The CEO of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation underwent two hours of questioning Jan. 30 from Heritage Committee members who grilled her about yearly performance bonuses in light of 800 projected job cuts. She also didn’t rule herself out from getting a bonus.
“For the record, CBC/Radio Canada does not award so-called bonuses,” Catherine Tait said in her introductory remarks to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
“What we have, like every other Crown corporation, is at-risk or performance pay, which is a key part of the total compensation of our non-union staff, about 1,140 employees.”
Ms. Tait explained that extra compensation is integrated into a manager’s salary, distinguishing it from the typical end-of-year bonus common in the private sector. A portion of managerial salaries is reserved and only paid if the organization reaches predetermined “key performance indicators” (KPIs), according to Ms. Tait.
Should the corporation fail to meet any of its KPIs, a segment of the “at-risk” management compensation is retained, as occurred in the fiscal year 2022–2023 when the CBC did not achieve two of its indicators, she said.
Ms. Tait persistently took fire from MPs of every party, save for the Bloc Québécois, whose members focused on potential cuts to the CBC’s French-language services.
“Every other media outlet in this country doesn’t start off with 1.4 billion taxpayer dollars at the start of the year,” said Conservative MP Rachael Thomas. “Other outlets in this country that are conducting themselves to perform at a higher standard than the CBC in many ways, they’re not starting off with that.”
Ms. Thomas asked whether Ms. Tait was considering “bonuses for the executives within CBC.”
Ms. Tait responded that the CBC’s board of directors decides on “performance pay” and that it was still to be determined.
“Right now, hundreds of your colleagues are facing layoffs,” said Liberal MP Lisa Hepfner. “And so wouldn’t you say that it’s fair for us to ask these questions about executive compensation, when so many journalists and people who do the real work that Canadians are counting on are facing the uncertainty and the instability that you mentioned in your statement?”
Ms. Tait responded, “If we run a $1.8 billion corporation and we don’t respect the processes, the rules, the directives of the board of directors, then it’s chaos. We have a process in place; performance pay is pegged against targets, and it’s measured.”
NDP MP Peter Julian asked how much money executives had received in “performance pay” last year.
After Ms. Tait replied that a total of $14.9 million had been paid, Mr. Julian suggested she could understand how Canadians are reacting “when you have a very important institution that is cutting positions that are vital for providing that information to Canadians, to tell us stories about each other, about other regions of the country.”
Conservative MP Luc Berthold asked, “Would it not be good to ask upper management to give up their performance pay?”
“If we end up there at the end of the year, it’s a possibility,” responded Ms. Tait.
“Everything’s on the table. Even the incentive pay.”
