During Monday’s Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage meeting, Conservatives grilled the CBC’s Catherine Tait for her $6,000 taxpayer-billed trip to Paris.
Conservative Member of Parliament for Durham, Jamil Jivani, also noted that the CBC awarded $18 million in bonuses just after cutting 600 employees, citing budget concerns.
Jivani noted that the CBC CEO expensed nearly $4,000 for a four-night stay at the luxurious Hotel du Collectionneur, with her total costs raised to $5,869 that she charged to the CBC.
Jivani also called her out for awarding $18 million in bonuses amid 600 job cuts in the company.
Tait defended her lavish trip, stating that she “did not bill the taxpayer for the flight or travel from Canada.”
While the defund the CBC movement continues to gain ground, Tait is expected to be removed from her position, in a potential corporate shakeup of the publicly funded broadcaster, especially if Conservatives are to form government.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has attacked the CBC multiple times on the record, calling the CBC; “Trudeau’s public relations team.”
Even within traditional media, CBC has taken a nose dive in viewership. When Tait became CEO in 2018, the CBC had a 7.6% share of the national audience, but it currently sits at just 2.1%.
Even with falling performance metrics at the CBC, the Liberal government under Trudeau is set to spend even more money on the CBC, ($42 million) according to budget 2024, and that is on top of the $1 billion that the CBC receives annually.
