Canadian Heritage Committee on May 7th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

It takes 25 minutes to do one more full round. We have only 20 minutes left, so if I change the timing from five, five, 2.5, 2.5, five and five minutes to four, four, two, two, four and four minutes, we should get a round in, and everyone seems to be okay with that.

Yes.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Madam Chair, we started the meeting five minutes late. We still have 25 minutes, however, so we can do almost a complete round.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I'll ask the clerk.

Okay, I'm told by the clerk we have until 6:05, so that gives us a full round.

We will go, as per usual, to Philip Lawrence for the Conservatives. Philip, you have five minutes, please.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Tait, for being here today.

One of the CBC shows that I will admit, as a Conservative, I like to watch is the Canada Tonight show. Of course, this features Travis Dhanraj. I'm wondering, do you watch that show?

[Catherine Tait]

I do.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

I'm a bit curious as to why Mr. Dhanraj had this exchange with you, Ms. Tait. He tweeted on April 19, 2024:

At a time when the public broadcaster is under increasing scrutiny and when transparency is needed, #CanadaTonight requested an intvu w/...Catherine Tait. We wanted to discuss new budget funding, what it means for jobs & the corporation’s strategic priorities ahead. Our request was declined. This is unfortunate.

Why did you decline Mr. Dhanraj's request?

[Catherine Tait]

I was on annual leave; I wasn't available.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Okay.

Then Mr. Dhanraj, curiously, tweeted on April 19.... I'm sorry.” After this tweet he tweeted, on May 2, 2024, he was back on Canada Tonight, meaning he disappeared from the air for a week or 10 days. Was this because of any type of repercussions because he was calling you out publicly, Ms. Tait?

[Catherine Tait]

I'm not aware of any repercussions, no.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Just on the heels of my colleague Ms. Ashton's comments, I find it a little strange that one of your stars, Mr. Dhanraj, calls you out publicly and then he disappears from the air for a week or 10 days. I just point you to your own conflict of interest policy, which says, “Our standards do not change when the CBC (or a CBC partner) becomes the story. Public interest guides our choices.” Do you still stand by that statement?

[Catherine Tait]

Of course, and just to be clear, I don't get involved in the programming and scheduling decisions in the newsroom. I have to assume there's a reason that occurred for Travis Dhanraj, but I'm not, again, involved in any of those discussions.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Well, I'm not booking agent for Mr. Dhanraj, but I assume that he would probably like to have you on the show again. If Mr. Dhanraj reaches out to you, will you commit to going onto his show?

[Catherine Tait]

I will look at all invitations. As you can imagine, we have many shows, and that's just at CBC/Radio-Canada. I try to make myself available to as many as I can, given whatever is on the schedule at the time.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

To finish up, you didn't give me a complete—I guess—rejection of my premise that perhaps there was something off with the fact that Mr. Dhanraj was taken off the air shortly after calling you out publicly. Can you confirm, unequivocally to the committee, that there were no reprisals or negative outcomes to Mr. Dhanraj for his calling you out publicly for not appearing on his show?

[Catherine Tait]

I'm not aware of any.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Okay. Thank you very much.

I want to just tidy up a couple of things with respect to executive bonuses. You said, of course, your bonus will be set by the government, and you'll be receiving that for the fiscal year 2023-24. You'll be receiving that in, maybe, nine months. What was your bonus, though, for the 2022-23 fiscal year, and when did you receive it?

[Catherine Tait]

I think the range of my bonuses or performance pay is public, and I have not received it as yet, so I don't know what I will or will not receive.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

For the fiscal year of 2022-23, I understand your testimony is that you haven't received it, and you don't even know the quantum of it yet?

[Catherine Tait]

That's correct.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

What about for 2021-22?

[Catherine Tait]

Yes, I did receive that.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Would you mind sharing how much that was?

[Catherine Tait]

This is personnel information. I don't believe I'm under any obligation to disclose the exact amount. The range is published on the website. It's a maximum of 28% of my salary.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

We're Parliament, which means that we can ask for any information we want. Kindly provide us with the bonus you received for 2021-22.

[Catherine Tait]

I'd like to get legal counsel to make sure that it's in compliance with the Privacy Act before I do so, but, if it is, I will provide it to this committee.