Radio-Canada announced Monday afternoon the elimination of 600 jobs and the elimination of 200 vacant positions, or approximately 10% of its workforce, a new blow for the Canadian media.
It was the president and CEO, Catherine Tait, who made the announcement during a meeting with employees of the public broadcaster. “This portrait results from the latest forecasts,” she said. It could still change. » The 600 positions that will be eliminated affect both union members (85%) and non-union members (15%). Layoffs will be made “in the coming weeks,” but most will take place at the start of the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
This is “a dark day” for the public broadcaster and for access to information, reacted the Union of Radio-Canada Workers (STTRC-CSN) in a press release. “The employees are dismayed and worried,” noted the president, Pierre Tousignant, at the end of the meeting.
Radio-Canada and CBC will be forced to abolish a similar number of positions, that is to say around 250, said Mr.me Tait. Employees tried to find out, in vain, why the public broadcaster did not take into account the proportion of the budget devoted to CBC (55%) and Radio-Canada (45%) in its cuts.
CBC/Radio-Canada is facing “budgetary pressures” of 125 million and not 100 million, as the boss had previously announced. To justify Monday’s announcements, Mme Tait cited in the meeting “major trends” in the industry, such as inflation, “fierce competition from digital giants” as well as “the decline in traditional television revenues”.
The state corporation intends to make 25 million savings in discretionary spending — sponsorships, marketing, travel — and 40 million in programming budgets, both on the English and French side, “among other things by reducing the acquisition of content and orders for independent productions,” explained Mme Tait. “That means fewer new TV and web shows and fewer episodes for some existing shows. »
The STTRC-CSN deplores that CBC/Radio-Canada is “unable to answer basic questions concerning the positions targeted, the services that will be affected and, more generally, the ability to fulfill our mandate as a public broadcaster despite the extent of the anticipated cuts . »
Pierre Tousignant, president of the union, calls on senior management for “clarity” and “transparency” over the coming weeks “to allow us to get through this difficult period”.
“By wanting to be everywhere, CBC/Radio-Canada takes the risk of being nowhere,” he worries. Radio-Canada cannot do everything, even less try to imitate each of its competitors in the private sector, without undermining its fundamental mission, namely that of ensuring access to information in all regions of the country. […] Priorities will need to be identified. And we want to be part of that discussion. »
Reactions in Ottawa
The parliamentary leader of the Bloc Québécois, Alain Therrien, followed closely behind the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Pascale St-Onge, during question period. “It’s pretty much the same news as TVA in November,” he recalled. That means that our culture, our feeling of belonging to our region, the quality of information will pay the price. »
He accused the government of extending Catherine Tait’s mandate to make these cuts. She will continue to serve as President and CEO until January 2, 2025.
“Our government has always been there to support journalists, yes from CBC/Radio-Canada, but from all media in the country,” replied the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Pascale St-Onge. This is why we introduced programs to better support them. This is also why we insisted that the digital giants pay their fair share here in Canada. »
Minister St-Onge announced last week that Google will finally agree to pay 100 million per year, indexed, to the media as part of the Online News Act (C-18).
In its recent economic update, the federal government also increased the tax credit for journalism labor from 25 to 35% for the next four years. The eligible salary will increase from $55,000 to $85,000, which is equivalent to a maximum of $28,750 per employee. The cost of this measure is equivalent to 129 million over five years.
The deputy leader of the New Democratic Party, Alexandre Boulerice, sees the cuts within the broadcaster as “a threat to democracy”. “I am worried about these workers, but I am also worried about the quality of our public debate,” he commented. “If we just have columnists, then there is just opinion, I’m not sure that we will grow out of it as a society. »
Several clues
The draconian measure announced Monday is the culmination of a tumultuous autumn in the Maison de Radio-Canada. Already in September, The Press revealed that Radio-Canada management was circulating the word “cuts” during a series of meetings with its employees.
” We [leur] We recently indicated that Radio-Canada is currently facing financial pressures,” confirmed the spokesperson for the public broadcaster, Marc Pichette.
“These pressures are largely attributable to the drop in advertising and subscription revenues, the impact of inflation on operating costs and production costs as well as the savings requested by the federal government from departments and to Crown corporations, including CBC/Radio-Canada,” he explained.
At the beginning of October, it was the unexpected departure of Michel Bissonnette, senior vice-president of French Services at Radio-Canada, which made headlines. This “resignation” – according to the official version – took place in a tense context, not only after the divisions between CBC and Radio-Canada around the controversy of the word beginning with an N, but also at the dawn of inevitable cuts .
Two weeks later, in October, Radio-Canada suspended the creation of new positions, according to information first published in The duty.
Then at the beginning of November, Mme Tait herself confirmed a $100 million cut from the public broadcaster’s next annual budget, adding that there would be “difficult decisions to make.” »
In recent days, media, including The Press, had obtained information on the approximately 700 positions that would be abolished at Radio-Canada. The president and CEO said she was sorry “for all employees” that the content of the cuts leaked out before the main stakeholders were informed.
The year 2023 will have brought dark months for the media: in addition to the elimination of 547 positions at TVA, we must add the closure of the daily newspaper Metrothe end of paper and the loss of jobs at Coops de l’information as well as the decision of Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to block Canadian media in the wake of Bill C-18 on online news.
Another hard blow for producers
For production companies, directly targeted by the cuts at Radio-Canada, this tile adds to Bell Media’s slimming treatment last summer and Quebecor’s decision, on November 2, to reduce the Group’s workforce. VAT of almost a third. The president of the Quebec Media Production Association, Hélène Messier, is not surprised by the cuts within the public broadcaster, but the situation is no less “scary,” she said in an interview with The Press. The “boomerang effect” of these cuts on producers is immediate, she argues, although her first thoughts are with Radio-Canada employees. The number of production projects decreased by 23% compared to the same date last year, according to fresh figures. “It affects everyone in the chain: the actors, the screenwriters, the technicians…” According to Mme Messier, the contribution of both levels of government will be necessary to preserve the ecosystem, and thus Quebec culture.