Donations and secret salaries at La Presse

President Journalismwho attracts donors with charitable receipts eligible for tax credits of between 35% and 53%, does not intend to disclose his or her senior executives’ salary.

“If I had an obligation to do it, I would do it.” “If I had no obligation to do it, I wouldn’t,” he answered a question from magazine Pierre Elliott Levasseur, President JournalismAfter his visit to the Chamber of Commerce of Montreal (CCMM), in a large hotel, yesterday.

“We will honor all the obligations that we must honor. He confirmed, after making it clear to an audience of businessmen that he bears the responsibility for the “sound management of expenditures”.

However, for Donald Rendeau, CEO and co-founder of the Institute for Trust in Organizations (ICO), the question of salaries raises transparency issues.

“Many nonprofit organizations (NPOs) disclose their CEO salary without it being a legal obligation. In short, it’s a matter of transparency and trust.

According to Donald Rendeau, this is more true for nonprofit organizations that receive grants and government donations from major donors.

“Just because you are a CEO of an NPO does not mean that you should be paid a low salary. The important thing is transparency and being able to explain it.”

1 . ago^{is being} January 2020, annual donations over $20 Journalism These are receipts for tax purposes thanks to their status as a registered press organization with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

In a text from December 2020, Pierre Elliott Levasseur explained that donations qualify for a receipt for tax purposes and that this “charitable receipt” grants the right to a “tax credit that can account for between 35% and 53%.”

in this time, Journalism I only published a list of the “major donors” of more than $5,000, without specifying how much each gave. Model changes on the CRA side may explain these delays.

“The exact amounts of each of our major donors have not been disclosed at this time,” he said. magazine Its vice president for communications and philanthropy, Florence Turbolt Desroches.

“However, at the beginning of 2022, the name of each major donor including the amount of their contribution will be published by the Canada Revenue Agency as well as on our website,” she explained.

at the end of January, Journalism It will also publish its 2021 Annual Report as well as our list of donors for 2021.

Yesterday, chief Journalism She confirmed the significant contribution from the 65,000 donors, who have raised more than $13 million.

While his net profit margin is 20% in 2021, more than double 10% in 2020, he has expressed his desire to have a reserve fund to help him continue his mission.

In his speech, chief Journalism He was also pleased to see that ad revenue had jumped 31% since the beginning of the year, despite headwinds for the web giants, which continue to dampen their earnings.

Three years after it was announced Journalism Coming out of the lap of the Power Corporation, Pierre Elliott Levasseur retained the last word of his letter to his previous owners, who supported him in his digital transformation.

“Finally I’d like to thank our former shareholders, Power Corporation, who have supported us throughout our transformation,” he said.

By the way, Pierre Elliot Levasseur did not fail to throw flowers at “Mr Andre Desmares, who was always a staunch defender of a mission Journalism ».

Remember, Pierre Elliott Levasseur worked for the Power Corporation from 1995 to 2006. He was a treasurer at Power Financial Corporation from 2001 to 2006.

Pierre Elliot Levasseur is the cousin of France’s Chrétien Desmarais, and he is married to André Desmarais, who is the daughter of former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.

– with Jules Richer

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Yesterday, Pierre Elliott Levasseur said he was confident the Trudeau government would keep its promise by introducing a bill to better regulate the web giants.