CBC chief says broadcaster isn't making specific plans for loss of public subsidy
Catherine Tait says payout of bonuses will have little real effect on broadcaster’s financial woes
The head of the CBC says that while the public broadcaster must prepare for "all possible outcomes," it doesn't have a specific plan in the works for the possibility of a future Conservative government cancelling all or part of the Crown corporation's public subsidy.
In an interview that airs Saturday on CBC Radio's The House, CBC president and CEO Catherine Tait said she has been working on efforts to transform CBC/Radio-Canada into a more efficient and valuable service — but the specific prospect of defunding is not a focus of those efforts.
"Of course we worry about the possibility, but I don't think that … spending a whole lot of time trying to guess what that will look like is really going to be effective over the next months. Our job is to convince Canadians of our value," she told host Catherine Cullen.
"Are we planning for that outcome? No," Tait said, when asked about the possible termination of the $1.3-billion subsidy the company receives yearly from the federal government.
Tait said that in polling commissioned by the public broadcaster, CBC found a "vast majority" of Canadians support its continued role in Canada. Two public polls conducted within the last year, by Spark and Angus Reid, suggest a significant minority of Canadians are in favour of defunding the CBC.
Tait said she's not in the business of predicting the outcome of future elections and her focus is on putting the CBC on a sustainable path.
"I don't even know what will happen in the election. I think what my role is, is to continue serving right to the bitter end what I believe to be the most important public institution for combating disinformation, for supporting [a] plurality of voices," she said.
Tait has played a central role in the public debate about the CBC's future. She was quoted in the Globe and Mail last year saying that "there's a lot of CBC bashing going on — somewhat stoked by" Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Poilievre replied that Tait was "not even pretending to be unbiased."
"She launched a partisan attack against me, proving my claim that the $1.2 billion corporation is a mouthpiece for [Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau," Poilievre said in a social media post.
Tait told Cullen that she stands by those comments.
"I believe that my primary role is to advocate for a strong public broadcaster," she said.
Defunding the CBC has been among Poilievre's top policy promises. In stump speeches, he frequently talks about turning the broadcasting centre in Toronto into affordable housing — a major applause line. But the Conservative leader tends to focus his rhetorical fire on the English side of CBC/Radio-Canada, while expressing support for the French part of the corporation.
"We are the ones who will protect Radio-Canada," he said during an exchange with Trudeau in question period earlier this month.
Speaking to The House, Tait pushed back on claims that possible plans to merge some elements of CBC and Radio-Canada are part of an effort to tie the two sides of the company closer together in order to protect English operations. She said the aim is to improve efficiency.
"The idea that we are trying to bring that sharing in closer in order to prevent an outcome is really absurd in my mind," she said.
"What we're trying to do is say, 'Do we have two different systems for doing the same thing?' If we do, let's see if we can have one system."
The question of bonuses
Last fall, Tait announced that CBC/Radio-Canada would look to cut 600 jobs and an additional 200 vacant positions as part of an effort to absorb a $125 million budget shortfall. Since then, the company has reduced its workforce by 141 employees and cut 205 vacant positions.
Those changes, along with $42 million in new federal funding in the April budget, led the company to announce there would be no "significant additional reductions this year."
A key issue in the fallout from the job cuts announcement is the prospect that the company will pay out bonuses this year to over a thousand non-union employees, including senior corporation leaders. Tait referred to the bonuses as "performance" or "incentive" pay and said it is a standard way to structure compensation in Crown corporations.
Conservatives and others have hammered Tait for not committing to refusing her own bonus.
Tait told The House that established rules and procedures for determining performance pay for unaffiliated employees should be followed. Asked about her personal bonus, Tait said she wants to avoid setting a precedent for other governor-in-council appointees — and that cutting bonuses would not lead CBC to financial stability.
She said there is a lot of talk "about very small sums of money that don't solve long-term issues."
Choices must be made with limited resources: Tait
Tait, whose role as head of the public broadcaster will come to an end at the beginning of next year, said the CBC faces "enormous structural issues," such as declining advertising revenue and competition from major tech companies.
"But fundamentally, do I believe that the CBC and Radio-Canada still play a critical role in this country? I absolutely believe they do," she said.
Tait said she believes it's time to move away from the idea of the CBC being "everything, to all Canadians, all the time" and the company needs to decide where to allocate limited resources.
"We know that in some markets, for example, we're number one in radio, but we're not necessarily in the television news supper hour. So if we're going to be looking at where do we allocate resources … we have had the same budget for 30 years and yet we're producing and distributing a whole pile of new services.
"So we've got to make choices. Hard choices."
Tait said she welcomes a review of the CBC mandate. Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge recently named seven people to an advisory board to look at modernizing the company ahead of the next election.
Tait noted the CBC plays an important role in delivering information to people in the North and Indigenous communities, and to minority language communities.
Looking forward, she said CBC should look to be active in even more under-served communities, and that the more "present" the broadcaster is, the more likely Canadians are to appreciate its work.
"When we are present, at least there is a more ... diverse debate around how we're doing," she said.
"Give us a chance to serve you and respond to your needs."
Clarifications
- This story has been updated from a previous version to provide fuller context for a quote about "CBC bashing."May 18, 2024 9:38 AM ET
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With files from Catherine Cullen and Emma Godmere