CBC president and CEO Catherine Tait today refused to rule out accepting personal bonuses for the last two fiscal years if they’re approved by the Privy Council Office.
Speaking before the House of Commons heritage committee, Tait said Canadians expect CBC to honour its commitments to non-union managers and executives if they meet key performance indicators.
This is the third time Tait has been called before the heritage committee to answer questions about bonuses during a year which saw CBC cut 141 jobs and eliminate another 205 vacancies.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed repeatedly that a government led by him would defund the CBC, although he has promised to preserve some parts of Radio-Canada, the company’s French service.
“You are coming to the conclusion of your term, being paid more than the prime minister of this country makes, and you refuse today to rule out that you will receive either bonuses or so-called performance pay or a severance package at the conclusion of your term,” Conservative MP and committee member Damien Kurek said in an exchange with Tait.
“As I’ve said, I consider that to be a personal matter,” Tait replied.
Speaking before a parliamentary committee Monday, Conservative MP Damien Kurek asked CBC/Radio-Canada President Catherine Tait if she would refuse taking a bonus once her tenure is up in January 2025.
Tait’s salary range is between $468,900 and $551,600, but if she meets certain criteria, she can make another 7 to 28 per cent of her salary in bonus pay. She’s not eligible for severance pay.
Tait has repeatedly defended the CBC’s pay structure. She has said that executives and managers at the public broadcaster are paid about half what their private sector counterparts can earn.
“Quite frankly, I think it’s extremely important for the organization’s future to be able to pay its senior executives and its non-unionized employees fairly across the board,” she told reporters after the hearing.
Outgoing CBC/Radio-Canada president Catherine Tait said the current ‘narrative’ about defunding the CBC being spread by some is more damaging to the reputation and morale of the public broadcaster than the issue of performance bonuses.
During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, more than $18 million in bonuses was paid out to 1,180 non-unionized CBC employees.
The federal government said in August it had not made a decision on whether to grant Tait a bonus for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, adding that because of privacy law, it will be up to Tait to publicly disclose if she does receive one.
Tait told MPs that she has not received a bonus for that year to date. She also could receive a bonus for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
Tait is set to leave the position on January 3, 2025. Her replacement has already been chosen.
Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge is expected to announce changes to modernize the public broadcaster in the coming weeks.
Earlier this month, a senior government official told CBC News that the government is in the final stages of drafting legislative and regulatory changes for the public broadcaster.
The CBC’s current mandate is set out in law in the Broadcasting Act. It was crafted in 1991 and it hasn’t been updated since the advent of the internet.