Marie-Philippe Bouchard will be the next CEO of CBC/-

We have known since mid-October that Marie-Philippe Bouchard will replace Catherine Tait as director of CBC/-. Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage, confirmed her appointment on Tuesday for a five-year mandate which will begin on January 3, 2025.

In a press release released Tuesday morning, Minister St-Onge’s office explains that this appointment is the result of a rigorous, open, transparent and merit-based selection process conducted by the Independent Advisory Committee on Board Nominations CBC/-, 1 March 2024.

The minister describes the news CEO like a talented and effective leader in public broadcastingwhich will bring extensive expertise in this pivotal period for our cultural and information ecosystem, as well as solid experience in organizational culture and change leadership.

In this critical era of modernization, I am confident that Ms. Bouchard will masterfully lead and skillfully guide Canada’s national public broadcaster, today and into the future.

Before joining TV5 Québec Canada, where she has been President and CEO since February 2016, Ms. Bouchard worked from 1987 to 2016 at -, where she held numerous management and senior management positions.

Perfectly bilingual, Ms. Bouchard is the first French-speaking woman to serve as President and CEO of Canada’s national public broadcasterindicates Minister St-Onge’s office.

Recalling the importance of public service media, the future CEO believes that the broadcaster must do as much as society, which is changing rapidly, and continue to build trust to remain relevant to all Canadians.

With my experience serving the public at both TV5/Unis TV and CBC/-, I look forward to taking on this challenge and working with all Canadians, including the CBC/- team. -, Canadian content creators and other partners, to chart the way forward.

This appointment comes in a difficult context for many traditional media, which must compete with GAFAM and streaming platforms to attract advertising revenue and audiences.

The Department of Canadian Heritage is currently looking into overhauling the mandate of CBC/- to deal with the crisis shaking the media world.

The next steps for me are to continue the work on the issue of CBC financing, its governance and its mandate.Pascale St-Onge told the media.

On the tightrope

The next CEO will have a lot to do. CBC/- has been facing significant difficulties for several years.

The Conservative Party of Canada, while in power, imposed budget cuts on the crown corporation which led to job losses. Today, the leader of the official opposition, Pierre Poilievre, wants to stop funding CBC,while maintaining -’s French programming.

Some 1,085 jobs were lost before the arrival of the current CEO of CBC and -, Catherine Tait. We must add 90 positions abolished since she took charge of the state company six years ago.

In December 2023, senior management announced the elimination of 600 jobs and the elimination of 200 vacant positions during the year 2024.

The federal government had judged premature these cuts. Ottawa discussed possible aid to CBC/-, but the threat from conservatives who want definance the public broadcaster is still there.

During her testimony before elected officials, Ms. Tait repeatedly stated that 73% of Canadians believe that the public broadcaster is the most credible and reliable source of information. She recalled the need for predictable and sustainable financing to CBC/-.