Pay for employees earning more than $100,000 at Radio-Canada/CBC has doubled in seven years, from $59.5 million in 2015-2016 to $119.5 million in 2021-2022, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
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Figures from an Access to Information request show that the number of public broadcasters falling into this category has almost doubled.
Over the same seven-year span, the number of employees earning $100,000 or more increased from 438 to 949. This figure also increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, i.e. 14% between 2020-21 and 13% between 2021-22.
Salaries and bonuses cost $51 million over the two years, the federation, which obtained the information through a request for information, revealed.
Funding will be provided from 2015 onwards
After major cuts during Stephen Harper’s government, Justin Trudeau promised to increase Radio-Canada/CBC’s budget during the 2015 federal election.
In its first budget in the spring of 2016, the new Trudeau government committed to reinvesting $675 million over five years to “modernize and revitalize” public broadcasting, but also to support the country’s cultural community.
At the other end of the spectrum, private sector media have suffered significant losses over the past year after the stimulus provided by Ottawa and the provinces to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the past year alone, Quebecor, Bell Media and Postmedia have seen hundreds of job losses, notably forcing the closure of radio stations and local daily newspapers.
Quebecor’s CEO, Pierre Karl Péladeau, denounced “unfair” competition from Radio-Canada/CBC because it receives government money while in the advertising market and offers paid services such as the TOU.TV site.
The CBC is a primary target of conservatives
Funding for CBC/Radio-Canada has long been under attack from the federal Conservatives, but criticism was never more apparent than when new leader Pierre Poilivre described the organization as “Justin Trudeau’s mouthpiece.”
Mr. Poilivre promises to cut the company’s budget, much to the delight of his supporters.
The director of the public broadcaster, Catherine Tait, recently accused Mr Boilevre of “crying” for funding for his party. He condemned “CBC bashing”. The latter replied that M nodeme Tait confirmed the anti-conservative bias of the public institution.
