CBC boss says no need for 800 job cuts, rules out merger with Radio-Canada

CBC boss Catherine Tait says the public broadcaster will not press ahead with the 800 job cuts it warned of last year because its financial outlook has improved after the federal budget provided an additional $42-million in funding.

She also would not rule out granting executive bonuses this year – a decision she said would be made at a board meeting next month.

Speaking to the Commons heritage committee, the chief executive officer and president of CBC/Radio-Canada said the public broadcaster is not yet “out of the woods” financially.

To compete with digital giants, she said, the broadcaster is looking at sharing some resources between CBC and Radio-Canada, such as equipment, production and distribution. However, she said there would be no merger of CBC and Radio-Canada, including of their content.

Ms. Tait prompted an outcry in December when, on the day the broadcaster announced 800 job cuts to address a $125-million shortfall, she told its newscast that it was too early to say if executive bonuses would be cut.

Ms. Tait told the committee Tuesday that the estimated shortfall of $125-million has now been reduced to about $20-million for the fiscal year, partly because of the $42-million cash injection by the federal government in the budget. She said there is now no need for “significant jobs cuts relating to balancing our books.”

She added that about 500 jobs are naturally reduced each year at the corporation through staff who retire and leave the broadcaster.

Facing questions from the Conservatives, Ms. Tait did not rule out executive bonuses, saying that the decision would be made at next month’s board meeting, after reviewing financial data from the fiscal year that ended at the end of March.

She said performance pay was part of employees’ remuneration packages and also helped motivate CBC staff.

Ms. Tait’s bonus, unlike that of most staff, would have to be approved by the government, she said.

In an interview with The Globe and Mail in December, Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said Ms. Tait “needs to be transparent” about whether she is going to give out the bonuses or not.

Ms. Tait told the committee the corporation is not “tone-deaf” and has heard the criticism, saying it had asked an outside remuneration consultant to examine other models for performance pay.

She was asked about a Conservative threat to defund the CBC while protecting French services. She denied that she is considering saving the CBC by linking it to Radio-Canada more closely.

Marco Dubé, chief transformation officer and executive vice-president, people and culture, said combining the programming of CBC and Radio-Canada was not being looked at, but aligning resources, such as technology, could be an option.

He said it would be too early to say what the public broadcaster’s board would be looking at this fall, but said there are ways that CBC and Radio-Canada could work more closely and share resources.

Ms. Tait said the CBC and other Canadian media organizations are facing stiff competition from digital giants such as Netflix and Amazon, which face fewer regulations.

She said the CBC is focusing on its digital audience, including on CBC Gem, saying more and more Canadians are shifting to watching online.

“The future is digital. We are moving to an entirely digital world,” she said, adding that in English Canada “the shift to digital is already well on its way.”

In the new year, Ms. St-Onge will begin looking for a replacement for Ms. Tait, who has been at the helm of CBC since 2018. Former heritage minister Pablo Rodriguez extended Ms. Tait’s contract earlier this year for an extra 18 months until January, 2025.