On February 17, 2021
© By John Arkelian
On February 16, 2021, the CBC-TV satire series “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” had an appalling entry from the corporate hall of shame, which, to date, we have not seen referenced on the mainstream news. It seems that Bell Media, which runs a national telephone service and a bunch of television stations, has laid-off 210 of its employees. With a reported $5 billion in liquid assets, it’s hard to imagine Bell Media credibly claiming to be impecunious. Worst of all, that same oversized corporation was the recipient of $122 million in wage subsidies from the federal government. Instead of keeping their staff employed during the protracted global pandemic, it seems that Bell Media preferred to hike dividends for their shareholders. Was the federal wage subsidy a grant or a loan? Either way, it should be immediately clawed back by the federal government – with penalties.