CBC executive billed taxpayers $30K in travel expenses and luxury accommodations
As executive vice-president of French-language services at the state broadcaster, Michel Bissonnette billed taxpayers $26,747 for travel expenses, including $7,650 for business class flights from Montréal to Paris.
The state broadcaster billed taxpayers nearly $30,000 in travel expenses for a single executive this year, including for a now-cancelled trip to the French Riviera.
According to records obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter in an access to information request, CBC executive Michel Bissonnette repeatedly flew business class to Paris and once hired a driver to chauffeur him five blocks through downtown Ottawa.
As executive vice-president of French-language services at the state broadcaster, Bissonnette billed taxpayers $26,747 for travel expenses, including $7,650 for business class flights from Montréal to Paris.
He also stayed at the four-star Hotel Des Saints Peres in Paris at $485 a night.
“All the expenses in question are in compliance with our policies governing employee expenses,” said CBC spokesperson Marc Pichette.
According to a CBC memo, the executive must attend board meetings held in Paris.
Bissonnette, who did not respond to requests for comment by Blacklock’s Reporter, sits on the board of directors of TV5 International — a French-language service co-funded by Canada at $11 million a year along with the governments of France, Belgium and Switzerland.
According to a 2007 Department of Heritage report Evaluation Of The TV5 Program, funding “seeks to promote Canada’s involvement and influence within the international cultural Francophonie.”
Records obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter show the executive also booked $3,215 in business class flights to Monaco for the September 1 launch of TV Monaco. He intended to stay there for four days at the expense of taxpayers.
However, Pichette confirmed, “The upcoming trip to Monaco […] was cancelled.” He provided no reason for the trip cancellation.
Since January 1, Bissonnette has billed taxpayers for domestic trips, including $193 for a Montréal luncheon and a $2,798 trip to Toronto for a CBC board of directors meeting.
He also billed $17.43 for an Uber driver to chauffer him through downtown Ottawa from 1 Elgin Street to 30 Daly Avenue, an eight-minute walk. The state broadcaster provided no reason for the expenditure.
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