CBC CEO Catherine Tait on Tuesday objected to accusations she lied to the Commons Heritage Committee about paying millions in bonuses to executives while declaring financial hardship. The $497,000-a year CEO on December 4, after substantial CBC layoffs, claimed the network had a $125 million budget shortfall, per Blacklock’s Reporter. Tait further testified January 30 the Crown broadcaster “faces chronic underfunding” and had to “stretch limited resources to meet our mandate.”All but Liberal MPs expressed exasperation at Tait’s denials of misleading parliament. “I really take objection to being called a liar which has happened several times,” testified Tait Tuesday. “This is not the first time I have been called a liar by certain members of this committee. It is actually the first time in a 40-year career that anybody has ever addressed me in this way. I want to make a personal objection.”.A February 29 cabinet budget confirmed the Trudeau Liberals were jacking up CBC funding by $96.1 million this year to a record $1.38 billion.Access To Information records disclosed March 12 by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation said the CBC paid at least $14.9 million in bonuses last year."I am not misleading you," Tait protested. "Are you going to be awarded a bonus?" asked Conservative MP Rachael Thomas. "We have not yet reviewed the final results," replied Tait, whose annual 20% bonus is approximately $100,000 a year, Bloc Quebecois MP Martin Champoux said Tait was out of touch. "A lot of things have made you unpopular in Quebec said Champoux. "You must know the expression, 'Read the room.'"NDP MP Niki Ashton declared the CBC had the audacity to conduct itself like a private corporation, despite it being publicly-funded state media. "Executive bonuses, layoff of workers, cuts to local broadcasting, use and abuse of non-disclosure agreements to silence and intimidate employees: Canadians may be wondering if we are talking about a major media conglomerate,"said Ashton."No, we are talking about the publicly-funded CBC. To many Canadians the CBC, an institution we have built, is increasingly acting like a private corporation.""Fifteen million dollars spent on executive bonuses while jobs disappear is wildly irresponsible. Rewarding oneself for failure while families and communities pay the price of job losses and loss of local programming is unacceptable. Will you commit to cancelling executive bonuses to save as many jobs as possible?"Tait responded, "Consideration on performance pay will be deliberated at our next board meeting, and if I may...""You've already answered the question," interrupted Ashton.The federal Conservatives lit into Tait with a Wednesday release."The CBC has never been more out of touch with Canadians. This was made clear today after Conservatives discovered that the CBC’s President and CEO, Catherine Tait, lied to Canadians by saying she hadn’t yet awarded bonuses to herself and other top executives," said a release."In reality, Tait had already dished out $15 million in bonuses to top CBC executives. This happened before she started to slash 800 jobs, which she then blamed on 'chronic underfunding,' even though the Canadian taxpayer already gives the CBC $1.3 billion every year.""The truth is that the CBC is failing because Tait is refusing to produce content that Canadians actually want to view. Since she took over as CEO in 2018, the CBC’s viewership has been cut in half. Under Tait’s leadership, the CBC has also begun cutting even more news programming. The CBC is no longer relevant to Canadians."
