As members of Parliament accuse Bell Canada of corporate greed, the head of the company is defending its decision to cut thousands of jobs, citing a shift in Canadians含羞草研究社� viewing habits away from traditional TV.
Liberals, Conservatives and New Democrats grilled CEO Mirko Bibic during often combative exchanges at a meeting of the House of Commons heritage committee on Thursday afternoon.
Parliamentarians had ordered him to appear and answer for the cuts, which affect nine per cent of BCE Inc.含羞草研究社檚 workforce.
In February, the company announced it was cutting some 4,800 jobs, ending multiple television newscasts and selling off 45 of its 103 radio stations.
含羞草研究社淭he idea you saw fit to take substantial bonuses and equity packages at a time your workers, employees and journalists could have had their jobs saved is a bit disappointing,含羞草研究社� Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed told Bibic.
含羞草研究社淚 think it含羞草研究社檚 important to think about Canadians, particularly those who subsidized your company for so long.含羞草研究社�
Conservative heritage critic Rachael Thomas said it含羞草研究社檚 含羞草研究社渞eally rich含羞草研究社� for a company worth $40 billion that received government subsidies to lay off its workers.
She accused Bibic of evading her questions, saying it made the CEO look 含羞草研究社渟hady.含羞草研究社�
含羞草研究社淵ou have not been able to answer a single one of my questions directly today,含羞草研究社� Thomas said.
Bibic defended his company, blaming factors like productivity, inflation and delays in the implementation of the federal Online Streaming Act 含羞草研究社� a new law meant to level the playing field between traditional broadcasters and streaming companies, under which Bell is benefiting from significant regulatory relief.
He told MPs that the media ecosystem in Canada 含羞草研究社渋s in crisis.含羞草研究社�
含羞草研究社淭he industry is in flux due to technological disruption, changing viewer habits, shifting advertiser demand and vigorous competition from foreign web giants who are not subject to the same costly regulations as Canadian broadcasters,含羞草研究社� Bibic said.
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