A Canadian politician didn’t pull any punches when questioning Bell Media President and CEO Mirko Bibic as he testified before the House of Commons Heritage Committee.
Conservative MP Kevin Waugh shared a clip of him grilling the telecom executive on X on Thursday.
“The Liberal government gave millions to Bell Media and then Bell goes and unnecessarily kills off local journalism and spends billions in American programming,” Waugh posted.
I had a heated exchange with Bell Media President and CEO, Mirko Bibic today. The Liberal government gave Millions to Bell Media and then Bell goes and unnecessarily kills off local journalism and spends Billions in American programming.#skpoli #cdnpoli #cdnpolitics #yxe pic.twitter.com/ddwatZezHR
— Kevin Waugh (@KevinWaugh_CPC) April 11, 2024
In the clip, the MP asked Bibic to disclose how much the telecom giant is spending on American programming after the CEO told the committee that Bell Media spent $1.7 billion on content.
Waugh listed several American shows on the company’s channels like The Amazing Race, The Masked Singer, and The Good Doctor.
“The investments that we make in US programming, our foreign programming, generates significant advertising revenue that we can then use to fund Canadian programming,” replied Bibic.
He listed Canadian TV shows like Sullivan’s Crossing, Late Bloomer, and Letterkenny.
Waugh cut the CEO off and asked why Bell Media wasn’t investing in local news. He referenced the company’s massive cuts in February, selling 45 radio stations and axing 4,800 jobs.
Along with the cuts were cancellations of local noon and weekend news shows in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and more.
“Take some of that $1.7 billion and put it in newsrooms in Canadian cities in this country,” retorted Waugh. “That’s what people want. CTV built up a loyal audience — you have destroyed it.”
Unifor, the union representing over 19,000 Bell Media employees, also reacted to Bibic’s testimony.
In his appearance before the House of Commons Heritage Committee, @Bell CEO Mirko Bibic failed to justify cutting thousands of jobs while Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. increased their dividends to a record-high $3.7 billion in 2023.https://t.co/LgHXh9yXko#canlab
— Unifor (@UniforTheUnion) April 11, 2024
“We heard nothing in today’s testimony that could possibly justify BCE’s firing of more than 6,000 people with one hand while hiking executive pay and shareholder payouts with the other,” stated Unifor National President Lana Payne.
“The fact that the corporation thought it could take both these actions at the same time shows just how out of touch they are with the Canadian public right now.”
The layoffs came less than a year after Bell Media’s last round of layoffs in June 2023, slashing 1,300 jobs.