LAYOFFS HIT BELL MEDIA

BCE axes dozens of jobs, with more cuts on the way, after $3.4-billion acquisition of Astral Media,

BCE Inc.’s $3.4-billion acquisition of specialty broadcaster Astral Media has triggered as many as 100 job cuts in Toronto and more in Montreal.

The deal, which bolsters BCE’s presence in Quebec and allows it to better compete with emerging streaming services such as Netflix, was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in June.

Bell Media said in an email Thursday that “there have been some reductions in the number of redundant positions at both Bell Media and Astral locations in Toronto and Montreal.”

It said Bell “cannot confirm the exact number of affected positions at this time.”

But a notice posted on CEP Local 723M’s website Thursday said the company had posted a notice at the workplace, informing the Minister of Labour that “approximately 100 people will be laid off in Toronto” during the restructuring.

The letter, dated July 5, is required under the Labour Code, according to the union, which said the layoffs are expected to include Bell Media workers at loca-

Bell Media said in an email it is eliminating “redundant positions” at both Bell Media and Astral locations in Toronto and Montreal

tions in downtown Toronto and the Agincourt neighbourhood of Scarborough and at newly acquired Astral stations.

Local 723M president Kelly Dobbs said that so far the cuts at 299 Queen St., where she represents Bell Media workers at MuchMusic, CP24 and BNN and other television employees, haven’t hit union employees. So far, she said, the cuts are in management.

“So far we haven’t been hit. It doesn’t mean we won’t be,” Dobbs said Thursday, adding the notice went up about two weeks ago. “At this moment, we haven’t.”

It’s unclear where the cuts will affect other parts of the company, she said.

The CRTC’s approval required that Bell spend $246.9 million on “tangible bene- fits” over the next seven years — $72 million above what had been proposed by the company — to create more Canadian programming and promotion.

The June approval came after the deal was unexpectedly blocked by the CRTC last October.

In a toughly-worded decision, the CRTC said at the time that Bell had failed to make the case that its proposed takeover of Astral Media would bring any benefit to television and radio audiences.

Instead, the CRTC said the merger of the two Montreal-based media firms would have put too much control over Canadian airwaves in the hands of one company, undermining “competition and diversity.”