing the Bloc Québécois of not having been able to prevent the cuts that occurred under the previous government of Stephen Harper .
After describing the recent budget cuts at Radio-Canada as a “catastrophe” and a “torment of the last straw”, the Bloc Québécois attempted to present a motion before the House which echoed the feeling of injustice which inhabits the network’s artisans French of Radio-Canada, which must undergo the same cuts as the English-speaking half CBC.
MP Martin Champoux was interrupted as he demonstrated that Radio-Canada is much more successful than its English-speaking bias. His motion was blocked.