Canadian Heritage Committee on April 26th, 2007

[The Vice-Chair, Bloc, Maka Kotto]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the 54^th meeting the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage dealing, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), with a full investigation of the role of a public broadcaster in the 21^st century.

Our first witnesses today are Mr. John Goldsmith and Mr. André Courchesne, from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Thank you and welcome. I do not know which of you will make the first presentation, but we are ready to hear you.

[André Courchesne, Director, Arts Division, Canada Council for the Arts]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would first of all like to apologize for the absence of our Director, Robert Sirman, he is unfortunately suffering from the flu that is currently going around. He will therefore not attend this morning's meeting.

I would like to introduce John Goldsmith, Director of Partnership, Networking and Arts Promotion at the Canada Council for the Arts.

I would like to thank you for having invited the Canada Council to address the issue of the role of a public broadcaster and to emphasize the connections that exist between Radio-Canada, the CBC, the Canada Council, the artistic community and Canadians.

I would like to begin by stating that the CBC is the most significant broadcaster in the country. It is the only broadcaster in Canada that is leaving a rich cultural legacy, an archive of cultural evolution, that helps Canadians understand themselves. There is no commercial broadcaster filling that role.

Before I speak to the role of the CBC as it relates to Canadians, let me step back a bit to when the CBC and the Canada Council were created. The mandate of the CBC as defined by the Broadcasting Act is--and I am paraphrasing--to be distinctively Canadian, to reflect Canada to its audiences, and to actively contribute to the exchange of cultural expression and a shared national identity in both official languages, coast to coast to coast.

The creation of the CBC was part of a bold visionary step by the government to create a number of crown agencies that would help to preserve and promote Canada's identity and to build a nation. At the heart of that is the CBC, which as a national broadcaster plays a vital role in enabling Canadians to learn more about each other and about their personal identities through the arts. That connection with Canadians is a critical complement to the work we do at the Canada Council in fostering and promoting the enjoyment and the creation of the arts.

What should the role of a public broadcaster be? The role of a public broadcaster is to encourage each Canadian to understand more about his or her culture and the culture of others living within Canada.

It must be able to put Canadians in touch with one another across the country. It must continue to make art accessible to all those who have access to Internet, the radio or television. It must give Canadian artists a voice, whether they be at the beginning of their career or universally recognized for the quality of their work.

It must continue to give Canadians something they value in their lives: the ability to experience music, books, artworks, film, dance, and theatre from the comfort of their homes. It must provide Canadians with the impetus to share in the Canadian artistic experience by provoking debate. It must inform Canadians about the broad spectrum of the arts, what is happening in their own communities, and what is happening elsewhere in Canada and around the world. And finally, it must reflect back to Canadians what this country is made of: great artists, regional and linguistic differences, and a huge appetite to learn and to experience new things.

The brief we submitted earlier highlights a number of ways that the CBC is unique and how it brings the work of artists to Canadians all across this country--and it has managed to do so within budgetary constraints and in an environment where the means to do so change on a daily basis.

But the CBC does more than just disseminate the arts. It sparks debate about arts and cultural issues. It provides the most comprehensive arts reporting in Canada, and it encourages the creation of art through its competitions for literature, musical composition, and amateur choirs.

It has introduced us to world music from around the globe, music that has influenced Canadian musicians to take their work in new directions. Quite often it forms a link between the casual arts attendee and the arts supporter, as well as between the amateur and the professional artist. It connects the south and the north, the east with the west, and it gives voice to many artists trying to gain recognition beyond their own communities.

Why should the CBC focus on the arts? First and foremost because it's a key part of the mandate of the CBC to reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences and to actively contribute to the flow and exchange of cultural expression. As well, Canadians are interested in the arts. They want to participate and they want to engage in the arts, and the CBC provides them with an opportunity to do that. About 75% of Canadians believe the arts are important in enhancing the quality of their lives, and they want the opportunity to enjoy the arts, whether from the comfort of their homes or at an arts event.

So what role does the CBC play? For years the CBC has recognized that Canadians connect with the arts at many levels. As a result, it has taken the initiative to give Canadians the opportunity to learn more about the artists who live and work here through profiles on cbc.ca and radio-canada.ca, art spots, awards, competition, and debates. CBC enables Canadians to see and hear works by hundreds of Canadian artists every year. It has also given many Canadian artists a national profile, enabling them to reach others beyond listeners or viewers of the CBC.

I will give you an example. He is a man you know well, a famous actor named Jean-Louis Roux, a former chair of the Canada Council for the Arts. He started his career at Radio-Canada in the early 1950s, when television was brand new. He was playing in La Famille Plouffe at that time, at the same time as he was founding the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde in Montreal. Because of the high profile that his Radio-Canada work gave him, he was able to interest a broad audience in theatrical work, in classical and Canadian theatre, by bolstering the value of Canadian culture throughout the country and abroad.

There are more recent examples of a broader impact of the CBC on Canadians and on the arts. The annual literary debate, Canada Reads, highlights Canadian authors for Canadian listeners, resulting in many Canadians connecting with Canadian authors, and increased sales of books for these authors. As an example, in 2002, when Michael Ondaatje's In the Skin of a Lion won the competition, 80,000 more copies of the book were sold that year than in the previous year.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation recognizes the very strong connections that exist between the community, the artists and recognized Canadian artistic organizations, and it knows how to build on that.

Here is another example: when Kent Nagano became the Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Radio-Canada saw that it was an ideal opportunity for the community to demonstrate its attachment to the symphony orchestra. They showed leadership by broadcasting the season opening concert live and by having all the church bells in Montreal rung, so that everyone could participate in this event. In that way, Radio-Canada showed once again its level of commitment towards arts and culture.

Because of the many platforms that it has developed, the CBC is now available to more Canadians who can choose to access the arts and information about the arts via radio, podcast, webcast, television, or satellite radio. In addition, streaming video enables Canadians to watch programs when they choose, not when they are scheduled. These options make it easy to access the arts, particularly for those who have difficulty finding the time to attend live performances or concerts.

Regarding possible partnerships, the Canada Council has partnered with the CBC on a number of initiatives because of the close connection between our mandate and that of the CBC and Radio-Canada. This has enabled the CBC to fulfill its mandate of an exchange of cultural expressions, as well as our mandate regarding the enjoyment of the arts.

Our support of the CBC Literary Awards enables authors to be recognized for an unpublished short story, poem, or work of creative non-fiction. Some of Canada's best-known writers, including Monique Proulx and the late Carol Shields, won this award early in their careers. We also partner for the CBC National Radio Competition for Amateur Choirs, a biennial competition enabling amateur choirs to be heard nationally.

As part of our 50th anniversary and the CBC's, the CBC will record for later broadcast a public event on May 8 at the National Arts Centre, featuring the winners of the Canada Council Musical Instrument Bank competition. The concert, which features our up-and-coming stars, will air on CBC Radio Two and Radio-Canada's Espace musique later this spring. This is yet another example of the CBC enabling more Canadians outside the concert halls to hear our aspiring and very talented young musicians.

The Canada Council also appreciates the CBC's continuing coverage of the Governor General's Literary Awards and the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts on radio and television, both nationally and regionally. Each year, the council staff works in close collaboration with CBC journalists and producers in an effort to familiarize the public with the work of these outstanding writers and artists.

While programs have come and gone over the years, the CBC continues to define new ways of programming in support of the arts. CBC Radio One's program, Fuse, is one example of how the CBC brings artists together to create new works, giving Canadians an opportunity to hear music in a unique way. Q, the new Jian Ghomeshi program, airing on Radio One and Sirius Satellite Radio, provides an expanded opportunity to highlight arts and entertainment activity across the country, airing dedicated arts and entertainment activity around the country.

I have already touched on some of the new media platforms used by the CBC. These are the new ways to reach new audiences, and the CBC has achieved amazing success with its programming--for example, on Radio Three and Bande à part, with its focus on contemporary Canadian independent music.

As you can see, there are strong convergences among public broadcasters, national arts funders, and Canadians. I cannot emphasize enough the impact we have in bringing Canadians together to share in experiencing the arts and in the opportunity we create for the broader understanding of what it means to be Canadian.

Canadians deserve the opportunity to debate critical issues through the arts, and the opportunity to enjoy the best of what this country and its artists have to offer.

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Bloc, Maka Kotto]

Thank you, sir.

Mr. Scarpaleggia.

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Welcome, Mr. Courchesne and Mr. Goldsmith.

I have two quite easy questions. Do you believe that private broadcasters are interested in working with the Canada Council for the Arts? You obviously have a partnership or a close and fruitful relationship with Radio-Canada/CBC, but have you tried to build a relationship with Canada's private broadcasters aimed at promoting Canadian artists?

[André Courchesne]

We have excellent working relationships with private television and radio broadcasters. Every year we hand out numerous prizes. We have quite significant support. Thanks to the awarding of the Governor General's Prizes or other opportunities, we can showcase the talent of Canadian artists. Moreover, the Broadcasting Act protects Canadian content. Our grant programs support artists in the creation of their works, which are then broadcast on all the airwaves. The partnership with the CBC is special, because our mandate is shared and gives us the opportunity to work much more closely together than we do with the private broadcasters.

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

You are talking about the private sector and about radio, but what about television? Do you also partner with the broadcasters, the private telecasters?

[André Courchesne]

Yes, we also have very good relations with the private broadcasters. Obviously we do not have the same degree of convergence there as we do with Radio-Canada/CBC. The network's broadcast of the Governor General's Awards and our partnership with the corporation give it a national profile. There are still partnerships that remain to be developed, for example with Bravo! and ARTV, which would allow us to promote Canadian artists to the general public even more.

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Do you also believe, like many stakeholders and witnesses who appeared before the committee, that we should increase Radio-Canada/CBC's budget? Is there a funding shortfall? Could you do more if the CBC's budget was increased?

[André Courchesne]

It is not our role to tell the CBC how to do its job. But the cutbacks or budgetary constraints have hampered the corporation in terms of regional coverage, including regional coverage of artists and artistic organizations. We see very few francophone artists outside of Montreal, for example, on the corporation's airwaves. This regional presence was unfortunately eliminated because of budgetary constraints. More resources would allow the corporation to paint a more realistic picture of regional diversity and linguistic diversity in Canada.

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Courchesne.

[The Vice-Chair, Bloc, Maka Kotto]

You still have a minute and a half remaining. You want to use that minute? Alright.

Ms. Bourgeois.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Thank you.

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

I'm sorry, Ms. Bourgeois, Ms. Keeper has a supplementary—

[Tina Keeper, Liberal, Churchill, MB]

You mentioned that you've seen an impact because of the limited resources the CBC has had to deal with over the years, and you also said you have a relationship with Bravo and one other network or station that I didn't catch, but you said it allows you to go even further.

Could you elaborate on that relationship, or what you mean by that, and how it is that you're able to work together in a way that goes even further than with the CBC?

[André Courchesne]

Our relationship right now with private broadcasters such as Bravo and ARTV, the similar French broadcaster, has been more on exchanging information or promoting artists. For example, in the art breaks they sometimes have to fill three or four minutes, so they'll produce excerpts of work. They show these excepts, and these have changed the lives of many artists--not only media artists who have the ability to produce a short work, but many dancers, many theatre artists, are promoted in this way.

We're looking forward to greater partnerships with private broadcasters so that we will be able to have more of the experience of Canadian artists on television, not only on CBC.

[Tina Keeper, Liberal, Churchill, MB]

So that type of relationship, you feel you do have that with CBC, the type that you're building with there. Because you did say it allows us to go even further.

I guess what I'm asking you is do you think—

[André Courchesne]

I'll give you an example of partnerships.

A number of concerts on Radio Two, or Espace musique, are broadcast every night. These concerts come from artists and orchestras throughout Canada that we support through operating grants. So this is a great opportunity for us to have this music available throughout Canada.

[The Vice-Chair, Bloc, Maka Kotto]

Thank you, Ms. Keeper. We will come back to that.

Ms. Bourgeois.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Welcome gentlemen.

It is music to my ears to hear talk about culture and art. You put a lot of emphasis on the fact that the CBC can stimulate artistic awareness and the sharing of artistic experiences. We know that the arts world is always poor, which brings me to my comments about the funding of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The current funding level seems very low. Is it because it is very low that people are asking for an increase, or because the funds are poorly utilized?

[André Courchesne]

As I said earlier, I will not make any judgments on the way in which the CBC uses its funds. However, we can recognize that the number of high-production-value series has diminished over the years. These kinds of series, which are documentaries or major dramatic series, give our artists the opportunity to fully express their imagination. I'm thinking of a series like Grande Ourse, on the television service of Radio-Canada, which had to be cancelled for lack of funds. These series are important for our artists, our own identity and our culture.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

If these series were cancelled, it is because Radio-Canada made a choice. They chose to make other kinds of programs that would perhaps be more profitable, but would not necessarily be loved by the audience and would not develop culture and the arts.

Do you think it made the right choice, given the current financial situation of Radio-Canada?

[André Courchesne]

In the current context, Radio-Canada's choice is to distinguish itself from its competition, and therefore, to not copy what is done by the private sector. The way in which it distinguishes itself is to highlight Canadian culture. It is because of that role, which is more demanding, that the government invests in the CBC.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

You are telling us that, as a committee, we must choose between promoting culture and increasing funding levels.

[André Courchesne]

Precisely.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

I would like to come back to the partnership you spoke of and were asked about. How do your partnerships with Radio-Canada work? If I understood correctly, you said that you have partnerships with Radio-Canada, but that you are the ones who pay the artists. Is that correct?