2023-10-04 04:00:00
The trips to Paris by Michel Bissonnette, the former senior vice-president of French services at Radio-Canada, cost taxpayers dearly, noted The newspaper.
• Read also: The vice-president of Radio-Canada resigns
By examining the summary of the travel expenses of the person who presented his resignation on Tuesday, we see that each of the six reimbursements for round-trip plane tickets to Paris which were returned to him, since July 2019, was worth between $7,649 and $9107.
These trips were used to participate in TV5 Monde board of directors meetings and business meetings, we can learn in the “proactive disclosure” section of the Radio-Canada/CBC website.
From his arrival in office in 2016 to July 2019, a period where transportation costs disclosed by the Crown corporation do not distinguish between reimbursements for plane flights and other means of travel, Radio-Canada has never paid less than $6,600 for his trips to Paris, except on two occasions ($4,377 in April 2019 and $5,833 in June 2018).
Four times more expensive to go to Banff
In comparison, his former English service colleague, Barbara Williams, traveled to Lausanne, Switzerland, for an International Olympic Committee meeting for $2,800 in January 2020.
Another expense that raises questions, Michel Bissonnette’s ticket for a flight to Banff to attend the Banff World Media Festival, in June 2022, was four times more expensive than that reimbursed to Barbara Williams for the same event: $4,512 once morest $1085.
In total, from July 2019 to August 2023, Michel Bissonnette obtained reimbursements of $65,303 for his plane tickets out of total expenses (restaurant and accommodation) of $121,081.
As we can see in the box, the pandemic, particularly the period when travel was prohibited, put a brake on the spending of Radio-Canada executives.
In business class
Contacted by The newspaperRadio-Canada was not able to explain why Mr. Bissonnette’s trips are so expensive compared to those of Ms. Williams.
“It’s difficult for us to answer. We do not know the prices in effect at the time of reservations,” indicated by email the spokesperson for Radio-Canada, Marc Pichette, who specified that in the case of the trip to Banff, the initial ticket had been modified to add a stopover in Vancouver for a meeting of the board of directors of Radio-Canada.
Mr. Pichette clarified that Mr. Bissonnette traveled in business class, never first class. The state-owned company’s rules allow senior executives and board members to book business class for trips over 850 kilometers.
Mr. Pichette also assured that the departure of Michel Bissonnette had no link with his expenses when he was traveling.
Michel Bissonnette’s travel expenses
2023
Total expenses: $33,229.30 Air: $17,177.94
2022
Total expenses: $38,689.73 Air: $22,067.37
2021
Total expenses: $1083.52 Airplane: $0
2020
Total expenses: $17,554.69 Air: $10,383.42
2019 (from July)
Total expenses: $29,524.81 Air: $15,674.90
Source: CBC/Radio-Canada website
Michael Goldblum, bursar
Since he was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of CBC/Radio-Canada, we cannot accuse Michael Goldbloom of having erred on the side of excess opulence. His travel expenses have cost Canadian taxpayers $24,812 since 2018, public SRC documents show, mainly for his participation in meetings in major Canadian cities. In comparison, Michel Bissonnette billed his employers more than $33,000 in 2023 alone.
Catherine Tait, meticulous
The big boss of CBC/Radio-Canada fulfills her expense allocations meticulously. Thus, in 2022, the year in which she claimed reimbursements of $68,129, notably for her travel to Tokyo, London, Los Angeles, Geneva, Brussels, she did not forget to include in her reports an invoice for… $6.22 at a Presse-Cafés counter.
Michel Bissonnette, gourmet
A fine palate, former vice-president Michel Bissonnette likes to frequent the best restaurants in Montreal for his business meals. His expense reports include several meals at Bouillon Bilk, a good restaurant on Boulevard Saint-Laurent, as well as visits to Monarque.
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