CBC boss stays as selection process drags
TORONTO — Hubert Lacroix, the outgoing president of CBC/Radio-Canada, is sticking with the public broadcaster as the selection of his successor drags past its deadline.
Lacroix began working as president and CEO on Jan. 1, 2008 and was due to step down on Dec. 31.
A representative for the CBC confirmed Lacroix, 62, has reached an agreement to stay in his position “until a replacement is found.”
This year, the federal Liberals unveiled an overhaul of how the board of directors at CBC/Radio-Canada are chosen in response to complaints that the selection process was open to political interference and did not reflect Canada’s diversity.
Under the federal Broadcasting Act, the board is to consist of 12 members including a chairperson and the public broadcaster’s president.
In June, the Liberals unveiled a starstudded advisory panel to help choose new board members, although all decisions would ultimately require final approval from Heritage Minister Melanie Joly.
The nine-member panel included former veteran TV news broadcaster Tom Clark, actor Colm Feore and Indigenous filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin.
Last week, Joly announced the appointments of five new board members including Shopify executive Harley Finkelstein, former Quebecor chief financial officer Francois R. Roy, and Marie Wilson, a former journalist and one of three commissioners for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Simon Ross, a spokesman for Joly’s office, said the government is giving its advisory panel “the time it needs to work” as the search for Lacroix’s successor continues.