CBC approves more bonuses for 1,200 staff

From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

Among the accomplishments the CBC cites to justify future bonuses, is the fact that among Canadians who use its digital services, “each unique visitor… spends 37.6 minutes every month” on its website – an average of less than 90 seconds per day.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation approved future bonuses for its executives and non-unionized staff, according to the state broadcaster’s latest annual review.

On June 25, the CBC quietly published a notice on its website announcing the approval of another round of bonuses, less than a week after the latest parliamentary session ended.

The bonuses are for work done in the 2023-24 fiscal year. It’s unclear at this time how much this next round of CBC bonuses will cost taxpayers. The approval of future CBC bonuses was first reported by La Presse.

“There’s no way taxpayers should be paying for another round of CBC bonuses,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “And it’s a little suspicious the CBC chose to quietly publish this news days after Parliament broke for summer and after CBC President Catherine Tait was routinely grilled by MPs on this very topic for months.”

The CBC rubberstamped $14.9 million in bonuses in 2023, according to internal documents obtained by the CTF. The CBC cut 346 jobs during the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Since 2015, the CBC has handed out $114 million in bonuses.

In its strategic plan, the CBC lists five vague “key performance indicators” that trigger bonuses for staff. The CBC says its “annual report, with comprehensive reporting of the 2023-24 [KPI] results, will be available to the public later this summer.”

Among the accomplishments the CBC cites to justify future bonuses, is the fact that among Canadians who use its digital services, “each unique visitor… spends 37.6 minutes every month” on its website – an average of less than 90 seconds per day.

A total of 1,194 non-unionized CBC staff have been approved to receive another bonus.

Tait’s annual pay is between $472,900 and $623,900, which includes salary, bonus and other benefits, according to the CBC’s senior management compensation summary.

In 2014, Tait’s predecessor, Hubert Lacroix, told a Senate committee his annual bonus was “around 20 per cent.”

Even the state broadcaster acknowledged “the views expressed by some that [bonuses] should not be awarded … in times of financial pressures and associated workforce reductions.”

“As a result … [the CBC] is launching a comprehensive review of the Corporation’s compensation regime, including [bonuses],” according to the annual review. “This review will be conducted by a third-party human resources consulting firm.”

It remains unclear at this time how much this third-party review will cost taxpayers.

“The CBC doesn’t need to waste more tax dollars reviewing its bonus scheme, it needs to end the bonuses for good,” Terrazzano said. “If Tait isn’t willing to do the right thing, then the heritage minister, finance minister or Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must step in and stop these taxpayer-funded bonuses.”

The CBC will take $1.4 billion in taxpayer cash this year, an all-time high. The federal government also gave the CBC a $42-million funding top-up in Budget 2024 after Tait complained the state broadcaster is subject to “chronic underfunding.”

Related Topics:#CanadianTaxpayersFederation #CBCBonuses #RyanThorpe

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Trump signs executive order banning government censorship

Published on January 20, 2025

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From The Center Square

By Dan McCaleb

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order banning the federal government from taking any action to restrict Americans free speech rights.

The order ensures “that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.”

It also ensures “that no taxpayer resources are used to engage in or facilitate any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen” and “identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government related to censorship of protected speech.”

Meta earlier this month ended its practice of censoring posts on Facebook, Instagram and Threads after CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the Biden administration pressured the company to remove posts related to COVID-19, the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections – including suppressing the New York Post’s explosive story on Hunter Biden’s laptop – and other matters.

“We started building social media to give people a voice,” Zuckerberg said in announcing the decision. “What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to shut down opinions and shut out people with different ideas, and it’s gone too far.”

Twitter, now X, also removed posts under pressure from the Biden administration before Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk bought the social media platform in 2022.

Trump’s executive order also instructs the U.S. Attorney General to investigate past cases of government censorship.

“The Attorney General, in consultation with the heads of executive departments and agencies, shall investigate the activities of the Federal Government over the last 4 years that are inconsistent with the purposes and policies of this order and prepare a report to be submitted to the President, through the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, with recommendations for appropriate remedial actions to be taken based on the findings of the report,” the order states.

Dan McCaleb is the executive editor of The Center Square. He welcomes your comments. Contact Dan at [email protected].

Dan McCaleb

Executive Editor

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Liberals to increase CBC funding to nearly $2 billion per year

Published on January 20, 2025

Todayville

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

The Department of Canadian Heritage promised funding to offset the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s nearly 10 percent drop in ad revenue last year despite an audience share of 1.7 percent, meaning over 98 percent of the country is not watching the network.

The Liberal government has promised to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to compensate CBC-TV for ads that the network cannot sell.

According to information released January 20 by Blacklock’s Reporter, the Liberal-run Department of Canadian Heritage will give CBC millions more, bringing the network’s total parliamentary grant near $2 billion a year.

“The CBC has been grappling with a range of financial pressures that are challenging its ability to maintain programming and service levels,” Liberals argued, adding that their department will be “providing additional funding to make it less reliant on private advertising with a goal of eliminating advertising during news and other public affairs shows.”

“The CBC is a pillar of Canada’s creative economy, a key provider of programming made by and for Canadians and a significant source of trusted news and information,” Liberals claimed.

“This government is committed to ensuring the sustainability of the CBC so that it can continue to create public value and adapt to the needs and expectations of Canadians,” the department continued.

The increased government subsidies come after an October report found that CBC’s advertising revenue dropped nearly 10 percent last year.

Furthermore, CBC’s own quarterly report found that its network audience share is only 1.7%, meaning more than 98% of Canadians are not watching CBC.

However, Liberals have chosen to ignore the fact that Canadians are not watching CBC, instead spending millions of dollars to prop up the failing outlet.

Beginning in 2019, Parliament changed the Income Tax Act to give yearly rebates of 25 percent for each news employee in cabinet-approved media outlets earning up to $55,000 a year to a maximum of $13,750.

Last November, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau again announced increased payouts for legacy media outlets that coincide with the leadup to the 2025 election. The subsidies are expected to cost taxpayers $129 million over the next five years.

That amount to the CBC is in addition to massive media payouts that already make up roughly 70 percent of its operating budget and total more than $1 billion annually.

However, many have pointed out that the obscene amount of money thrown at CBC by Liberals is a ploy to buy the outlet’s loyalty.

Furthermore, in October, Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge’s department admitted that federally funded media outlets buy “social cohesion.”

Additionally, in September, House leader Karina Gould directed mainstream media reporters to “scrutinize” Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who has repeatedly condemned government-funded media as an arm of the Liberals.

Gould’s comments were in reference to Poilievre’s promise to defund the CBC if elected prime minister. Poilievre is a longtime critic of government-funded media, especially the CBC.