Sun story angers CBC

Re "$80,000 in expenses," (Sun newspapers, Le Journal de Montreal, Nov. 18): I would like to respond to the inaccurate, out-of-context information contained in this piece and ask that you publish this reply in all Sun Media papers and any related properties where this information appeared.

The article has the following lead: "The executive vice-president for French services at the taxpayer-funded CBC is claiming almost $80,000 a year in expenses for theatre tickets, meals and travel."

This sentence insinuates the entire amount was spent for the sole benefit of Radio-Canada Executive Vice-President Sylvain Lafrance.

Wanting to paint as extravagant a picture as possible, the writer took the liberty of combining personal expenses incurred by Mr. Lafrance in the conduct of his duties with corporate expenses covering activities for which he is responsible as vice-president.

Take, for example, the contribution to the funding of the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal or other charity events in the arts community. The article's headline and content suggest these expenses are Mr. Lafrance's alone, because they are lumped together in the same $80,000 amount.

These expenditures, which are not incurred by Mr. Lafrance personally, are authorized by him with an eye to managing public resources responsibly. Indeed, centralizing authority in the vice-president's office ensures that Radio-Canada takes part in events where our presence is not merely fundamental, but also falls under our mandate as public broadcaster.

The aim of centralizing approval for these expenditures is to ensure we limit our outings to the ones that are truly essential. The reader should have been informed Mr. Lafrance's duty and entertainment expenses for 2006 were in fact $3,433, which appears entirely reasonable in light of the responsibilities he holds.

The article suggests the expenses attributed to Sylvain Lafrance are of a dubious nature. Radio-Canada is the country's largest news, arts and entertainment organization, with over 4,000 employees who give their all day after day. The vice-president is in the best position to judge the appropriateness of ad hoc expenditures for business dinners or modest receptions to recognize employees' hard work after major undertakings such as Olympics coverage. These expenditures represent good investments in our staff relations. Out of a budget of nearly $500 million, it is surprising the article never once mentioned the fact the vice-president spent a mere $7,661 on employee receptions.

As a board member of TV5Monde and Radios francophones publiques, Mr. Lafrance has to travel abroad at least five times a year. It should be noted it is at the request and as a representative of the Canadian government that he attends TV5Monde meetings. In all respects, his involvement in these various boards pays dividends for Canadian public broadcasting.

I am very proud of our record of tightly managing the resources at our disposal. That is why is it so upsetting to read such a sensationalist, innuendo-filled piece. We hope the publication of this reply will allow readers to get a more accurate picture of the situation and put the article in its proper context.

Hubert T. Lacroix

President and CEO

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

We beg to differ

The fact remains the French-language service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation spent almost $80,000 in one year on theatre tickets, fundraising dinners, staff receptions and foreign travel.

Yesterday we reported the executive v-p of CBC's English service spent $85,000 over two years on similar expenses.

We believe the public has a right to know how a Crown corporation uses public funds, approved each year by Parliament, especially at a time of growing economic distress. The CBC board chairman's recent complaint that Access to Information legislation has rendered the broadcaster "vulnerable" to its competitors is inappropriate and silly. Every year Sun Media reporters file hundreds of Access requests looking into the spending habits and behaviour of many Crown corporations and government departments. Being a media organization does not exempt the CBC from legitimate scrutiny of its actions by Canadians.

Glenn Garnett

Vice-President, Editorial

Sun Media Corporation

These expenditures, which are not incurred by Mr. Lafrance personally, are authorized by him with an eye to managing public resources responsibly. Indeed, centralizing authority in the vice-president's office ensures that Radio-Canada takes part in events where our presence is not merely fundamental, but also falls under our mandate as public broadcaster.

Each time Lafrance visited Paris he stayed in a hotel that cost about $450 per night. The CBC refused to release the name of the hotel but Pichette insisted it was "absolutely not a luxury hotel."

JTF wrote:I have a very hard time with the CBC donating money to other organizations. How can that be justified?