Bell CEO Mirko Bibic will face a parliamentary committee for the second time in recent weeks next month.
Members of the Canadian Heritage Committee voted to summon the executive to answer questions about the company’s job cuts at their March 21st meeting.
In February, Bell announced it was reducing its workforce by nine percent, cutting 4,800 jobs as part of its largest restructuring in 30 years.
Bibic is scheduled to appear on April 11th.
According to Cartt, the executive was previously set to appear on March 19th. However, the committee suspended its February 27th meeting and resumed it on March 19th, leading the committee clerk to push Bell’s appearance.
Bell was originally asked to appear at an earlier date of February 29th. However, the company informed the committee clerk they couldn’t attend, and their appearance was never scheduled, a Bell spokesperson told MobileSyrup.
“The Clerk of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage invited Bell to appear on March 19th, which we readily accepted and confirmed. This was the only confirmed meeting until now. The committee then requested that we postpone the March 19th appearance. We accepted the invitation to appear on April 11th and we look forward to speaking with committee members about the challenges and opportunities facing our industry,” Bell said in a statement.
NDP MP Niki Ashton introduced the motion to summon Bell’s CEO at the March 21st meeting. Two days prior, she wrote an open letter to Bibic, which pointed to past correspondence from the CEO stating he was unable to attend a meeting until the end of May.
“Perhaps if any of the 4800 employees you fired still had their job, you’d have less on your plate,” Ashton wrote.
“This committee isn’t just a personal inconvenience that can be put off again. You owe it to Canadians to explain how Bell just enacted its largest job layoff in over 30 years.”
Last week, Bell laid off 400 employees through virtual meetings, in a move Unifor called “absolutely disgusting.” The company told MobileSyrup that the layoffs were part of its February announcement.
This is the second summons the Bell CEO has faced from MPs in recent weeks.
Bibic appeared before the Industry Committee on March 18th alongside the CEOs of Rogers and Telus.
The committee previously asked the three executives to appear in the past to answer questions about telecom pricing in Canada. MPs appeared visibly annoyed when the three companies sent other lower-level executives to a meeting last month, ultimately leading to the summons.
Update 04/01/2024 1:45pm ET: In the interest of accuracy, the word “summoned” has been changed to “request.”
Update 03/27/2024 1:45pm ET: The article has been updated to clarify the March 19th appearance was the only confirmed meeting. A statement from Bell is also included.
Source: Canadian Heritage Committee, NDP
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