Some Canadians are calling to defund the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) after new documents reveal the broadcasting company paid over $18 million in bonuses this year, following a huge layoff.
Through documents obtained from access-to-information requests, the Canadian Press discovered that CBC/Radio-Canada gave out bonuses to 1,194 employees for the 2023-24 fiscal year and more than $3.3 million was paid to 45 executives.
This comes after the federally-funded corporation announced in December 2023 that it was eliminating 600 jobs and not filling 200 vacant positions. The CBC proceeded to lay off less staff than anticipated (141 employees) and eliminated 205 vacant positions for the fiscal year.
Read More
The Board of Directors of CBC/Radio-Canada reportedly approved the bonuses in June, but only recently disclosed the exact amount despite members of Parliament demanding for the number.
Based on the documents, over $10.4 million was paid out to 631 managers, and over $4.6 million was paid to 518 other employees.
In addition, this year’s total in bonuses s $3.5 million higher than the bonuses paid during the 2022-23 fiscal year, which was $14.9 million.
According to CBC Spokesman Leon Mar, the bonuses are performance pay, also called “at-risk pay.”
“Government departments, Crown corporations, and most private companies use performance pay (also called “at-risk pay”) as a portion of compensation for non-union employees to help ensure delivery on specific targets. While the term “bonuses” has been used to describe performance pay, it is in fact a contractual obligation owing to eligible employees,” Mar said in a statement to Now Toronto on Monday.
In the annual review of CBC/Radio-Canada’s performance, obtained by Now Toronto, the board and the senior executive team say they acknowledge the controversial views surrounding its performance pay, especially during a time of financial pressures and its post-workforce reductions.
As a result, the board is launching a comprehensive review of the corporation’s compensation regime which includes performance pay, in order to ensure the compensation package is fair.
“This review will be conducted by a third-party human resources consulting firm, and recommendations to the board will be shared with the public. The compensation review will include an assessment of best practices and market data of other Crown corporations and the media sector,” reads the report.
News of the massive bonuses has sparked outrage from some Canadians on social media.
“The CBC should be shut down,” one X user said.
“How disrespectful and mismanaged. How do the recipients sleep at night? Greed,” another user said.
“I love the CBC, but this is disgraceful. The entire C-suite needs to be wiped clean and replaced,” another user commented.
“Take CBC to the woodshed. This is blatant disrespect of the taxpayer,” another comment read.
