Evidence of meeting #115 for Canadian Heritage in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was company.
A recording is available from Parliament.
President and Chief Executive Officer, BCE Inc.
The legislative requirements also allow for the giving of notice combined with guaranteed 16 weeks' salary continuance. If we give 16 weeks' salary continuance as well as notice, we are in compliance with the federal legislative requirements.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
I just want to be clear. You gave notice to the Government of Canada 16 weeks before terminating.
President and Chief Executive Officer, BCE Inc.
If we give notice to the Government of Canada before the implementation of the job reductions but combine that with a guaranteed 16 weeks of salary continuance to all employees, even those who may not otherwise have been eligible for a full 16 weeks, then we are compliant.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Again, I am just looking for clarification. You are confirming one way or the other, just yes or no. Did you give the Government of Canada 16 weeks' notice before terminating the employment of the 4,800 individuals in February?
President and Chief Executive Officer, BCE Inc.
It is not required that the federal government get 16 weeks' advance notice if the federal government gets advance notice and each employee is otherwise guaranteed 16 weeks of salary continuance, even in cases where they otherwise would not be.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Mr. Bibic, I have the federal labour standards in front of me, and that is not what I'm reading. You are required to give the government 16 weeks' notice or apply for an exemption.
President and Chief Executive Officer, BCE Inc.
I've provided the full answer to the process that we adopted, which is in full compliance with federal legislative requirements.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Mr. Bibic, when did you tell the government that you would be laying off these employees?
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
You just said that you are in full compliance. How can you be sure of that?
President and Chief Executive Officer, BCE Inc.
Because I know we gave the government notice, and I know that we guaranteed each employee 16 weeks of salary continuance, even in cases where they otherwise would not have been eligible for it.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Mr. Bibic, I understand that you're treating this as a bit of a game and mincing your words. I'm just looking for a straight answer.
You said that you gave the government notice. Perhaps you can call on your colleague if you need some assistance here. When was that notice given?
Executive Vice-President, Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer, BCE Inc.
If we may, Madam Chair, why don't we undertake to provide that information to the committee in writing so that you have the fulsome explanation in front of you.
Your questions are important, but in the time permitted it's difficult to answer them.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
With all due respect, you're welcome to table a lengthy reply and nuance your words, but in this moment I'm just asking for a yes or no.
Was 16 weeks' notice given to the government? You seem to be indicating yes, so I'm curious. On what date was that 16 weeks' notice given?
President and Chief Executive Officer, BCE Inc.
That's not what I said. I said that, if an employer commits to providing 16 weeks' salary continuance, then the 16-week advance notice to the government.... You can follow a different path than the one that the honourable member has outlined, but we did give notice to the federal government. I just don't have the specific date at my fingertips.
Executive Vice-President, Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer, BCE Inc.
We gave notice on February 8, Madam Chair.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Thank you. That didn't seem so hard—bravo.
On February 8, the government was given advance notice that you would be laying off 4,800 people from Bell Canada. Thank you. I very much appreciate that.
You're telling me, then, that notice was given on the exact same day that the public found out, but again, according to the labour standards, notice is supposed to be in advance. Why was it done the day of?
President and Chief Executive Officer, BCE Inc.
There were two things.
Go ahead, Rob.
Executive Vice-President, Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer, BCE Inc.
I'm sorry. We've given the answer. We provided the notice in compliance with the legislation. We're happy to provide more details if you require more details, but the question's been asked and answered repeatedly.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
It hasn't actually.
I just found out less than a minute ago that you gave notice on February 8. That's the same day that it was publicly declared that these 4,800 individuals would be fired. That's not exactly advance notice, which is what's required under the federal labour standards.
Why wasn't advance notice given?
President and Chief Executive Officer, BCE Inc.
We've provided the answer to that. There is a path that if you guarantee salary continuance for 16 weeks.... That is a path, even where the employees would not otherwise be entitled to 16 weeks.
The second point is that, while we gave notice to the government on February 8, those job reductions didn't all take place on February 8, all at the same time.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you very much. We're over time, Mrs. Thomas, and I now go to the Liberals' Patricia Lattanzio.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
My questions will be with regard to the fees—the part II fees, to be specific.
For how long did Bell pay the part II fees to the CRTC, Mr. Bibic?
Executive Vice-President, Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer, BCE Inc.
I'll answer that, if you don't mind.
We paid part II fees from the date upon which we first acquired CTV, which was 2011-12. Over the period of time that we paid those part II fees, Bell remitted approximately $400 million in part II licence fees. It's important to recognize that those fees were a tax that was collected by the CRTC and then remitted to the Government of Canada's consolidated revenue fund.
It's also important to note that those fees were never paid by the foreign OTT streamers like Netflix, which we operate in competition with.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Okay. When did Bell stop paying these fees?