Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he “can’t wait” to defund the CBC in response to news that the state broadcaster approved another round of bonuses for its executives and non-unionized staff.
The decision was quietly approved last week, despite recent layoffs and struggling viewership. It was also announced only days after the House of Commons rose for its summer recess.
The CBC laid off 141 employees and eliminated 205 vacant positions last year, while also giving bonuses to 1,194 employees.
“I can’t wait to defund the CBC and sell off the headquarters for housing,” wrote Poilievre in a post on X.
Poilievre’s post also included a link to a petition to defund the CBC
The petition accuses the state broadcaster of undercutting private sector and independent media companies “while receiving more than $1 billion in direct taxpayer subsidies.”
“The CBC mostly provides opinions and coverage that are widely available in a free and competitive media marketplace,” continues the petition. “Therefore, be it resolved that we call on this Liberal government to defund the CBC to save taxpayer dollars and ensure a free and competitive press in the Canadian media landscape.”
Poilievre first began taunting the CBC with the notion that he would convert the Crown Corporation’s over $400 million worth of real estate holdings into housing for Canadians last fall.
“It warms my heart to think of the families that will move into a home they can afford, at the former headquarters of the CBC,” wrote Poilievre on X last September.
True North asked CBC why such high bonuses were being given out while employees were also being laid off.
“Decisions about performance pay are taken every year in June, at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Directors. It followed the Board’s review of the Corporation’s performance for 2023–2024 fiscal year, which ended March 31, 2024,” CBC spokesperson Leon Mar said.
“Government departments, Crown corporations, and most private companies use performance pay (also called “at-risk pay”) as a portion of compensation for non-union employees to help ensure delivery on specific targets.”
Mar did not divulge the cost of the next round of bonuses, saying it is part of CBC’s “internal financial operations.”
Poilievre introduced a motion to ban all bonuses for CBC executives last December after CBC president Catherine Tait confirmed the Crown corporation would lay off 10% of its workforce. The motion was voted down in the House of Commons.
Internal documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation revealed that $14.9 million in bonuses were doled out last year.
A total of $114 million in bonuses has been given out by the CBC since 2015 and the state broadcaster is slated to receive $1.4 billion in taxpayer money this year, breaking all previous funding records.
That figure does not include the additional $42 million it received from the Trudeau government in top-up funding, following CBC president Catherine Tait’s complaints that it suffered from “chronic underfunding.”
“At $33 per Canadian — a dime a day — CBC/Radio-Canada is one of the worst-funded public broadcasters in the world, with four times less funding than the U.K. and France and eight times less than Germany,” Tait told a committee of MPs in May.
“Until that situation changes, we must continue to manage with what we have and do our very best to stretch limited resources to meet our mandate.”
Tait earns an annual salary that ranges between $472,900 and $623,900, according to its senior management compensation summary.
The Angus Reid Institute conducted a poll last year that found 36% of Canadians want to see the CBC’s funding cut off.
