The Trudeau government’s Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge is refusing to say whether or not the CBC’s outgoing CEO Catherine Tait will be receiving an exit payment for her time at the public broadcaster.
Tait is leaving the CBC in an abysmal state as the state broadcaster is currently experiencing a massive drop-off in viewership, the departure of major advertisers, significant layoffs of CBC staff, and a significant decline in the Canadian public’s support for the public broadcaster.
At a meeting of the House of Commons’ heritage committee, Conservative MP Damien Kurek questioned heritage minister St-Onge on whether or not Tait would be rewarded with an exit package upon her departure.
St-Onge dodged the question, denying that CBC executives receive bonuses while stating that the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave out generous bonuses to CBC executives during their time in government from 2006-2015.
“I’d remind you that she doesn’t have bonuses to start, it’s just not how it works so it’s false to say that that possibility exists,” said St-Onge.
“We should remember is that one of the first things the Harper government did when it took power in 2006 was to significantly increase bonuses by 65% for CEOs and other leaders.”
Despite St-Onge’s claim, the CBC’s 45 executives received $3.3 million in bonuses in June 2024, receiving an average bonus of $73,000 per executive.
Tait’s salary at the CBC ranges from $468,900 to $551,600, with the government being responsible for setting her bonus amount, ranging from 7% to 28% of her salary.
Kurek responded by expressing concern for taxpayer dollars that are being spent to confer large bonuses on the CBC’s CEO and executives.
“Certainly the board seems to approve of her performance, it appears that you’re unwilling to rule out giving her a generous bonus and generous exit package. I think that Canadians demand more respect for their taxpayer dollars,” said Kurek.
According to a public opinion poll commissioned by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation in August 2024, 69% of Canadians oppose the most recent round of CBC bonuses for CBC staff and executives.
The dolling out of millions of dollars in bonuses comes after the CBC laid off 600 employees in December 2023, amounting to 10% of the public broadcasters’ workforce.
In recent years, the Conservative party under leader Pierre Poilievre have been campaigning defunding the CBC’s English language programming while the governing Liberal party have defended the CBC, emphasizing its importance to Canadian news coverage and increasing its funding.