So other than blowing turdOWE, what is the criteria for her bogus?View attachment 24135
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.
View attachment 24136
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).
Pierre Poilievre promises to 'defund the CBC' after $18.4M bonus amount revealed — Toronto Sun
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. The...apple.news
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.
View attachment 24137
View attachment 24138
Tait’s bonus pay is set between seven per cent to 28% of her salary, if she meets certain criteria.
Defund CBC
- Thread starter B00Mer
- Start date
It might represent the approximately 1/21 or so that it connects according to Pascale St-Onge…
…from coast to coast to coast…maybe, and maybe not.
Why is it potentially larger than the salary of the Canadian Prime Minister or American President (?) including her bonuses for whatever the criteria happens to be for the criteria of her bonuses?
Except maybe the janitor, there is no one at CBC even worth minimum wage.
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.”
torontosun.com
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.”
Ottawa still mulling over bonus for CEO of CBC, but won’t make decision public
The Liberal government said today it has not yet made a decision on whether it will grant a bonus for the head of CBC
Hell, I'd do it just to see the look on your face, ya surly old islander.
CBC execs explain why they deserve their bonuses
Despite “being forced” to lay off dozens of journalists this year, the CBC was able to afford paying $3.3 million to 45 executives, for an average of over $70,000.00 per person. We reached out to a number of CBC execs so they could justify their bonuses.
www.thebeaverton.com
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
torontosun.com
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
SIMS: Even CBC’s friends mad about big bonuses
This is weirder than the Masters of the Universe episode where the hero, He-Man, teamed up with the villain, Skeletor, to save Christmas.
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
torontosun.com
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
Nearly 7 out of 10 Canadians oppose CBC bonuses: Poll
69% of Canadians are opposed to the $18.4 million in bonuses handed out to 1,194 CBC employees in the 2023/24 fiscal year
Trudeau's Liberals the only ones left defending CBC
Heritage minister claims Canadians love CBC, except for Pierre Poilievre.
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Sep 12, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 3 minute read
Justin Trudeau’s Heritage Minister, Pascale St-Onge says Canadians love CBC and it’s only Pierre Poilievre who doesn’t like it.
But CBC’s ratings, which have been falling for years, tell a very different story.
St-Onge posted a video to social media defending CBC, which won’t help the perception that when it comes to politics, CBC is the network of the Liberal Party.
“CBC, let’s talk about it,” St-Onge says in the video. “Canadians grew up with it. One politician clearly missed out.”
The video then cuts to a clip of a rally of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre where he talks about saving $1 billion by defunding CBC.
Poilievre’s promise to defund CBC is incredibly popular with his voters and always draws one of the loudest applause lines at his packed rallies.
St-Onge claims that this is just loud talk about “destroying” CBC and points to a poll from Spark Advocacy – owned by Bruce Anderson, a man with close ties to the Trudeau government – to back up the claim.
The poll she points to was conducted at the end of last year and asked people which of the following statements about CBC was closest to their viewpoint – 41% said CBC is important and should continue, 35% said they want CBC but with plenty of change while 24% said CBC is no longer needed. It’s an interesting poll and shows that a majority either don’t want CBC or if they want it, the believe it needs to change.
What the poll didn’t ask was whether CBC should be defunded.
Poilievre’s actual plan is to defund CBC in English – he has no plans to touch Radio-Canada, which is still highly popular in Quebec.
Defunding CBC doesn’t mean it would necessarily go away, but it wouldn’t get the massive government subsidies it does now.
A poll released in July 2023 by the Angus Reid Institute showed 36% of Canadians agreed with the statement that the government “should completely defund the CBC” compared to 47% who disagreed and 17% who said they did not know.
That’s a significant portion of Canadians agreeing CBC should lose its funding. The poll was also taken before CBC started announcing job cuts while also handing out bonuses, a move the vast majority of Canadians disagreed with.
St-Onge goes on in her video to say that CBC is a national institution, that it connects Canadians. She admits the organization isn’t perfect and could be changed but doesn’t say how.
Given the problems at CBC aren’t new, it’s doubtful the Trudeau Liberals is going to fix them any time soon. The Liberals under Trudeau have found ways to prop up CBC with extra cash every time they’ve had a hiccup.
Trudeau hasn’t asked for change; he’s just given them cash.
As for CBC connecting Canadians, far too often they divide Canadians. This is a network almost entirely focused and produced for the Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal triangle.
It was 60 years ago that Doug Fisher, then a CCF MP for Port Arthur, said CBC suffers from “metropolitanism.” In an interview with the state broadcaster in 1964, he said CBC viewed the rest of the country as hinterland.
“The CBC isn’t really Canadian in the wide sense, it’s a special kind of Toronto, a special kind of Montreal,” he said.
That is still the case.
CBC is the network of the Liberal Party now and as the election draws closer, we can expect harsh attacks on Poilievre and the Conservatives, not just from Liberals like St-Onge but also from their friends at CBC.
The sooner CBC is defunded, the better for the country.
blilley@postmedia.com
angusreid.org
sparkadvocacy.ca
torontosun.com
Heritage minister claims Canadians love CBC, except for Pierre Poilievre.
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Sep 12, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 3 minute read
Justin Trudeau’s Heritage Minister, Pascale St-Onge says Canadians love CBC and it’s only Pierre Poilievre who doesn’t like it.
But CBC’s ratings, which have been falling for years, tell a very different story.
St-Onge posted a video to social media defending CBC, which won’t help the perception that when it comes to politics, CBC is the network of the Liberal Party.
“CBC, let’s talk about it,” St-Onge says in the video. “Canadians grew up with it. One politician clearly missed out.”
The video then cuts to a clip of a rally of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre where he talks about saving $1 billion by defunding CBC.
Poilievre’s promise to defund CBC is incredibly popular with his voters and always draws one of the loudest applause lines at his packed rallies.
St-Onge claims that this is just loud talk about “destroying” CBC and points to a poll from Spark Advocacy – owned by Bruce Anderson, a man with close ties to the Trudeau government – to back up the claim.
The poll she points to was conducted at the end of last year and asked people which of the following statements about CBC was closest to their viewpoint – 41% said CBC is important and should continue, 35% said they want CBC but with plenty of change while 24% said CBC is no longer needed. It’s an interesting poll and shows that a majority either don’t want CBC or if they want it, the believe it needs to change.
What the poll didn’t ask was whether CBC should be defunded.
Poilievre’s actual plan is to defund CBC in English – he has no plans to touch Radio-Canada, which is still highly popular in Quebec.
Defunding CBC doesn’t mean it would necessarily go away, but it wouldn’t get the massive government subsidies it does now.
A poll released in July 2023 by the Angus Reid Institute showed 36% of Canadians agreed with the statement that the government “should completely defund the CBC” compared to 47% who disagreed and 17% who said they did not know.
That’s a significant portion of Canadians agreeing CBC should lose its funding. The poll was also taken before CBC started announcing job cuts while also handing out bonuses, a move the vast majority of Canadians disagreed with.
St-Onge goes on in her video to say that CBC is a national institution, that it connects Canadians. She admits the organization isn’t perfect and could be changed but doesn’t say how.
Given the problems at CBC aren’t new, it’s doubtful the Trudeau Liberals is going to fix them any time soon. The Liberals under Trudeau have found ways to prop up CBC with extra cash every time they’ve had a hiccup.
Trudeau hasn’t asked for change; he’s just given them cash.
As for CBC connecting Canadians, far too often they divide Canadians. This is a network almost entirely focused and produced for the Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal triangle.
It was 60 years ago that Doug Fisher, then a CCF MP for Port Arthur, said CBC suffers from “metropolitanism.” In an interview with the state broadcaster in 1964, he said CBC viewed the rest of the country as hinterland.
“The CBC isn’t really Canadian in the wide sense, it’s a special kind of Toronto, a special kind of Montreal,” he said.
That is still the case.
CBC is the network of the Liberal Party now and as the election draws closer, we can expect harsh attacks on Poilievre and the Conservatives, not just from Liberals like St-Onge but also from their friends at CBC.
The sooner CBC is defunded, the better for the country.
blilley@postmedia.com
As newsrooms grapple with shifting media landscape, most Canadians oppose government intervention -
Consolidation also opposed as daily print readership evaporates as news consumption moves online July 13, 2023 – The top story of Canadian news in recent years is one of decline – falling revenues, shrinking work forces of journalists, and fewer readers, watchers and listeners. This has left...
angusreid.org
3 in 4 Canadians want the CBC – just not “as is”
Our latest survey shows only one quarter of Canadians want the CBC shut down, but there is a lot of desire for change.
LILLEY: Trudeau's Liberals the only ones left defending CBC
There are a growing number of Canadians in favour of defunding the state broadcaster.
CBC was set up to take the Toronto/ Ottawa view to the hinterland. It was never about giving Canadians a voice, or creating a Canadian identity.
Do you ever remember the friendly giant having short sleeves? Did you ever see Mr Dress-up or Casey with short sleeves? Did you ever wonder why? What were they hiding?
CBC advisory panel costs reach $200K, stacked with former CBC staff
Documents uncovered by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation show those costs to be closer to $280,000
Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Published Sep 26, 2024 • Last updated 21 hours ago • 2 minute read
OTTAWA — Costs for the seven-person panel struck to advise modernization efforts for Canada’s national broadcaster have now exceeded $200,000 with more money expected to be spent, according to a note from a government department.
But documents uncovered by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation show the panel — formed by Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge earlier this year to help chart the future course for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation — show those costs to be closer to $280,000.
“The feds wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to figure out why the CBC is failing, but they could have saved that money and asked a random person at Tim Hortons,” said the CTF’s Franco Terrazzano.
“If the CBC wanted to build trust with Canadians, here is a place it could start: stop paying millions in bonuses to executives.”
In the note from the Department of Canadian Heritage to the CTF, around $70,000 will be paid to the seven panelists.
In addition, $83,000 was awarded to Paradigms Media Technology Network for “research on international public media” and preparation of briefing papers and discussions for the panel, and $28,000 was set aside for facilitation costs.
As well, $13,100 was spent on interpretation services.
“No further expenditures were made as part of the CBC/Radio-Canada Expert Advisory Panel,” read the note. “That means we could estimate at this moment approximate total costs of about $200,000 for the CBC/Radio-Canada Expert Advisory Panel.”
This, the note says, is “consistent” with what’s spent on similar policy-advisory committees.
But those numbers don’t jive with figures contained in separate access-to-information requests filed by the federation, which put the cost at closer to $280,000 — including $106,500 in payments to panel members, $133,000 for background documents, $28,815 for facilitation and $13,050 to pay for translation services.
As well, the government appeared to have stacked the panel with several CBC alumni — including TV5 Quebec Canada President Marie-Philippe Bouchard, Canadian Film Board executive Loc Dao, Indigenous Journalist and CBC Radio contributor Jesse Wente, and former CBC News Editor-in-Chief Jennifer McGuire.
The panel also includes Université du Québec à Montréal Professor Catalina Briceno, and David Skok, editor-in-chief of The Logic.
The lone non-Canadian on the panel is University of Southern California Journalism Professor Michael Ananny, who is also a Trudeau Foundation scholar.
Panelists were paid between $15,821 and $19,566 for their work — with the exception of Skok, who declined payment.
“Canadian Heritage sent hundreds of pages of records showing the cost of the panel is $280,000, but now the department says its $200,000. Does anyone in government know what is going on and how much this is costing taxpayers?” asked Terrazzano.
“The government could have saved itself all this confusion, paperwork and money by asking any of the millions of Canadians who know why the CBC is failing.
“The only modernization plan the state broadcaster needs is three words long: defund the CBC.”
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume
thelogic.co
torontosun.com
Documents uncovered by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation show those costs to be closer to $280,000
Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Published Sep 26, 2024 • Last updated 21 hours ago • 2 minute read
OTTAWA — Costs for the seven-person panel struck to advise modernization efforts for Canada’s national broadcaster have now exceeded $200,000 with more money expected to be spent, according to a note from a government department.
But documents uncovered by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation show the panel — formed by Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge earlier this year to help chart the future course for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation — show those costs to be closer to $280,000.
“The feds wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to figure out why the CBC is failing, but they could have saved that money and asked a random person at Tim Hortons,” said the CTF’s Franco Terrazzano.
“If the CBC wanted to build trust with Canadians, here is a place it could start: stop paying millions in bonuses to executives.”
In the note from the Department of Canadian Heritage to the CTF, around $70,000 will be paid to the seven panelists.
In addition, $83,000 was awarded to Paradigms Media Technology Network for “research on international public media” and preparation of briefing papers and discussions for the panel, and $28,000 was set aside for facilitation costs.
As well, $13,100 was spent on interpretation services.
“No further expenditures were made as part of the CBC/Radio-Canada Expert Advisory Panel,” read the note. “That means we could estimate at this moment approximate total costs of about $200,000 for the CBC/Radio-Canada Expert Advisory Panel.”
This, the note says, is “consistent” with what’s spent on similar policy-advisory committees.
But those numbers don’t jive with figures contained in separate access-to-information requests filed by the federation, which put the cost at closer to $280,000 — including $106,500 in payments to panel members, $133,000 for background documents, $28,815 for facilitation and $13,050 to pay for translation services.
As well, the government appeared to have stacked the panel with several CBC alumni — including TV5 Quebec Canada President Marie-Philippe Bouchard, Canadian Film Board executive Loc Dao, Indigenous Journalist and CBC Radio contributor Jesse Wente, and former CBC News Editor-in-Chief Jennifer McGuire.
The panel also includes Université du Québec à Montréal Professor Catalina Briceno, and David Skok, editor-in-chief of The Logic.
The lone non-Canadian on the panel is University of Southern California Journalism Professor Michael Ananny, who is also a Trudeau Foundation scholar.
Panelists were paid between $15,821 and $19,566 for their work — with the exception of Skok, who declined payment.
“Canadian Heritage sent hundreds of pages of records showing the cost of the panel is $280,000, but now the department says its $200,000. Does anyone in government know what is going on and how much this is costing taxpayers?” asked Terrazzano.
“The government could have saved itself all this confusion, paperwork and money by asking any of the millions of Canadians who know why the CBC is failing.
“The only modernization plan the state broadcaster needs is three words long: defund the CBC.”
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume
Letter from the editor: A note to readers about the CBC and me - The Logic
Why I’ve agreed to provide advice on the future of the public broadcaster.
thelogic.co
CBC advisory panel costs reach $200K, stacked with former CBC staff
The seven-person panel struck to advise modernization efforts for Canada's national broadcaster