Brown-John column: On Bonuses and the Public Trough 

Article content

by Lloyd Brown-John 

National Lampoon’s 1989 comedy Christmas Vacation is a hilarious movie premised upon a Christmas bonus the main character, Clark Griswold, anticipates from his employer. Griswold fantasizes about his new swimming pool for which he already has laid out money in anticipation of his bonus. 

The wild conclusion of the movie – from the point where he learns his bonus is a membership in the jelly-of-the-month club, and kidnapping of his boss by his screwball relative, and a flying police squad invasion of his home – make for a classic bizarre comedy. 

Article content

Within the private sector, executive salary bonuses are relatively common. I never received a bonus after so many years of doing whatever it was my profession entailed. I confess that the idea of bonuses for simply doing the work for which you have been hired or contracted seemed to make little intuitive sense. 

I concede that within the private sector, if personnel are rewarded for exceptional achievement or sales, that is plausible. My only significant bonus in life has been my wife. 

Initially I do have some adverse reaction to staff bonuses or “performance pay” doled to employees and executives of publicly funded organizations such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 

I need to make it clear that I am somewhat of a CBC television and radio partisan. Some mature adults around southwestern Ontario may recall that for many years in the 1970s and early 1980s I was an on-air freelance political commentator and analyst for both CBC radio and television. Furthermore, for many years I was a member of the Association of Canadian Radio and Television Artists (ACTRA). CBC contributed to a small ACTRA pension fund on my behalf. 

Article content

Every now and then CBC slashes its budget, attempting to meet both its mandate to serve all Canadians in both official languages and provide opportunities for Canadian performers. CBC television now carries annoying commercials largely because naysayers have complained about its almost $1-billion annual government support. 

Yet it still offers some exceptional news and programming on both radio and television. 

Nonetheless, it is widely detested, abused and even hated by many Canadians who somehow feel we would be better served with trashy and biased American-style FOX News. (I exclude PBS from that trash description.) Add TVO in Ontario. 

But CBC has the mandate to serve all Canadians impartially and to offer large numbers of Canadians opportunities to earn income and gain experience from performances on Canadian-developed programs. 

Ian Hanomansing and Adrienne Arsenault, who generally co-host CBC’s evening National News, are two of the most capable on-air news hosts on this continent. I would add my favorite, Andrew Chang, were he more regularly visible on The National. And Rosemary Barton’s political contribution and lead of the Thursday At Issue panel is almost up to the standards I once set in a distant past at our Windsor CBC studio.       

Article content

CBC stands as a major contributor to that identity we consider Canadian, even when many who succeeded in Canada have ventured to the United States to further their careers. Although some, like the late Alex Trebek of Jeopardy fame, frequently acknowledged his debt to CBC and Canada. 

Catherine Tait, CBC’s president and CEO, acknowledged that performance pay may be considered excessive as Canadians struggle with food prices and mortgages. Her performance pay is set by a parliamentary committee. 

Even though it’s publicly funded, in many respects CBC bonuses need to be industry comparable. If you want to retain quality people in your organization, you must be prepared to pay for them, even if that includes bonuses. 

The Canadian Press has reported that CBC documents previously released through the access-to-information requests show over $99 million in bonuses was awarded to employees at the public broadcaster from 2015 to 2022 and more in 2023. 

A corresponding CBC payment summary also lists median salaries of nearly 50 peer companies, including Corus Entertainment (which owns Global News), Bell Media (which owns CTV), Rogers Communications (which owns CityTV and the Toronto Blue Jays), as well as Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors). 

Bottom line to CBC: Don’t be so blatant about public trough money awarded as bonuses. It hurts our taxpaying feelings. 

Lloyd Brown-John is a University of Windsor professor emeritus of political science and director of Canterbury ElderCollege. He can be reached at lbj@uwindsor.ca.

Article content