Ottawa says it never told CBC to cut 3.3 per cent of its budget, as executives claimed

The federal Liberal government is denying that it told CBC/Radio-Canada to cut its budget by 3.3 per cent, despite executives with the public broadcaster insisting that's part of the reason they're laying off 10 per cent of their workforce.

The Treasury Board, which oversees spending in the federal budget, said that no such directive was given to the public broadcaster.

«Whatever Radio-Canada and CBC is doing is their decision,» the office of Treasury Board President Anita Anand told The Canadian Press on Wednesday.

CBC/Radio-Canada said it was given written instructions on the budget cut, but declined a request to view a copy.

«I'm sorry, but it would not be appropriate to share communication between the government and a Crown corporation,» Leon Mar, spokesperson for CBC/Radio-Canada, said in an email.

The Department of Canadian Heritage said it asked Crown corporations under its purview, including the public broadcaster, to participate in an «exercise» and report on how a 3.3 per cent cut could affect them.

«We asked them to show us a proposal of what a three per cent reduction would look like,» said a spokesperson for Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge.

The department insists it did not tell CBC that the cut was certain to happen, or instruct it to make any such reduction in its upcoming budget.

In December, the broadcaster said it would cut 800 jobs and $40 million from its production budget because of a $125-million shortfall projected for the coming fiscal year.

President and CEO Catherine Tait — along with Shaun Poulter, CBC's executive director of strategy, public affairs and government relations — have attributed the shortfall in part to being «told» to plan for a 3.3 per cent cut.

«We were told to budget a 3.3 per cent