CBC

OTTAWA – Millions in bonuses have still not been ruled out for CBC/Radio-Canada’s executives despite hundreds of job cuts planned in the English and French services.

The head of the public broadcaster, Catherine Tait, told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that the board of directors will rule by the end of the fiscal year, on March 31, whether executives will receive compensation which she called “performance pay.”

CBC CEO Catherine Tait claims the public broadcaster remains “the single most effective tool” that Canadians have to combat disinformation.

Is she for real? In the last 2 years more than 100 correction notices were issued w/ regards to stories put out by the CBC. pic.twitter.com/rWy17vlCZb

— Kat Kanada (@KatKanada_TM) January 31, 2024

EDMONTON — Over the holidays, the federal government informed us that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is in for a “redefinition” of its purpose and mandate. Don’t worry, CBC-lovers: it’s clear enough that there’s no immediate threat of change. The heritage minister, in promising to consult Canadians on why we might need such a thing as a CBC, managed to confirm that she likes it just the way it is. And sometimes we feel the same way. Only an abundantly resourced public broadcaster with tendrils in every community could produce anything like CBC News’s panoramic vision of an overlooked national problem with abandoned shopping carts.

New Year’s Eve will look much different this year on CBC-TV.

Canada’s public broadcaster tells The Canadian Press that “financial pressures” have led the network to cancel this year’s countdown, which inched towards midnight with musical performances and a fireworks show.

This year, CBC plans to air a new “Just For Laughs” special hosted by comedian Mae Martin at 11 p.m. in most markets, followed by episodes of “Comedy Night with Rick Mercer” as the new year rolls in. The programs will also stream on CBC Gem.

They must need the money for Exec bonuses.

There she is. Once again.

Pontificating, on the CBC political panel.

Chantal What’s-her-name?

They drag her out of somewhere, God knows where, when they need a Laurentian elite to say stuff. Even if she doesn’t have a single clue what she’s talking about. Even if she hasn’t talked to the principals involved, such as Western experts or politicians.

h/t Mauser

CBC’s TV ad revenue dipped nearly 16 percent in the first half of 2023, according to the government-funded broadcaster’s newly released second-quarter financial report.

CEO Catherine Tait made no mention of the Crown broadcaster’s decrease in advertising dollars during her Nov. 2 testimony before the House of Commons heritage committee.

Amid plans by CBC to cut 10 per cent of its workforce, the House of Commons heritage committee on Tuesday said it would be “inappropriate for the CBC to grant bonuses to executive members.”

That comes after the committee last week called the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s president and CEO Catherine Tait — who could make more than $120,000 in bonuses on top of her six-figure salary, according to CBC documents — to appear as a witness in the new year.

OTTAWA — Top CBC executives said Friday they are considering options to manage the broadcaster’s financial pressures, including taking a look at “senior executive compensation,” following plans to slash 10 per cent of the public broadcaster’s workforce.

CBC/Radio-Canada head Catherine Tait and seven vice-presidents released a brief statement that afternoon, after MPs of different political stripes voiced concern about the plan to cut 600 jobs and not fill 200 vacancies over the next year.

Quebec Minister of the French Language Jean-François Roberge offered a provocative historical comparison to emphasize the inherent unfairness of CBC/Radio-Canada’s decision to split just-announced job cuts equally between the public broadcaster’s French and English networks.

“It’s as if they are making Radio-Canada pay for CBC’s difficulties,” Mr. Roberge said of the broadcaster’s plan to cut expenses by $125-million to offset higher programming costs and slumping advertising revenues. “It seems to me the last time that happened was in 1840, with the Act of Union, when Upper Canada’s debts were sent to Lower Canada.”

Who needs Pierre Poilievre when you have Catherine Tait? If CBC was worried about the Conservative leader making the case for its demise, their president did it for them Monday night, on live television, no less. Appearing on The National with host Adrienne Arsenault, Tait was asked what Canadians will notice after CBC cuts 600 jobs, a full 10 per cent of its workforce, over the coming year.

Following news of mass cuts and layoffs at the CBC and Radio-Canada on Monday, CBC’s CEO Catherine Tait went on the network’s flagship news show and declined to say whether the public broadcaster’s executives would be receiving bonuses.

Adrienne Arsenault, host of “The National” on CBC, asked Tait, “I’m going to presume, no bonuses this year? … Can we establish (that) is not happening this year?”

TORONTO – The CBC’s president says a round of layoffs and programming cuts the broadcaster announced this week could mean changes in what viewers see on television.

Catherine Tait says slashing millions from the Crown corporation’s overall budget may mean fewer unscripted, factual or game shows.

She says those kinds of content don’t fall under the broadcast regulator’s programs of national interest policy that CBC has to remain committed to.

During a town hall meeting on Monday, CBC President Catherine Tait told CBC and Radio-Canada employees that the public broadcaster will cut up to 10 per cent of its workforce, including 600 workers, according to the public broadcaster.

The broadcaster is making the cuts to address a $125 million shortfall that the CBC is facing, with cuts to both its English and French services, according to multiple sources. $40 million of those cuts will be to programming, according to the CBC. The CBC confirmed on Monday that on top of the layoffs, which will affect both union and non-union workers, 200 vacant jobs will remain empty. There are also no plans to implement a retirement incentive package, sources at the meeting told the Star.