Canadian Heritage Committee on May 11th, 2006

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

In May?

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

No, in June.

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

We will be gone as of the 9^th.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Where? Are you going on holiday?

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Unless you want to bring the government down.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Is the House not supposed to rise the week of the 25^th?

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Generally speaking, it is around the 9^th.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

I thought we would be here, working.

Mr. Chairman, there is the issue of the Banff Television Festival. I had asked for...

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Why don't we see what the committee thinks about going to Banff?

Before we do that, I would just like to say one thing. Right now, we aren't studying anything. I think a trip to the Banff World Television Festival might look like a junket for this committee. If we were in the middle of a study and it was pertinent to what we were talking about, I think that might be one thing. I just think that right now, if Mr. Angus has things for us to talk about, there's.... I'm more than willing to take whatever the committee says. It's just that I want to make sure that people--

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

If I may conclude, Mr. Chairman, the reason that's suggested is that I had also suggested, like my colleague Mr. Angus, that the television industry review the government has been talking about or hinting at is of extreme importance, as is the review of the CBC/Radio-Canada mandate. I, for one, agree totally with Mr. Angus, and I suspect others around the table would agree too, that it is perhaps our top priority as a committee to look at that and to see what the government's intentions are and how we fit into those and how we can make sure that the mandate given to whoever is going to do this review is one that we're comfortable with. I think that is the top priority of this committee, after we've given our reaction to the proposed nomination of the CEO. There's that, but also, there's the deadline for dealing with the main estimates, which is sometime in November, if I'm not mistaken, so we could tackle those in the fall, if there's a bit of a crunch on time here.

My sense is that if we are looking at a review, or if the government is planning to look at a review of the television broadcasting industry writ large, and also a review of the CBC/Radio-Canada mandate, in particular, I think that a visit to Banff, where the entire industry is agglomerated at that time, is not a junket, sir, with all due respect; it is us doing our work, just as the people there are doing theirs as well.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Mr. Angus.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Thank you.

I do want us to stay focused on sitting around this table as much as possible, but I do agree with the importance of Banff. I don't think anybody would think of it as a junket, because there has been a lot of interest in the past, as people have asked us and want to know where is their heritage committee in terms of television. Banff is one of the premier cultural institutions in the nation, and we have not been present there.

I do believe that the television issue is.... I mean, we can vote on it and we can discuss it, but I think it will be our number one priority. And I don't even think of it in terms of what is being proposed by the minister; we are masters of our house here, and we can see that numerous issues are converging on broadcast and television at this time. I think the relevance of our committee will be judged on how we set our own course.

I think Banff would give us an opportunity, especially for the new members, to get up to speed very quickly and to meet people in the industry. It's a way that we can cover a lot of ground without having to try to sit in the last few weeks and figure out a list of witnesses and how we're going to start looking at it. If we go to Banff, we're going to come up with some good directions right off.

But that being said, I think we do need to focus on setting the agenda for June, which will let us continue on in the fall.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Mr. Simms.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

I just have one quick note to make. Following the film study we did last session, a lot of the conversations were about independent productions, which is something we could explore at Banff as well, because a myriad of issues came from that in terms of how we tackle it. Is it script development and funding Telefilm and the others? But I think as far as independent productions go, from my understanding—though I've never been there—it is quite a place where most of the independent producers gather once a year. Is that correct?

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Yes. We could even hold hearings there, if we wanted to.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

For that reason, I would agree.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Mr. Warkentin.

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Peace River, AB]

As one of the new members of the committee, I appreciate the discussion it's had about Banff, and certainly I think there's obviously a convergence of important folks there.

Being new to the committee, I'm just wondering how we would go about this and what type of dollar figure we might be looking at in terms of having all of us head out to Banff. I certainly don't think people would consider it a junket at the best of times, but certainly with our having just arrived here, and finally moving forward in the committee, I would have a difficult time going back to my constituents and telling them that I had just spent.... I think the number that has been thrown out there has been over $70,000 to take us to Banff to take part in the proceedings there. So I'm just concerned that if I go back to my constituents and tell them that I've just spent $70,000 of Canadians' tax dollars for this type of thing, I would have a difficult time communicating that to them.

It's funny, because as this number came up, at the same time, I'm being appealed to by community members who have special projects with regards to museums and any number of things. I have a community near where I live, the town of Mayerthorpe, where last year they experienced a horrible massacre of some of their RCMP members—four of them. The community is really trying to rally together and raise some funds for a memorial there, and they've appealed to all of the different departments and are getting nowhere. They're looking for just over $100,000. They've collected what they can from the community, and certainly I would have a difficult time saying that we spent $75,000 travelling when they're having difficulty even putting up this type of a memorial in their community.

That's just my sentiment, but I'm new here.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Mr. Kotto.

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

I understand my colleague's hesitation, but I also understand the importance of participating in such a festival, particularly for the new members of the committee who are not accustomed to the feature film world. Films are talked about, decisions are made. Telefilm Canada is an important organization that manages public funds. If we do not understand the system from within, what will happen?

The Banff Television Festival is an event that may, as an initiation, be very important. I come from that environment, therefore I do not have much to learn, but if we cannot come to an agreement, I suggest that we send researchers to do the necessary work through a questionnaire and that they return with the relevant information, which could potentially be organized in the form of questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

There's one thing we can do to bring this back: the procedure that a committee usually goes through for travelling, for these things. We would prepare a proposal, we would ask our staff to create a budget, we would have to take it to the Liaison Committee, and then we'd have to get House permission.

So again, would there be some meetings put in place when we're in Banff, and do we try to find a place to do that? I suggest that we have to have some validity to be there, and not just meeting on occasion those people in the industry.

I know how some of our meetings went as we went across the country last year in the feature film industry, and we were meeting with television people also at that time. I think it's very important that we do have meetings set up at the same time. But we can ask for the budget to be brought in.

Yes, sir.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

First of all, I would definitely support such an approach. If my colleague has seen a budget, I, for one, have not. I do not know therefore what figures he is referring to.

Secondly, it is not uncommon for a committee to travel to some convention outside of Ottawa. This happens regularly, particularly when the meeting in question is directly related to a subject being studied by the committee.

I had a preliminary discussion with the Banff Television Festival's director, who told me it would be a pleasure to coordinate the meetings. We could go to Banff for three or four days and have a series of meetings we could all participate in, meet with independent producers and Telefilm Canada, who are usually there. In fact, we could meet with all the people we would like to speak to both formally and informally. It is a beehive of activity involving the people in the industry.

I am back on this committee after a three-year absence. I have to get up to speed, and it would be the ideal opportunity for the new members of our committee who wish to do so to see these people over three or four days. These are full working days, it is not a vacation.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Okay, before we go on much further, can I receive a motion that we have our staff propose a budget? I will then take it to the Liaison Committee--the Liaison Committee meets the first Thursday of each month--June 1. We can make sure we get those things in. We'll ask for the budget to be brought forward and I will take it there, and we can go from there.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

On a point of order, it seems to me you wouldn't be taking anything anywhere until directions have been given at this table. Am I correct or incorrect? There would first have to be a motion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

That's what I just asked for, direction from this table that we propose a budget. I'll take the yeas and nays on that, on proposing a budget for the Banff film festival.