CBC: Bloc leader shocked by ‘juicy’ bonuses [Video]

OTTAWA –

The $18.4 million CBC/Radio-Canada awarded in bonuses to its employees this year is shocking, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said.

He also said bonuses at the public broadcaster aren’t justified because a government-owned corporation doesn’t face competition like in the private sector.

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“The juicy bonuses given under the pretext that without them we aren’t competitive in the market — well, we’ve been hearing that for decades …. Negotiate yourself a salary,” Blanchet told reporters in the lobby of the House of Commons.

Describing bonuses as icing on a cake, Blanchet suggested the corporation was using them as a “kind of backdoor salary” that hides how much people are really being paid because the bonuses are only revealed in the media “once a year.”

“There can be a little bit of icing, but when the icing …