CBC president Catherine Tait pays $200 conflict-of-interest fine, blames investment advisor

OTTAWA — Oops. 

Catherine Tait, the outgoing president of CBC/Radio-Canada had to pay a $200 fine after violating a section of the Conflict of Interest Act dealing with asset reporting, which the corporation says happened as a result of an investment error.

A notice was recently posted to the public registry of Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein’s office about administrative penalties imposed by the commissioner.

A spokesman for the public broadcaster said Tait has been filing documents relating to her personal finances since her appointment back in 2018 and has met every requirement.

Leon Mar said in 2023 Tait’s investment advisor bought a corporate bond within her personal pension savings account.

The advisor did so “without knowing that this is considered a controlled asset,” which public officer holders like Tait are not allowed to have under the rules.

“As soon as the president was made aware of the non-compliance, she instructed her investment advisor to sell the bond and provided proof of sale within 10 business days to the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, as requested,” Mar said.

As a result, von Finckenstein’s office levied a $200 fine, which Mar said Tait paid.

The timing of the penalty comes after Tait recently testified to members of Parliament on the parliamentary heritage committee, some of whom she accused of using her appearances to try and “vilify” her.

Although Tait didn’t name names, Opposition Conservative MPs routinely call for $1 billion in funding the public broadcaster receives annually to be slashed.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has spent the past two years promising to “defund” CBC, saying that not only does it cost taxpayers, but is also guilty of bias against his party.

Tait has repeated defended the corporation’s independence, both in terms of its editorial decisions as well as in its operations.

In this month’s committee appearance, Tait requested that MPs respect the public broadcaster’s independence, especially as it relates to the corporation paying out millions in bonuses to managers and other senior executives. She has said theses non-unionized employees are entitled to receive this compensation according to their contracts.

Representatives from all federal parties, including Liberal MPs, have criticized the CBC for paying theses bonuses for the most recent fiscal year after cutting jobs and eliminating other vacancies citing a $125 million shortfall.

Tait is set to end her tenure in January 2025. The Liberals recently announced that Quebec television executive Marie-Philippe Bouchard had been appointed as her replacement.

The federal government hopes to present a plan about how to modernize the broadcaster sometime this fall.

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