CBC's new CEO says cutting government funding would 'cripple' English and French services
Marie-Philippe Bouchard says it's too early to say whether she would receive an executive bonus
The new CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's promise to defund the public broadcaster could "cripple" both its English and French services and change the country's news and entertainment media landscape for the worse.
"It is to some extent an existential threat because it wouldn't be the same corporation that we have today," Marie-Philippe Bouchard told The Current's Matt Galloway.
Poilievre has said if he becomes prime minister, he will cut the government's funding of the CBC, which currently runs to the tune of $1.4 billion per year. He said he would cut all English services but keep some French services.
CBC/Radio-Canada's English and French services share many resources, such as buildings. Bouchard says a $1 billion hit to the former would have serious effects on the latter.
"If we are imagining that we are going to go forward with only French, the math just doesn't work. There's a serious risk that it will, in fact, cripple not only the English services, but also the French service," she said.
Bouchard took on her new role as CEO this January, leaving her previous role as president and CEO of the specialty channel TV5 Québec Canada, from 2016. Before that, she worked in various management positions at the CBC in legal services, strategic planning and regulatory affairs, digital services and music.
She would not say whether she has a "Plan B" if the Conservatives follow through on defunding if they win the next election, saying there isn't yet enough known about the plan to detail a response.
"We are [at] the pre-election stage and maybe the promises are not that fleshed out. So what I'm saying is let's have a real conversation about how it's going to impact Canadians, Francophones and Anglophones and Indigenous peoples," she said.
Defunding would also cause ripple effects in Canada's journalism and entertainment industries beyond the corporation's immediate circle, Bouchard argued.
"We are an incredible supporter of creators and artists in many disciplines and we are an essential part of, you know, the creative economy of this country," she said. "That would be devastating if we lost that."
Bouchard also says the public broadcaster has an important role for young Canadians — to help cut through the noise of a crowded and sometimes polarizing rhetorical landscape.
"I worry about future generations ... what they're facing in terms of the new world today — misinformation, disinformation. Kids are growing up in a complex world in terms of defining who and what they are — what society they belong to."
What about executive bonuses?
Bouchard did not say whether she would receive a personal bonus for her job at the end of this year — a topic that became a political lightning rod for her predecessor, Catherine Tait.
"At this point, you know, I've just started this job. So the issue of whether or not a bonus is available, or should be awarded, is not even an issue," she said.
She said that prior to her taking the job, the CBC's board of directors requested an independent report into that issue which she expects to arrive in the next few weeks. She said she hoped an "appropriate" solution to the controversy will soon follow.
"We can talk about it next year and I will eventually, you know, talk about it if it's required," she said.
Tait defended spending more than $18 million in performance-based pay to staff in 2024, despite laying off 141 employees and eliminating 205 vacant positions amid a budget shortfall. The federal Conservatives have frequently pointed to the bonuses as one reason to defund the CBC.
'Success for me is renewing the lease'
Bouchard said that cutting the CBC's government funding would require a change to the mandate of CBC/Radio-Canada. In 2024, she was part of a committee set up by Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge to modernize the mandate; which currently stems from the Broadcasting Act of 1991.
Plans for updating the mandate and potentially secure long-term funding have been derailed, however, by the prorogation of Parliament after Justin Trudeau announced he would step down as Liberal leader and prime minister, according to the Globe and Mail.
Asked by Galloway what success looks like, and whether she worries she might be the CEO who "turns the lights out" at the CBC, Bouchard said: "Success for me is renewing the lease."
She said her objective is to connect with Canadians "not only intellectually ... but also at their heart" about the value of the public broadcaster, whether they're a fan of its journalism, entertainment or both.
According to a national survey conducted by McGill University and released last fall, most Canadians supported increasing (24 per cent) or maintaining (33 per cent) CBC's current government funding. Conservative supporters were least likely to support maintaining the funding; 47 per cent preferred maintaining it, 40 per cent favoured cutting it partly or completely.
Audio produced by Julie Crysler