Evidence of meeting #47 for Canadian Heritage in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cbc.
11:05 a.m.
Executive Director, Native Communications Incorporated
I think it's a first step. I'm not going to say it's the best, but it's--
11:05 a.m.
Executive Director, Native Communications Incorporated
Today it's the best it's doing, but it's not reflected when you turn on the radio. It's not reflected when you watch the news, which it should be. It's not there yet, but it is a beginning, and I am thankful that's where it's at.
I know Wab Kinew, who has recently been hired with CBC. He is a very talented young man. I just hope he gets the opportunity to become a producer, an executive producer, to hold a position of authority at CBC. You can open the door this much or you can open it this much.
11:05 a.m.
Liberal
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
What you're saying is you want it to go beyond entry level.
11:05 a.m.
Executive Director, Native Communications Incorporated
Yes, that needs to happen, and I optimistically wait for those times.
11:05 a.m.
Liberal
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
I have a total sidebar issue.
Yesterday I was in an inner-city school here in Winnipeg where it was largely early education classes. Ninety percent of the children in the school were of aboriginal ancestry of one sort or another.
How much is your programming used in the schools, or is it at all?
11:05 a.m.
Executive Director, Native Communications Incorporated
We all play a part in visiting schools. I visit schools. The last one I visited was a grade two. Ray St. Germain, a Métis person who works with NCI, visits the schools to explain who Métis people are. Gerry Barrett, a first nations person, visits schools in the north to talk about opportunities in broadcasting. I think that's another area where people look to us to do that. That's because the population is growing.
I think that Manitobans and Canadians need to see that reflected when they watch TV. It should be open everywhere, not just this box here. It has to be everywhere. It has to be CBC, CTV, and CHUM. CHUM has that saying that diversity is the Canadian reality, or diversity is the face of Canada, and it's true. Look at Toronto: the visible minorities represent over 50% of the people in Toronto, as you probably know. That's where cities like Winnipeg are going.
As another note, the aboriginal population is on the rise, and we're seeing a Filipino population on the rise. There are over 30,000 Filipino people in Winnipeg. That needs to be looked at at some point. The reality is that the face of Canada is changing.
11:05 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Schellenberger
Thank you very much.
I've found it very interesting, and I wish you much success. Thanks for the questions and thanks for your testimony here this morning.
11:05 a.m.
Executive Director, Native Communications Incorporated
Thank you very much for the time. I appreciate that.
11:05 a.m.
Conservative
11:15 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Schellenberger
Welcome back to everyone around the table.
Welcome to our new witnesses from ACTRA.
Ms. Bajer, would you like to introduce the rest of the witnesses and give your presentation, please?
11:15 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Schellenberger
Oh, just before we do that, we can't go the full hour, but we will go to five after if we need to. Okay?
11:15 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Schellenberger
We've been running a little bit behind schedule here this morning.
Thank you.
11:15 a.m.
President, ACTRA (Manitoba)
This is Rob Macklin, who is our branch representative for ACTRA; Rea Kavanagh, the vice-president; and Claude Dorge, who is our lovely secretary. I'm Sharon Bajer. I'm the president of ACTRA, Manitoba branch.
First of all, I want to welcome the committee to Manitoba and thank you for inviting me to speak on behalf of ACTRA Manitoba. ACTRA is an association that represents professional performers in Canadian English-language film and television. We have more than 21,000 members across Canada.
I will be speaking to you in support of our national brief, which was submitted to the standing committee earlier. I also want to speak a little on behalf of our Manitoba members, of whom we have around 400, and relay to you the importance of the CBC to our region specifically. I'll begin by touching on some of the main points from our national brief.
ACTRA members have a vital stake in preserving and strengthening Canadian culture, and the strength of the CBC has a direct effect on whether or not our dramatic stories are seen and heard. ACTRA started and developed right alongside the CBC, and we have always maintained that the CBC should be the primary access for Canadian programming. In order to do this best, the CBC must be strong and well funded.
As a publicly funded broadcaster, the CBC has the opportunity to take risks and offer an alternative to private commercial broadcasters. This can only be effective if the CBC has the support it needs to fully realize its potential, the potential being to reflect Canada and its regions and to contribute to shared national consciousness and identity.
It is essential that the mandate of the CBC set the standard for high-quality Canadian programming. The CBC needs to take a leadership role in addressing the need for more Canadian drama, music, and dance and variety programs, which are currently under-represented throughout the broadcasting system. Since the trend towards more news and sports programming, we feel the CBC's mandate of providing a wide range of programming has not been met. ACTRA looks to the CBC to revitalize and re-establish its leadership role to the commitment of Canadian production and broadcasting of prime-time drama, movies of the week, and mini-series. ACTRA urges that this be a central question in the committee's review of the CBC mandate.
Since 1991 the CBC has seen a reduction in budgets, and they are placed in the impossible position of having to fulfill their mandate while having to compete with private broadcasters for advertising revenue. This has directly affected the programming of Canadian cultural content, which in turn directly affects our ACTRA members.
It is important that the CBC make necessary technological advances without compromising the mandate, and the appropriate funding should be allocated to allow the CBC to make this transition. We feel it is important culturally that Canada's public broadcaster reflect the changing reality in regard to the new media, while at the same time regulating the new media platform. ACTRA believes that the CRTC must re-examine its new media exemption order that was established in 1998.
Just to sum up the main points, we respectfully request that the committee recommend to Parliament that the current mandate is sufficient for the CBC to meet the needs of Canadians.
The mandate of the CBC as currently written needs to be appropriately supported with adequate public funding.
The CBC must be funded to make the transition to digital signals and high-definition television.
The CBC has to be adaptable to new media platforms, and as a consequence the CRTC must address its new media regulatory policy to ensure that the CBC will make the adaptation successfully.
The CBC must take the lead to ensure that Canadian English-language programs are available to Canadians.
On what the CBC means to our region specifically, I would like to address a few points. It feels as if the CBC dramatic film, television, and radio production in Manitoba has been declining steadily over the past 10 years. When I moved to Manitoba in 1998 it seemed to be a vibrant place to work as a performer, and CBC production was abundant. There were radio dramas being produced on a regular basis. CBC would often cover arts events, and it would record concerts and even the odd play.
As a young actor I thought the CBC was really cool. I loved the fact that my parents in Vancouver and my aunts and uncles in northern Alberta could hear about what was going on culturally in Manitoba, my new home. I often heard the phrase, “Wow, we're always hearing that something was recorded in Winnipeg or coming to us from Manitoba.” They had the perception that although it was cold, the Winnipeg arts and cultural scene was thriving and exciting.
I often wonder what happened to that excitement, and I have trouble remembering the last time a CBC movie was shot here. Film production in Manitoba has been on a steady rise over the past five years, but the CBC is seen to be absent from that wave. As an actor I'm now more likely to get a part in an American cable B horror movie than a Canadian-produced story that has substance and meaning.
The CBC's mandate is to “reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences, while serving the special needs of those regions,” and “actively contribute to the flow and exchange of cultural expression”. I honestly think it used to do that for Manitoba, but it no longer has enough resources to do so.
I urge you, on behalf of ACTRA Manitoba, to recommend that more funding resources be allocated to the regions again to stimulate the growth of Canadian production all across the country.
Thank you for allowing ACTRA Manitoba to participate in the review of the CBC mandate. We welcome your questions.
11:25 a.m.
Claude Dorge Secretary, ACTRA (Manitoba)
Good morning, and welcome to Winnipeg.
Although ACTRA represents English-speaking actors, there are nevertheless in Manitoba a certain number of French-speaking actors. That is why I thought it might be useful to ask you to hear my brief comments.
I do not have figures to back up my brief, which may prove if any proof were needed, that I am an artist and not a public servant. Rather, I want to submit my impressions to you and ask you to consider one fact in particular.
I know that the Union des artistes has already presented or will be submitting its comments to you, but that organization only represents the interests—and I speak from experience—of its Quebec members. If you want the comments of a Franco-Canadian, I am here to deliver them.
Radio-Canada is an interesting name, but I wonder about the word “Canada”. I am of course referring to Radio-Canada, and not to CBC. Radio-Canada produces a large number of programs, comedies, dramas and variety shows. I think it may have produced even more than the CBC. However, almost all of these programs are produced in Quebec. As Franco-Canadians, we also have stories to tell and experiences to share. We have our authors, our actors and our directors. Almost all of Radio-Canada's French-language production is produced in Quebec. I find this insulting, and it is done in a very blatant way. It is Quebec production for Quebeckers. However, Canadians are footing the bill, without being able to enjoy any of the benefits.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
Tina Keeper Liberal Churchill, MB
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to ACTRA Manitoba for the presentation. There have been many reviews or reports done on Canadian television and broadcasting over the last 12 years. Almost invariably these reports say that CBC should promote Canadian culture and not reproduce programming that is being done by private broadcasters.
Ms. Bajer, you talked very clearly about the decline in CBC production for actors here in Manitoba and their ability to participate in Canadian productions done by the CBC.
Earlier we heard from an arts organization about the correlation between artists and the CBC and that forum, and how it was integral and an important instrument in reflecting our cultural identity in different parts of the country, or different cultures in Canada. I want to talk a bit more about that.
What recommendations do you have specifically for the CBC and how it could fill that need for Canadians?
11:30 a.m.
President, ACTRA (Manitoba)
It seems that they're starting to do it in radio. There was a call for submissions, for people to come up with pitch ideas for radio. I know of several people who submitted a pitch that was later accepted by the CBC. It was amazing. They were invited in to assist on Definitely Not the Opera, given a tape recorder, shown how the equipment works, and then sent out, and they are now able to develop their radio program.
I know it's larger and more complicated in television, but just that outreach to the community.... There are a lot of young writers. I have a lot of students who have ideas. They're just brimming with ideas, but they feel they have no access. They don't really understand how it works, and they feel it's a closed shop.
With this radio initiative, they just sent out a call for submissions and pitches. What a pitch should look like was laid out very clearly, and they provided samples. That was really working—for radio anyway—and it was just great that they were able to pick up a couple of local people and give them that opportunity.
So I think that's one way it could be done.
11:30 a.m.
Rob Macklin Branch Representative, ACTRA (Manitoba)
I don't believe the CBC operates on the basis of specific funding envelopes for regions. I don't know if the best solution is always to make sure there's some sort of equitable distribution of resources across the country, but even if some regional funding resources were put into program development....
If you talk to somebody at the CBC about that, they'll basically tell you they'll go wherever the best ideas are. Well, it just seems very disproportionate that all the good ideas come out of Toronto, or possibly Vancouver. I don't know if we always believe that. It certainly would be helpful if there were more regional emphasis on program development. Even when it comes to MOWs and mini-series, if regional Canada were somehow put into the mix in terms of who makes those creative decisions, at least that would be a little bit better than it has been in the past little while.
I'm sure one of the reasons things work the way do currently is that CBC struggles with the funds that it has. Even with the one-time increase of, I believe, $60 million, it needs to be funded very well to provide Canadian dramatic production for Canadians from all across this country, so that Canadians can relate to other Canadians.