The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has spent nearly $60,000 in legal fees fighting an order to disclose how many people actually subscribe to its Gem streaming service, according to access-to-information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
The legal battle stems from an access-to-information request filed by transparency advocate Matt Malone, founder of Open By Default, seeking subscriber data for the CBC’s streaming platform, CBC Gem.
According to the records, the CBC has already spent $59,000 on lawyers in an effort to block the release of the numbers.
“The CBC bragged about its Gem subscription service and pointed to Gem as proof it’s providing value, so why is the CBC trying so hard to keep these numbers hidden?” said Franco Terrazzano.
The dispute escalated after Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard ordered the CBC to release the records. The state broadcaster instead took the matter to Federal Court, arguing the information should remain confidential because it constitutes “sensitive commercial information.”
CBC CEO Marie-Philippe Bouchard defended the secrecy, saying subscriber totals are kept private for “competitive reasons.”
Major streaming competitors such as Netflix, Amazon and YouTube routinely disclose subscriber metrics or revenue figures in public financial filings.
Maynard rejected CBC’s argument, ruling the broadcaster failed to show any realistic competitive harm from releasing the numbers.
“[While the] CBC did identify possible harms to its competitive position or to ongoing negotiations, it did not demonstrate that there was a reasonable expectation that these harms could occur, well beyond a mere possibility,” Maynard wrote in her decision.
Former CBC president Catherine Tait repeatedly claimed before parliamentary committees that “millions” of Canadians were using Gem, including testimony in January and October 2024.
Terrazzano argued taxpayers deserve transparency from a publicly funded broadcaster that receives more than $1 billion annually from the federal government.
“The CBC should be more transparent than Netflix or Amazon,” he said. “If the CBC doesn’t want to release the information and be transparent with taxpayers, then it shouldn’t get one cent from taxpayers.”
The current court fight is not the first transparency dispute involving the CBC. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation previously launched legal action after the broadcaster resisted releasing details about executive bonus compensation. Records later showed seven senior executives collectively received nearly $3.8 million in compensation.
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