Liberals Voice Support for CBC After Announcing Layoffs, Tait Won’t Rule out Bonuses

The federal Liberals are voicing their support for the public broadcaster after it announced layoffs on Dec. 4, but Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland won’t weigh in on whether Ottawa will exempt it from across-the-board budget cuts. Ms. Freeland told reporters on Dec. 5 that the CBC and Radio-Canada cuts were “very sad news.” But when asked whether it was an option to exempt the public broadcaster from overall spending cuts, Ms. Freeland skirted the question. “Our government strongly supports Radio-Canada and CBC,” she said in French. “We will continue to be there.” The federal government had announced in its spring budget this year, that it would cut spending across departments and agencies by three percent by the 2026-2027 fiscal year....