Salaries of CBC executives to be frozen
The cash-strapped CBC will freeze executives' salaries and slash their bonuses in half, corporation president Hubert Lacroix announced Wednesday.
Lacroix said executives at CBC/Radio-Canada will see their salaries frozen at 2008 levels for the 2009-2010 year. Bonuses will be cut by 50 per cent, meaning that overall, the company's 80 or so top managers will see their compensation reduced by 10 per cent to 20 per cent in the coming year.
Media spokesman Marco Dubé said this represents a total savings of $2 million in salary freezes and cuts to bonuses (incentive payments) for the executives.
The announcement came after the CBC's board of directors approved the Crown corporation's budget. Details of the budget have not been made public, but it is expected the public broadcaster is facing a possible $200-million shortfall.
To cope with the funding gap, cuts are expected. Lacroix said details of the budget will be released March 25.
On Wednesday, he stressed that:
- The CBC is committed to keeping its radio services non-commercial.
- The CBC will not increase the amount of American programs on English television.
In a speech to the Empire Club of Canada last month, Lacroix said a decline in advertising revenues, increased salary and infrastructure costs and higher programming costs contributed to a budgetary shortfall of between $115 million and $145 million.
The federal government, which for the past seven years has given the CBC a non-recurring $60 million in special funding on top of its $1.1-billion base allocation, did not announce in this year's budget that the special funds would be renewed. If the money isn't given, the broadcaster's shortfall could go to over $200 million.
Lacroix had appealed to the federal government for flexibility in its parliamentary appropriation — such as an advance on or loan of upcoming funds — to help the CBC weather the current economic turmoil. But the Conservatives said the CBC will not receive any bridge financing or additional money for the coming year.
Lacroix has said that selling assets, increasing advertising and cutting jobs and programs could help bridge part of the budget shortfall. Media reports circulating this week indicated the broadcaster was looking at 600 to 1,200 job cuts, although this has not been confirmed.