Trudeau’s Liberals hurriedly blocked a motion by Pierre Poilievre to ban these bonuses, protecting their political interests with CBC head Catherine Tait.
This comes hot on the heels of revelations that Liberal appointees treated Trudeau’s green slush fund like their own personal piggy bank. Meanwhile, the cries of outraged Canadians demanding justice reach a fever pitch.
But Trudeau brushes aside the corruption to shield friends and insiders.
The CBC debacle could be the final insult that spurs action against a government rotten to the core with corruption.
With the Liberals going all-out in defense of corruption, one must wonder – how deep does this bottomless pit of graft and opportunism go?
Canadians desperately need a government cleansed of corruption and focused only on integrity. The future of the country depends on wrestling power from Liberals mired in ethical scandals.
The relationship between the Liberal government and the CBC has again caused outrage throughout the country after the public broadcaster announced it would be laying off 600 employees. This news was met with nationwide backlash arguing that CBC executives should not be receiving bonuses while implementing these cuts.
Pierre Poilievre brought forward a motion in the House of Commons calling for a ban on CBC executive bonuses this year. As Poilievre stated, “The CBC announced it is cutting 600 jobs, and 250 of these jobs are across the broadcaster’s French language services, and the CBC has paid nearly $100 million in bonuses to executives and talking heads since 2015.” He went on to note that “The President of the CBC, Catherine Tait, refused to rule out bonuses for CBC staff this year, despite the announced job cuts.”
However, the Liberal government voted against considering this motion, blocking it through a procedural move. Their shouts of “No” rang out in the House, protecting Tait and the CBC executives from a ban on bonuses.
This is a highly hypocritical move, since CBC President Catherine Tait currently earns between $442,900 – $521,000 per year from taxpayers. With potential bonuses and benefits, her compensation could total up to $623,900 annually. The refusal to ban bonuses came shortly after Tait confirmed in an interview that 600 jobs would be cut to deal with “financial challenges.”
When directly asked if there would be no bonuses this year, Tait dodged the question, responding: “It’s too early to say where we are for this year, we’ll be looking at that like we do all our line items in the coming months.”
The double standards of Tait ruling out bonuses while implementing mass layoffs comes off as tone deaf and corruption enabled by Trudeau and his Liberals.
Comedian Stewart Reynolds voiced what many Canadians are thinking. His scathing reaction encapsulates the public outrage over CBC executives rewarding themselves while cutting jobs.
The CBC has justified the cuts due to a lack of advertising revenue and an inability to compete with superior private broadcasters.
However, a key factor impacting the CBC’s ability to compete is that many Canadians view its journalism as politically biased propaganda. This perception of partisanship fundamentally undercuts public trust. A recent survey found that 40% of respondents believe CBC news coverage essentially functions as a mouthpiece for the sitting Liberal government.
The cozy relationship between the Liberal government and CBC executives has angered Canadians due to unjust political interference. The Liberals have funneled increasing amounts of funding to the CBC. Yet even with these large amounts of taxpayers money, the CBC claims financial troubles.
CBC News frequently provides favorable, softball coverage to Trudeau and the Liberals. Meanwhile, Poilievre and Conservatives are often covered critically or ignored entirely. This further undermines public confidence in the broadcaster’s objectivity.
While the Trudeau government has vowed to “modernize” the CBC, it has failed to follow through on reforms.
The Liberals had the opportunity to streamline the English CBC into a focused public broadcaster emphasizing quality cultural and news content across various media. However, they defaulted to their usual passivity and cronyism instead of implementing meaningful reforms.
The Liberal deference to CBC executives has angered many in Quebec, where TV and radio networks under the Radio-Canada brand remain popular and financially stable. Quebecers see little justification for equal cuts between the English and French networks, given the latter’s stronger performance.
Quebec Minister of the French Language Jean-François Roberge criticized the equal cuts, “It’s as if they are making Radio-Canada pay for CBC’s difficulties…It seems to me the last time that happened was in 1840, with the Act of Union, when Upper Canada’s debts were sent to Lower Canada.”
While the reference was historical, his point highlighted a perceived unfairness in treating two unequal entities in the same manner. We are once again witnessing political motivations overriding prudent financial management.
Some argue that separating CBC and Radio-Canada into independent organizations could improve each network’s performance. But Trudeau’s Liberals show little appetite for such bold moves, as the CBC is what serves their agenda best.
Going forward, Pierre Poilievre seems intent on pressing his crusade against the CBC even further. While his recent motion to ban CBC executive bonuses failed due to Liberal opposition, he appears undaunted.
Poilievre will likely continue advocating for major CBC reforms, including the nuclear option of shutting it down entirely. However, they will face spirited resistance from Trudeau’s Liberals, who have a vested political interest in protecting the cozy status quo with the public broadcaster.
Just as with the bonus ban, the Liberals can be expected to leverage their parliamentary majority to stonewall any Conservative efforts to significantly revamp or dismantle the CBC.
The cozy relationship between Trudeau’s Liberals and the CBC is just one example of the concerning corruption and lack of accountability within the current government. This pattern of insiders receiving thousands of taxpayer dollars for their own interests also extends to the Liberals’ management of the Green Slush Fund.
A board member of Trudeau’s billion dollar Green Slush Fund, has acknowledged directing over $300,000 in public funds to organizations associated with his personal connections. The board member referred to this allocation of taxpayer dollars to groups affiliated with his interests as business as usual.
The Liberals’ corruption is widespread in Trudeau’s government. The cozy CBC relationship and Green Slush self-dealing are just two examples. Insiders keep abusing taxpayer dollars for personal gain. Trudeau promises transparency but delivers backroom deals for Liberal friends instead. This crookedness spreads through many parts of the federal government. Canadians deserve better than Liberals saying one thing publicly while doing another privately.
And the NDPs are no different, the Liberals and NDP have once again formed an dishonorable alliance to conceal Trudeau’s misuse of taxpayer funds.
Despite spending over $15 billion on EV battery factories that prioritized foreign workers, Trudeau wants to hide the details from Canadians.
And the NDP, which once advocated for transparency on the issue, has now flip-flopped to help cover up these wasteful deals that sold out Canadian workers. Together, the two parties blocked the release of billions in manufacturing contracts that employed overseas laborers rather than domestic ones.
The endless examples of corruption, coverups, and unethical dealings reveal a deep rot within the Liberal government. The pattern is impossible to ignore.
The country needs a government focused on integrity and transparency rather than helping loyalists profit at the public’s expense. Until we see real consequences for those abusing the public trust, the cycle of Liberal self-dealing seems likely to continue unabated. The time has come for accountability and an end to the crooked dealings.
