Conservative MP Jamil Jivani roasts CBC President Catherine Tait over executive bonuses
'The big, beautiful, growing movement to defund the CBC is not a purely political movement, but it is a matter of taxpayer accountability,' said Jivani.
Conservative MP Jamil Jivani took aim at CBC President and CEO Catherine Tait during Monday's House of Commons heritage committee meeting.
Jivani called out the CBC boss over a perceived lack of accountability to taxpayers after it was revealed the broadcaster paid over $18 million in bonuses to its employees during the 2023/2024 fiscal year after laying off hundreds of workers.
"Jamil Jivani is telling her, whatever your key performance indicators are, the fact that Canadians don't like you and want you defunded should be a consideration while you're giving yourself a bonus," said Sheila Gunn Reid.
The Conservative MP slammed Tait for dismissing concerns about lucrative executive bonuses while the broadcaster's viewership and engagement remain low.
"You're trying to marginalize legitimate concerns about abuse of taxpayer dollars and any accountability that we are trying as parliamentarians to introduce here, you're saying it's purely political," he said.
Tait responded, "I will not be accused of abusing taxpayer dollars. I'm sorry. For the record, we have managed our budget extremely carefully."
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has pledged to defund the CBC if he becomes prime minister. The public broadcaster currently receives over $1 billion annually directly from taxpayers.
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