The CBC uses its $1.2 billion federal grant to fund a bloated bureaucracy, including a $900,000 “strategic intelligence department.”
According to records obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter, the CBC was found to have a large number of senior staff, including seven vice-presidents, ten director generals and five directors of finance.
“Each of these departments brought together a certain number of employees, more than a hundred in total for the finance and strategic planning department” wrote federal arbitrator Pierre-Georges Roy.
The CBC’s “strategic intelligence department” consisted of one manager and four employees, with almost all of the department’s $900,000 budget going towards salaries.
“It developed its strategic intelligence sector in order to be better informed of the various trends and realities of the telecommunications sector, thus enabling it to be more informed,” wrote Roy.
The president of CBC receives a salary between $390,300-$459,100, with vice-presidents earning between $250,000-$417,500.
The CBC, which receives most of its funding from the taxpayer, engages with very few Canadians. In 2019, only 0.8% of Canadians tuned in to watch CBC news’ evening broadcasts.
In recent years, the CBC’s ad revenue has also declined significantly, dropping 19% in the first six months of 2020 alone.
Last year, CBC president Catherine Tait received a raise of approximately $20,000, bringing her salary to a maximum of $459,100.
In a previous statement to the House of Commons heritage committee, Tait believed the CBC needed additional funding, as the decline in revenue seen under her tenure caused the organization significant stress.
“We had ongoing financial pressures at CBC because we are not indexed to inflation on goods and services. We’re constantly working under that kind of pressure, just to give you the context,” she said.
“We are covering the planet with very few resources.”
