Well, buckaroos, I think it’s time to rise to the defence of embattled CBC CEO Catherine Tait. Heck, somebody should.
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Tait’s recent appearance before the heritage committee was a heroic attempt to inform us, the unwashed. She managed, in a brief appearance, to establish that the CBC is underfunded and that she, as the CEO of CBC, is accountable for nothing.
It’s hardly her fault we don’t seem to get the message. Heck, she has a black belt in communications.
Tait has advanced degrees in communications theory and public communications from Boston University and the University of Paris. We are fortunate she graced the gritty chambers of the House of Commons to illuminate the minds of the ill-informed.
Tait took the high road. Questioned about performance bonuses, she quibbled brilliantly. Heck, she quibbled about the name, assuring the humbled MP’s the CBC did not award performance bonuses. It seems the millions in question were merely “performance awards.”
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She quibbled about the amount of said performance awards. When a lowly MP stooped the level of quoting the gross performance pay at a mere $16 million, Tait used the opportunity to inform the committee that the true number was closer to $15 million.
That, my friends, is a masterclass in quibbling.
For those of us who suffer under the delusion the Chief Executive Officer is in charge and accountable, Tait made it perfectly clear this was a concept that applied only in the icky private sector. In avoiding the direct question of whether she would be seeking a “performance award,” Tait said this would be a decision of the board based on recommendations from the executive team.
In layman’s terms, Tait threw her executives and board under the bus and took zero personal responsibility. And, in case you didn’t get the message, this is none of our business anyway.
In her greatest contribution to the committee, Tait explained that it was none of our business how CBC spends the money taxpayers gladly pay it. Specifically, regarding “performance awards” she said, “The administration of compensation, like other human resource matters, remains the responsibility of the organization and its board of directors, which operates at arm’s length from government.”
This is not, it’s worth noting, a unique argument. Way back in the 1990s, I recall a university president patiently explaining to an unschooled education minister that universities were publicly funded, autonomous organizations.
In other words, pay us and shut up.
Tait took the time to put the long-established fundamental right of Canadian agencies, boards and commissions (ABCs) to operate without government “interference” on record. We are in her debt.
Despite her patience in “clarifying the record” and her clear superiority in communications, I suspect some of us remain a freckle suspect of the pay-up-and-shut-up model. This is not just a CBC thing. Canada has thousands of ABCs that are equally resistant to public oversight.
Tait has, perhaps inadvertently, put a spotlight on the appalling lack of accountability across a broad spectrum of public institutions. Obviously, the rather tacky business of questioning the CBC CEO over performance awards can be eliminated by simply defunding the CBC. But we should look beyond the CBC and bring other ABCs under the direct accountability of government ministries.
If the accountability rock has begun to roll downhill, we have Tait to thank. I hope she has a wonderful career beyond the CBC, perhaps in a foreign country.
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SNOBELEN: CBC boss demonstrates need for more accountability
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03.02.2024
Well, buckaroos, I think it’s time to rise to the defence of embattled CBC CEO Catherine Tait. Heck, somebody should.
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Tait’s recent appearance before the heritage committee was a heroic attempt to inform us, the unwashed. She managed, in a brief appearance, to establish that the CBC is underfunded and that she, as the CEO of CBC, is accountable for nothing.
It’s hardly her fault we don’t seem to get the message. Heck, she has a black belt in communications.
Tait has advanced degrees in communications theory and public communications from Boston University and the University of Paris. We are fortunate she graced the gritty chambers of the House of Commons to illuminate the minds of the ill-informed.
Tait took the high road. Questioned about performance bonuses, she quibbled brilliantly. Heck, she quibbled about the name, assuring the humbled MP’s the CBC did not award performance bonuses. It seems........
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