Catherine Tait New CEO At CBC Radio

Catherine Tait

Canadian television and film executive Catherine Tait has become the first woman president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada.

Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly introduced Tait at a media briefing in Ottawa on Tuesday, saying she is a "champion for Canadian content" who has "successfully navigated the sea of change from traditional media and communications through to today's digital world."

Tait, 60, has worked in the film and television business in Canada and the U.S. for more than 30 years, including at Telefilm Canada in the 1980s as manager of policy and planning. From 1989 to 1991, she was Canada's cultural attaché to France.

She was also on the corporate governance committee at CHUM Ltd. from 2004 to 2007.

"It's my dream job," Tait said of her new position.

She said she wants to create partnerships with "all Canadian stakeholders: private broadcasters, press organizations, networks such as APTN — not to forget provincial broadcasters, representatives of the music industry, as well as our own firms that are digital, and other platforms."

Tait said CBC/Radio Canada needs to "reach deep" to tell the stories of women and new Canadians, as well as people from the Indigenous and LGBTQ communities.

Tait's appointment is the latest in a series of moves the federal Liberals have made at the public broadcaster that began in 2016, when it boosted CBC funding by $675 million over five years.

Tait, 60, will replace Hubert Lacroix, 62, who was selected by then Prime Minister Stephen Harper's heritage minister, Josée Verner, in 2008.