I'm sure that will change in about 40 days.
One of the primary items that has been brought forward to this committee, and certainly I've heard this in my role as the heritage critic, is that Canadians are extremely frustrated about the $18 million in bonuses that were paid out to executives, to managers and to out-of-scope employees at the CBC. To put that into context, when it comes to the bonuses specifically paid to executives and members of the executive team at CBC, it averaged about $71,000 per individual, which is more than the average Canadian makes, at a time when Canadians are struggling.
The current CEO, soon to be your predecessor, and the minister, refused to condemn the paying out of such substantial bonuses at a time when KPIs are generally not being met or are being adjusted so that they can be met. Canadians are sharing what I would suggest is outrage at millions of dollars being paid out to highly paid executives and the existence of a $497,000 club that was just revealed this week. Seven individuals at CBC make nearly half a million dollars a year.
Do you share the frustration that at a time when Canadians are struggling, those big bonuses are being paid out?