Minister Mum Announces Confidence in CBC Head, Plans to Begin Successor Search Next Year

Heritage Minister Pascale St. Onge says the government will convene a committee early in the new year to begin searching for a new head of CBC/Radio-Canada.

The mandate of the public broadcaster’s current president and CEO Catherine Tait, who was first appointed in 2018 and saw her contract renewed in June, is set to expire in January 2025.

Ms. St. Onge wouldn’t directly answer reporters’ questions on Dec. 12 about whether she still has confidence in Ms. Tait, saying the government’s focus is finding her successor.

“I’m saying that right now we are going to concentrate on finding the right person to lead the public broadcaster at the end of Catherine Tait’s mandate.”

Ms. Tait’s tenure has fallen under heightened scrutiny after she announced plans last week to cut 600 jobs and not fill 200 vacancies over the next year to manage a $125-million shortfall.

She received heavy criticism for telling host Adrienne Arsenault on CBC’s The National, the same day as that announcement, that it was “too early” to say whether executives would receive bonuses this year.

Ms. Tait and seven vice-presidents said in a statement on Dec. 8 that they were aware of the concerns, and that “all possible measures” were being considered to manage financial pressures, including a look at “senior executive compensation.”

Ms. St. Onge said on Dec. 12 that the public broadcaster must “consider the financial situation and the impact that it has on employees at large.”

She said questions about bonuses should be answered by executives.

As a Crown corporation, CBC/Radio-Canada operates independently of Parliament, but receives roughly $1 billion in public funding annually.