Defund CBC

Taxslave2

House Member
Aug 13, 2022
3,402
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113
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After it was revealed this week that the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. paid $18.4 million in bonuses following hundreds of job cuts, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has renewed his promise to cut off funding to the public broadcaster if he’s elected prime minister next year.

(I’m all for, dollar for dollar, every dollar that leaves the CBC budget goes straight to the Canadian Military)

The CBC/Radio-Canada board of directors recently approved over $18.4 million in bonuses for nearly 1,200 employees, managers and executives for the 2023-24 fiscal year after it eliminated hundreds of positions. That number represents a 23% increase over the $14.9 million on bonuses handed out the previous year.

On Wednesday, the Liberal government refused to say if it approved a bonus for Taint, whose annual compensation ranges between $472,900 and $623,900, according to the CBC’s 2023 senior management compensation summary.
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Tait’s bonus pay is set between seven per cent to 28% of her salary, if she meets certain criteria. But outside of the Olympics, Canadians don’t seem interested in the content CBC produces.

A year ago, it was reported that CBC’s English language television audience was just 4.4% of the prime time viewing audience, down from 7.6% five years earlier.

According to my colleague, Brian Lilley, CBC’s flagship news program, the most expensive to produce in the country, trails CTV and Global’s national newscasts.

“Clearly, Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government are content to give CBC executives and their handpicked CEO huge multimillion-dollar taxpayer funded bonuses amid dwindling viewership and increasing irrelevancy so long as they remain good servants to their masters and continue to act as the propaganda arm of the Liberal party,” said Heritage critic Rachael Thomas in a statement on Wednesday.
Last December, the CBC said it planned to cut 600 jobs, eliminate 200 vacancies and slash $40 million from its production budget to help mitigate a projected $125-million shortfall. The movie came despite the Liberals handing over $1.38-billion in taxpayer dollars to the CBC in 2024-25 (which is a significant uptick from the $1.29 billion the broadcaster got for 2023-24).

At a rally in Toronto earlier this year, Poilievre taunted the broadcaster when he promised to turn the CBC’s headquarters in downtown Toronto into much-needed housing.

“We’re going to sell off 6,000 federal buildings and thousands of acres of federal land to build, build, build,” he said. “And you know something, it warms my heart to think of a beautiful family pulling up in their U-Haul to move into their wonderful new home in the former headquarters of the CBC.”

In response to Poilievre’s “threats,” the Office of Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge defended the CBC in an email to Postmedia, maintaining that the service “connects (about 4.4% of Canadians) from coast to coast to coast.”

For perspective, CBC President and Chief Executive Officer Catherine Tait annual compensation ranges between $472,900 and $623,900, according to the CBC’s 2023 senior management compensation summary.
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Tait’s bonus pay is set between seven per cent to 28% of her salary, if she meets certain criteria.
So other than blowing turdOWE, what is the criteria for her bogus?
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
25,036
9,009
113
Regina, Saskatchewan
In response to Poilievre’s “threats,” the Office of Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge defended the CBC in an email to Postmedia, maintaining that the service “connects (about 4.4% of Canadians) from coast to coast to coast.”
It might represent the approximately 1/21 or so that it connects according to Pascale St-Onge…
The CBC does not represent Canadians.
…from coast to coast to coast…maybe, and maybe not.
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
37,006
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Ottawa still mulling over bonus for CEO of CBC, but won’t make decision public
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Aug 16, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 3 minute read

OTTAWA — The Liberal government said it has not yet made a decision about whether it will grant a bonus for the head of CBC after the public broadcaster eliminated hundreds of jobs.


But because of the Privacy Act, it will likely be up to CEO Catherine Tait to publicly disclose if she does receive one. She previously confirmed she did accept performance pay for the 2021-22 fiscal year at a House of Commons committee meeting.

Heritage Canada confirmed the government is still deciding on a bonus for 2023-24, while CBC said Friday a decision hasn’t been made regarding a potential bonus for 2022-23.

The Opposition Conservatives have been seeking support from other parties to back their call to bring Tait back to committee to answer questions.

“If (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau isn’t planning to give his CEO of the CBC a massive taxpayer-funded bonus then he can clearly say so,” said Rachael Thomas, the Conservative critic for Canadian Heritage in a statement.


“The Liberals’ refusal to say as much tells you everything you need to know — that despite Catherine Tait’s many failures, the Liberals intend to give their hand-picked head of the CBC a fat bonus for faithfully acting as the Liberal propaganda machine.”

The CBC’s editorial independence from government is enshrined in law.

CBC/Radio-Canada’s board of directors recently approved over $18.4 million in bonuses for nearly 1,200 employees, managers and executives for the 2023-24 fiscal year.

More than $3.3 million of that was paid to 45 executives.

So far, no other parties have joined the Conservatives’ request, even though MPs on the committee unanimously agreed earlier this year that given the job cuts it would be inappropriate for CBC to grant bonuses to executive members after making job cuts.


“A lot can happen between now and the return in committee, so I can’t tell you what my position will be when a motion to invite Ms. Tait will be debated,” said Bloc Quebecois MP Martin Champoux, who sits on the Heritage committee, in a statement.

“For now, I urge the Liberals to disclose whether or not they approved Ms. Tait’s bonus and to request justifications from CBC-RC’s board.”

New Democrats didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment on whether they want Tait to testify at committee.

A spokesperson for Trudeau declined to comment on the bonuses.

Canadian Heritage declined to speak to The Canadian Press on the record this week and initially referred all questions to the Privy Council Office, including whether a decision had been made about Tait’s bonus for this last fiscal year.


The department said it couldn’t answer any question related to Tait’s bonus due privacy laws.

On Friday, Canadian Heritage changed direction by confirming it is still mulling over the decision to approve performance pay for Tait, but cited privacy laws again to say that its decision would not be made public.

It is up to the federal government to approve a bonus for Tait following a review of her performance and recommendations by the board of directors at CBC/Radio-Canada.

“For vital institutions like this, it’s crucial to carefully review the board’s recommendations and collaborate closely with officials to ensure proper procedures are followed,” the heritage minister’s office said in a statement Friday.


“The minister will take the time we need to get board evaluation processes right, while ensuring the government follows human resources best practices and meets strict privacy law requirements.” Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge was not made available for an interview.

In May, Tait told the House heritage committee that she last received a bonus for the fiscal year 2021-22, and that she had not yet received performance pay for the fiscal year 2022-23.

Tait’s salary range is between $468,900 and $551,600, with the government setting her bonus between seven per cent to 28 per cent of her salary, if she meets certain performance targets.

Canadian Heritage would not say if she has met the targets.

“The Liberals are desperate to avoid telling struggling Canadians they are going to be stuck paying her $149k bonus this year, on top of her base salary of approximately half a million dollars,” said Thomas.

“Clearly even the Liberals know this is indefensible, given they are avoiding giving an answer.”
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
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Even CBC’s friends mad about big bonuses
The CBC is a huge waste of money, only a handful of Canadians are tuning in and journalists should not be paid by the government

Author of the article:Kris Sims
Published Aug 24, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read

This is even weirder than the Masters of the Universe cartoon episode where the hero, He-Man, teamed up with the villain, Skeletor, to save Christmas.


The CBC doled out$18.4 million in bonuses. Meanwhile, the state broadcaster was also threatening to eliminate some positions just before Christmas.

And that has even its “friends” upset.

A group called Friends of Canadian Media typically functions as a cheerleading squad for the CBC.

The group has praised the state broadcaster for years, comparing people who want it defunded to fans of professional wrestling – as if that’s a grave insult.

But this latest plot twist from the CBC even has its friends delivering a smack down.

In an email to supporters about the CBC bonuses, Friends of Canadian Media stated:

“This decision is deeply out of touch and unbefitting of our national public broadcaster.”

When it comes to these big bonuses, the CBC’s cheer team is now agreeing with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation that the bonuses are wrong.

Now, that’s where the agreement ends.

“CBC/Radio-Canada’s per capita funding currently sits at a 60-year low, thanks to decades of neglect from successive governments of all political stripes,” the group writes.

The CBC has “low funding” and is suffering from “neglect”?



The friends might want to lay off the kale smoothies for a bit because it sounds like they’re going fermented and that’s clouding their judgement.

The CBC’s government funding is astronomical and it gets an obscene amount of attention from our government, despite its ratings circling the drain.

The CBC’s taking $1.4 billion from taxpayers this year.

The money we spend on the CBC could pay the salaries of about 7,000 cops and 7,000 paramedics. It could buy more than 3,000 homes in Alberta. It would cover groceries for about 85,000 Canadian families for a year.

What the CBC costs taxpayers is the opposite of low funding.

The CBC has dished out $130 million in bonuses since 2015. There are 1,450 CBC staffers taking home six-figure salaries. Since 2015, the number of CBC employees taking a six-figure salary has soared by 231%.

The Canadian Press reported that the latest round of bonuses for executives at the CBC is more than $70,000 per person. That’s more than the average Canadian family takes home in a year.


The CEO of the CBC, Catherine Tait, is paid between $460,900 and $551,600 in salary per year. She’s also entitled to a bonus of up to 28%. For the kids paying attention in math class, that’s a potential bonus of up to $154,448.

That’s a super weird form of low funding and neglect.

It’s got to be tough to land that woe-is-me message when millions get thrown around for bonuses.

Even a CBC news anchor asked her boss tough questions about the bonuses on national television.

“The Canadian Taxpayers Federation, through an FOI request, showed $16 million were paid in bonuses in 2022, can we establish that is not happening this year?” Adrienne Arsenault asked Tait on Dec. 4, 2023.

“I am not going to comment on something that hasn’t been discussed at this point,” Tait replied.

Turns out those bonuses were in the works and now we know they’re costing taxpayers $18.4 million this year.


Meanwhile, Canadians are tuning out of the CBC while being forced to pay for it.

The CBC News Network’s share of the national prime-time viewing audience is 2.1%, according to its latest third-quarter report.

Put another way, 97.9% of TV-viewing Canadians choose not to watch CBC’s English language prime-time news program.

The CBC needs to be defunded. It’s a huge waste of money, only a handful of Canadians are tuning in and journalists should not be paid by the government. It’s a good bet the debate on that larger point will keep getting hotter.

But this part of the debate is down for the count: the outrageous CBC bonuses need to end.

When the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and Friends of Canadian Media agree on something, consensus has been achieved and the fight’s over.

– Kris Sims is the Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
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Nearly 7 out of 10 Canadians oppose CBC bonuses: Poll
The broadcaster handed out $18.4 million in bonuses to 1,194 CBC employees

Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Published Aug 27, 2024 • Last updated 16 hours ago • 2 minute read

OTTAWA — Nearly 7 out of 10 Canadians say they’re not happy with the millions of dollars in bonuses handed out to employees of Canada’s national broadcaster.


The numbers, provided via a Leger poll commissioned by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF,) show 69% of Canadians are opposed to handing out $18.4 million in bonuses to 1,194 CBC employees during the the 2023-24 fiscal year.

“The poll shows Canadians don’t support our tax dollars being wasted on big bonuses for CBC executives,” CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano told the Toronto Sun.

“The CBC shouldn’t be taking money from struggling taxpayers and using it to shower its executives and managers with bonuses.”

More than $3.3 million was paid to 45 corporation executives, averaging about $73,000 per person, more than Canada’s median family income in 2022.

Over $10 million was paid out to 631 managers, while the balance went to 518 rank-and-file workers.



The bonuses come at the same time the CBC laid off 141 workers and eliminated 205 vacant positions as part of efforts to help balance the broadcaster’s budget.

The poll was conducted via Leger’s online panel, polling 1,526 Canadians of voting age Aug. 16-18. While margins of error don’t apply to online panels, an equivalent probability sample would yield a margin of error of ±2.5%, 19 times out of 20.

Only 16% of those polled support the bonuses, with 11% saying they somewhat support them and 5% expressing strong support.

Conversely, 20% of those opposed say they’re only somewhat against the bonuses, while just under half said they’re strongly opposed.


CBC executives and spokespersons are careful to refer to the bonuses as “performance pay” that are part of their customary compensation program.

Earlier this month, the Toronto Sun reported the number of CBC employees earning six-figure salaries ballooned since 2015, increasing from 438 in fiscal year 2015-16 to 1,450 this year.

Leger’s Andrew Enns said he was surprised by how many people felt strongly about the topic.

“I fully expected that there would be a majority that would not support this, (but) the intensity caught me a bit off-guard,” he said.

“Even without the unwares and ‘don’t knows,’ it was almost 50% that were strongly opposed.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
On X: @bryanpassifiume