Canadian newspapers have cut so many jobs that subsidies contingent on numbers of newsroom employees are 43% under budget. Taxpayers’ payroll rebates of $13,750 per staffer could not avert layoffs, data show..According to Blacklock's Reporter, cabinet in an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the House of Commons said payroll rebates introduced in 2019 had cost taxpayers $96.1 million. They were originally budgeted at $170 million..The figures were disclosed at the request of Conservative MP Jamie Schmale (Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes, ON) who sought data on actual payments under a $595 million media bailout. “How much of the $595 million has been delivered to date?” asked Schmale..Parliament in 2019 amended the Income Tax Act to award 25% payroll rebates and 15% subscription tax credits to publishers who applied for subsidies and were deemed qualified. “The loss of even just one job is a tragedy,” Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said at the time..“We have been working for a long time to set up a program to support professional journalism,” said Rodriguez. “The industry is in crisis. In recent years 41 daily newspapers have disappeared and 10,000 jobs have been lost.”.Pascale St-Onge, then-president of the Fédération Nationale des Communications, in 2019 testimony at the House of Commons finance committee claimed subsidies would avoid layoffs. “The total amount planned, $595 million over five years, is commensurate with the industry’s current needs to preserve journalistic jobs,” said St-Onge, now Minister of Sport..The Department of Canadian Heritage in a 2021 briefing note acknowledged no net new jobs resulted from the bailout. “The decrease in advertising revenues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led to service reductions and newspaper closures resulting in the loss of more than 2,500 jobs,” said the note Improving Federal Support For Journalism..Postmedia Network Corp., the nation’s largest newspaper chain, yesterday said it will cut 11% of newsroom staff this year, despite millions in federal aid. Postmedia earlier reported a pre-tax loss of $74.7 million in 2022..The chain monopolizes English-language dailies in six provinces. Since 2020 it received $64.9 million in Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy benefits, a temporary pandemic relief program, and $15.2 million in media bailout rebates, according to its last Annual Report..Tuesday’s announcement of further Postmedia layoffs would cost about 60 to 100 jobs. Federal payroll rebates are to expire March 31, 2024.
Canadian newspapers have cut so many jobs that subsidies contingent on numbers of newsroom employees are 43% under budget. Taxpayers’ payroll rebates of $13,750 per staffer could not avert layoffs, data show..According to Blacklock's Reporter, cabinet in an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the House of Commons said payroll rebates introduced in 2019 had cost taxpayers $96.1 million. They were originally budgeted at $170 million..The figures were disclosed at the request of Conservative MP Jamie Schmale (Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes, ON) who sought data on actual payments under a $595 million media bailout. “How much of the $595 million has been delivered to date?” asked Schmale..Parliament in 2019 amended the Income Tax Act to award 25% payroll rebates and 15% subscription tax credits to publishers who applied for subsidies and were deemed qualified. “The loss of even just one job is a tragedy,” Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said at the time..“We have been working for a long time to set up a program to support professional journalism,” said Rodriguez. “The industry is in crisis. In recent years 41 daily newspapers have disappeared and 10,000 jobs have been lost.”.Pascale St-Onge, then-president of the Fédération Nationale des Communications, in 2019 testimony at the House of Commons finance committee claimed subsidies would avoid layoffs. “The total amount planned, $595 million over five years, is commensurate with the industry’s current needs to preserve journalistic jobs,” said St-Onge, now Minister of Sport..The Department of Canadian Heritage in a 2021 briefing note acknowledged no net new jobs resulted from the bailout. “The decrease in advertising revenues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led to service reductions and newspaper closures resulting in the loss of more than 2,500 jobs,” said the note Improving Federal Support For Journalism..Postmedia Network Corp., the nation’s largest newspaper chain, yesterday said it will cut 11% of newsroom staff this year, despite millions in federal aid. Postmedia earlier reported a pre-tax loss of $74.7 million in 2022..The chain monopolizes English-language dailies in six provinces. Since 2020 it received $64.9 million in Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy benefits, a temporary pandemic relief program, and $15.2 million in media bailout rebates, according to its last Annual Report..Tuesday’s announcement of further Postmedia layoffs would cost about 60 to 100 jobs. Federal payroll rebates are to expire March 31, 2024.
