OTTAWA – Outgoing CBC President Catherine Tait spent $6,000 — including staying at a $1,000-per-night hotel — for just under five days at the Paris Olympics, an expense observers say is sure to raise eyebrows but is ultimately justifiable.
According to a copy of Tait’s calendar obtained via an access-to-information request, Tait was in Paris from July 25 to 29. She arrived the day before the opening ceremony of the Paris Summer Olympic Games.
CBC/Radio-Canada is the official broadcaster of the Olympics in Canada through to 2032 Brisbane Games.
Upon her arrival, a driver picked Tait up and brought her to the Olympic accreditation centre. She then crossed the street to check in for four nights at the luxurious Hôtel du Collectionneur.
Billed as Paris’ biggest five-star hotel and just steps away from Champs-Elysées Avenue, it was taken over by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host international dignitaries and foreign ministers throughout the Games.
According to public disclosures, Tait expensed just under $4,000 for her four-night stay at the swanky hotel. In a statement, CBC spokesperson Leon Mar said the choice of accommodation complied with the organization’s travel policies, but he did not offer further details.
French media reports at the time peg the average hotel price in Paris at almost €700, or just over $1,000.
A summary of Tait’s Paris expenses, including the hotel, put the total cost for her trip at $5,869 charged to the CBC. Tait did not expense any airfare as she arrived by train from southern France, because she was already travelling in the country before the start of the Games, Mar clarified by email. She did expense her train fare.
While in Paris, Tait benefitted from the services of an “assigned driver,” although she also occasionally walked to meetings.
The night Tait arrived in Paris, she attended a reception at the Louvre Museum hosted by IOC President Thomas Bach and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Her calendar shows only two other meetings with non-CBC staff during the trip. She met Bach again for a one-hour meeting on July 28, and with the IOC’s managing director of television and marketing services Anne-Sophie Voumard on July 27.
Mar said in a statement that Tait met with “senior staff and partners of the Canadian Olympic Committee, officials from the Olympic Broadcasting Services and Olympic Channel Services, and senior executives from other public media.” Those meetings don’t appear to be in her calendar.
Records show Tait also had three meetings with CBC and Radio-Canada’s production teams throughout her stay. She met them on the morning of the first full day of the Games on July 27 for just under two hours and had a “tour and lunch” at the Canadian Olympic House the following morning.
She also expensed $326.48 for dinner for three at Dessirier restaurant with Chris Wilson, general manager of CBC/Radio-Canada Olympics, and Marie-Claude Ferland, the organizations’ associate general counsel and a key negotiator of its broadcasting deals. The restaurant bills itself as “the best of the sea in Paris.”
The only event on Tait’s calendar for July 26 was to attend the Olympics opening ceremony.
The records also show Tait set aside time to attend the fencing competition and the swimming finals on July 27, as well as the beach volleyball competition the following day. She left Paris by train around noon on July 29.
Retired longtime public broadcasting executive Jeffrey Dvorkin said he expects travel expenses like Tait’s trip to Paris will raise eyebrows “inside and outside” of CBC at a time when the public broadcaster’s management is under fire for doling out $18.4 million in bonuses for the 2023–24 fiscal year.
That included over $3.3 million paid to 45 executives the same year the broadcaster cut hundreds of jobs, The Canadian Press reported in August.
Tait is scheduled to testify on the bonuses, which have been lambasted by opposition parties and raised questions even among Liberals, at a Commons committee on Monday.
But Dvorkin says it’s ultimately important that the head of the broadcaster be present for such a major event, both to encourage staff and meet with IOC executives.
“Given the importance of the Olympics as an audience and revenue-generating program, I don’t think it’s inappropriate for the president of the CBC to go over to where the event is happening and to be encouraging and be supportive,” said Dvorkin, who has held senior roles at both CBC and National Public Radio (NPR).
“But given the difficulties that the president has had over executive compensation, the timing may be inapt, shall we say,” he added. “It is not apparent to me that the issue around public relations at the CBC has been handled very well.”
Peter Menzies, former vice-chair of Canada’s broadcasting regulator, said Tait’s schedule appeared to be “reasonably busy” during her time in Paris and that a “little hobnobbing” with top Olympic brass seemed appropriate for her role.
But he noted that Canadians are increasingly skeptical of CBC management’s spending decisions, which means expenses like Tait’s Paris trip will be further scrutinized.
“I don’t really see it… as being all that scandalous,” said Menzies, now a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
“But the skeptical public would view it as … sort of Marie Antoinette syndrome,” he said. “And CBC’s problem isn’t right now with the people who support it. CBC’s problem right now is with the very high levels of skepticism around … its usefulness and sort of its embedded sense of entitlement.”
Tait’s time as head of the CBC is set to come to an end this year. Her replacement has yet to be formally announced, although Le Devoir reported last week that sources say it will be Marie-Philippe Bouchard, a Quebec TV executive.
National Post
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