Canadian Heritage Committee on April 11th, 2024

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Bibic, for being here.

Today's conversation is a direct result of a decision that Bell made in eliminating jobs after, as you've heard from Mrs. Thomas, receiving large government subsidies. In particular, you received a break on approximately $40 million in fees as a result of an amendment passed by the Conservatives and the NDP.

Your response to that was to fire Canadians, to let them go from their jobs.

Mr. Bibic, was not the board's response to your work in 2023 a strategic imperative to “engage and invest in our people and create a sustainable future”? If your mandate from your board was to invest in your people, can you explain to me how cutting 6,300 jobs is investing in your people?

[Mirko Bibic]

If you take the 6,300, about 500 or 550 of that total number were in media, and the part II fees issue that you raised in the opening of your question relates to media, not to the broader Bell.

We have invested in the broadcasting industry, and we have invested in our people. I mentioned in my opening statement investments of $22 billion in world-leading networks since I became CEO. The fact that we've built so much fibre Internet to so many homes has allowed us to hire more field technicians. We've grown the unionized workforce of field technicians by 14%, which is a big number. Those are high-paying union jobs.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

Mr. Bibic, if they are high-paying union jobs, then I wonder why Unifor is so concerned, because they've written to every member of this committee expressing their disappointment in your decision.

Mr. Bibic, I'd like to talk a little about—

[Mirko Bibic]

Mr. Chair, if I may on that one—

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

That wasn't a question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I'm sorry, Mr. Bibic. Mr. Noormohamed has the floor.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

According to your own corporate filings, your compensation package last year was approximately $13 million. Is that correct?

[Mirko Bibic]

That is correct.

I would clarify that, according to Unifor, we employ 19,000—

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

Mr. Bibic, my question was about your compensation package, and you've answered that, in fact, it was approximately $13 million.

What does the average journalist working in your newsrooms earn?

[Mirko Bibic]

I wouldn't have that precise number at my fingertips.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

Do you think it's more or less than $100,000?

[Mirko Bibic]

I wouldn't know.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

You talk about making investments in news. You talk about the importance of a news ecosystem in this country, but you don't know how much your journalists make.

[Mirko Bibic]

I do know that we spend almost $300 million a year on news in this country at Bell Media alone. That's a lot of investment.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

That is a lot of investment, but when talking about investing in people, clearly Bell has invested well in you.

Mr. Bibic, when you look at your opportunity to act as a leader, did you ever consider forgoing your bonuses, your equity package or some portion of your salary to save some of the important jobs, particularly of journalists, in this country?

[Mirko Bibic]

As it comes to reduction, we've grown news correspondence by 35% since prior to 2023, and we started a newsroom in the French language in the province of Quebec from scratch in 2021. No one has done this. I can't think of anyone in North America, probably the world, that has done this.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

I'll take that as a no.

[Mirko Bibic]

No, in terms of the direct question, we've implemented reductions across the entire company for our vice-presidents and higher. There are 23% fewer vice-presidents at Bell since I became CEO and 40% fewer—

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

Mr. Bibic, my question is a specific one.

Did you or any of your executives choose or consider forgoing your bonuses to save the jobs of average Canadians who are working in your newsrooms and in other parts of your organization? That's a simple yes or no. If the answer is no, that's okay.

[Mirko Bibic]

We dramatically reduced the executive ranks so that we could retain as many jobs across the company as possible. That's what we did.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

I'd like to talk about news, because one thing that we have a dearth of in this country is the ability for small communities, rural communities and indigenous communities to have their stories told.

How do you expect journalists to maintain the quality of local news from local communities if they're sitting in newsrooms in Toronto and not in the field? When you eliminate jobs across this country, particularly of journalists in small communities, how do you expect the voices of those communities to be heard?

[Mirko Bibic]

Thank you for the question; it's a very good question.

The question doesn't acknowledge the facts that I've shared with you today. We have 35% more news correspondents today than in 2023, so we are investing in news. The question doesn't recognize that we've built a newsroom in Quebec from the ground up, from scratch. It doesn't recognize the other fact that I shared with the committee this morning, that we now, for the first time in CTV's history, have journalists in every single province. That's a first. That's how we're covering news locally and nationally and serving our viewers, because our viewers are number one. They want to have more news.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

Mr. Bibic, as somebody who used to watch W5, I'm really disappointed that my views were not considered when you cut that program.

I come to politics having worked in the corporate sector. I have to say that one thing that I remember being taught by somebody I respected tremendously is that, as an executive and as a leader, you have an obligation to take care of your people if you want to build a strong organization. I have to say, the idea that you and your executive team saw fit—and I think building strong Canadian businesses is important—to take substantial bonuses and equity packages at a time when your workers, your employees and your journalists could have had their jobs saved is a bit disappointing.

I will leave that with you, Mr. Bibic. You have to run the company the way you believe is best, but I think that it is more important to think about Canadians, particularly those who have subsidized your company for so very long.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Mr. Noormohamed.

[Mirko Bibic]

May I—