CBC to update mandate, name new CEO: report
Asked if CBC will request more money, a spokesperson said: ‘We look forward to hearing the results of the minister's work.’ Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge previously launched a seven-person panel that is reviewing the amount of taxpayer dollars it takes.
Canadian Heritage is expected to modernize the state broadcaster in the coming weeks. They are also expected to name a new CEO.
The mandate changes reportedly address long-term funding, but that component hasn't yet been finalized, a senior government official told CBC News on the condition of anonymity. Its current mandate hasn’t been changed since 1991 — before the advent of the internet.
The Trudeau government is currently weighing a new mandate that may require more funding, the official said. The CBC’s main revenue source is a $1.4 billion annual parliamentary grant.
The next CEO will be a “changemaker” who is willing to shake up the public broadcaster so that it is not business as usual, the anonymous official said.
“This person could feasibly be a key player in whether CBC lives or dies at some point,” the official said.
The term for the current CEO, Catherine Tait, ends in January. She is paid $497,000 annually as chief executive officer, with bonuses amounting to an extra $100,000 annually.
“I am looking forward to soon announcing important steps that will help modernize CBC/Radio-Canada. This is what we committed to Canadians and what Canadians expect,” said Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge.
Asked if the network will request more money, a spokesperson said: “We look forward to hearing the results of the minister's work.”
Minister St-Onge previously launched a seven-person panel to get advice on the future of the CBC, including the amount of taxpayer money it takes.
The modernization panel, stacked with former CBC employees, has cost taxpayers more than $280,000 to date. Canadian Heritage told the Canadian Taxpayers Federation that costs are expected to increase further.
“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 Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director.
Among the reported changes to the network’s mandate is a renewed emphasis on appealing to “everybody,” including those “people who don't … say they need it.”
“Those people [who] need to see this place [are] going to be trustworthy and the changes are designed to reinforce the trust level,” an official said.
Terrazzano rebuked their attempts to build trust. He earlier said: “If the CBC wanted to build trust with Canadians, here is a place it could start: stop paying millions in bonuses to executives.”
Records show all 46 top network executives without exception received bonuses worth $3,020,021 this year. Another 1,140 managers shared $11.883,734 in bonuses.
“The only modernization plan the state broadcaster needs is three words long: defund the CBC,” Terrazzano said.
Canada’s state broadcaster will also “reassess the need” for future cuts after paying its managers millions in bonuses, said Carol Najm, chief financial officer. She defended bonus payments at the Senate national finance committee, reported Blacklock’s Reporter.
“We continue to face financial challenges that impact the entire Canadian media industry,” testified Najm. “Audiences are abandoning television in favour of digital platforms.”
Bonuses were paid even as Tait claimed the Crown broadcaster faced financial hardship. “We are not out of the woods,” she testified last May 7 at the Commons heritage committee.
“All Canadian media organizations face serious challenges.” About 450 newspapers have gone out of business since 2009, according to government data.
Rival broadcasters are cutting staff and programming costs to stay afloat. Meanwhile, CBC will cut 346 jobs this year.
“We will balance our budget this year without further significant reductions,” said Najm. The CBC has yet to disclose its 2023 Annual Report detailing network finances through the reporting period ended March 31.
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