Ottawa Continues Deliberating CEO Bonus for CBC, Decision to Remain Private

August 16, 2024 TruthUSA

OTTAWA—The Liberal government said today it has not yet made a decision on whether it will grant a bonus for the head of CBC after the public broadcaster eliminated hundreds of jobs.

But because of the Privacy Act, it will likely be up to CEO Catherine Tait to publicly disclose if she does receive one, as she has done in past for the 2021-22 fiscal year at a past Canadian Heritage committee. It has not been publicly disclosed whether or not she was granted a bonus the following year.

Opposition Conservatives have been seeking support from other parties to back their call to bring Tait back to committee to answer the bonus question for 2023-2024.

So far, no other parties have joined that request, even though MPs on the committee unanimously agreed earlier this year that given the job cuts it would be inappropriate for CBC to grant bonuses to executive members.

Canadian Heritage declined to speak to The Canadian Press on the record this week and initially referred all questions to the Privy Council Office, saying it couldn’t answer any question related to Tait’s potential bonus due privacy laws.

On Friday, Canadian Heritage confirmed it is still mulling over the decision to approve performance pay for Tait, but cited privy laws again to say that the decision would not be made public.