Evidence of meeting #66 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 television.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Schellenberger
Good morning, everyone.
Welcome to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, meeting 66. The orders of the day, pursuant to Standing Orders 108(2), 110, and 111, are to do with the order in council appointment of Timothy Wilson Casgrain to the position of chairperson of the board of directors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, referred to the committee on Thursday, May 10, 2007.
Welcome, Mr. Casgrain. Would you please make your presentation, sir? Thank you.
9:05 a.m.
Timothy Wilson Casgrain Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chair, members of the committee, I'm honoured to be here with you today as the new chair of the board of CBC/Radio-Canada. This is my first time before a parliamentary committee.
This committee's interest in Canada's public broadcaster is well known, and I look forward to meeting with you often during my term. Your ongoing study into the role and mandate of CBC/Radio-Canada is triggering an important discussion about what Canadians want from their public broadcaster for the future and the resources needed to provide it.
I would like to give you my view of the purpose of a public broadcaster, enunciated so eloquently in an article about the former chairman of the BBC, Sir John Birt. It reads:
But more important than the technological innovations was the sense that Sir John Birt believes in the BBC as a civilizing and democratic force. 'We encourage the power of reason and rationality. We bring pressure to go beyond prejudice or the needs of an immediate moment. We move with the power of our reporting. We provide illumination. We promote insight. We offer moral perspectives. We produce programs that make you care about other people, and understand them better, and perhaps act on that understanding. The BBC fosters a rambunctious, vigorous and informed democracy. We strain to ensure that all voices are heard, however uncomfortable; that they are given a fair hearing, and tested.'
What emerged from Sir John's speech was his sense of vision and purpose and his pride in the BBC as a magnet for young creative talent, and as a beacon, a great cause, a big adventure of the mind. I think CBC/Radio-Canada should be guided by a similar vision, and I look forward to reading your findings and recommendations.
You've had the opportunity to look at my resumé. You will see that my background in business lacks any broadcasting experience, but like you, I have a great love for the CBC. I have grown up with it. I have learned so much about my country and the world from CBC/Radio-Canada. I want to ensure that this great organization and its people continue to serve an important role in the lives of all Canadians. I believe my experience can help both in leading the board of directors and working with the president and the senior management team as they reposition CBC/Radio-Canada in the changing environment.
Since being sworn in on May 5, I've attended my first board meeting in Vancouver and met all of the corporation's senior management. I have also met a number of other CBC people on my visits to various cities. I'm extremely proud to tell you that it is a very dedicated and passionate group of people who bring CBC/Radio-Canada to Canadians.
You individually, and as a committee have heard in your travels across the country that Canadians want a public broadcaster that is more relevant to them; more relevant to their lives at a time when Canadians and their interests are more diverse than ever before, and they are feeling the impact of continuous change.
Some Canadians worry that their public broadcaster risks becoming too commercial, but few believe taxpayers alone can provide it with the resources it needs to provide the service Canadians want.
Like all organizations, for CBC/Radio-Canada to succeed it must have stable, long-term funding in order to be able to run its operations effectively and to plan for the future.
Stable funding ensures that the people at CBC/ Radio-Canada can work to provide the programming that will inform, educate, and entertain Canadians. We have the talent with the creative minds to do that and more. In this fast-changing environment, our job is to empower the people at Canada's national public broadcaster to rise to this enormous challenge of making every Canadian embrace CBC/Radio-Canada as the most relevant source of information and entertainment that links us together as one country all the time.
Thank you for this opportunity to share my thoughts with you. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
9:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Schellenberger
Thank you for that presentation. For the first question we'll move to Mr. Scott, please.
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
Andy Scott Liberal Fredericton, NB
Thank you very much.
I look forward to the opportunity to have this discussion. I'm pleased with your commitment to the CBC, your background with it.
Do you have a similar background in terms of all of the CBC? Is it radio, television? Is it Radio-Canada, French, English? Could you elaborate on that point?
9:10 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
I'm sorry, I'm having trouble hearing you when you say I have a background.
9:10 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
Right.
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
Andy Scott Liberal Fredericton, NB
I was trying to get at what parts of the CBC, or if it's all of the CBC. Do you have experience with radio and television?
9:10 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
We could be here a long time. There are many aspects of CBC that I follow. Of course, everyone has a great love for the radio, whether you're in your car or on the road. It's one of the great institutions that we have across this country.
My familiarity with Radio-Canada is less profound, but I'm certainly aware of it. My knowledge of CBC television is well known, just because it's been part of our upbringing for as long as I've been in this country.
One of the things I would say, as I've been getting more into this position in the last month, is that I realize the profound depth of services that CBC offers to Canadians across this country. One of the issues at hand is to get the message out to Canadians about the various services we have.
As you know, we're a country and a corporation that provides services in two official languages, across five and a half time zones, and in eight aboriginal languages. We have RCI, Radio Canada International, and RCI Viva. When you compare this with an institution like the BBC, which operates in one time zone and one language, it's quite a profound organization that's reaching out to all Canadians.
When I was in Vancouver, I had the occasion to be introduced to CBC Radio 3, the Internet radio that is also on the Sirius satellite radio network on channel 94. If you could have seen the enthusiasm of the announcers, it was quite something.
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
Andy Scott Liberal Fredericton, NB
Regarding the relationship between the CBC and other public cultural institutions, such as the National Film Board, Telefilm, you've been looking at some of the transcripts, and there's reference to that here.
What do you see as the corporation's relationship with those other public cultural institutions? Also, what do you see as its relationship with private broadcasters? How does this all fit together? Can you speak to that?
9:10 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
I enunciated the role of the public broadcaster quite clearly in my speech. We have to work in a framework of a situation where you have strong private broadcasters. We've seen three consolidations take place in the last year in this country, so that's what public broadcasting in the world of television is up against.
But more than that, you have the whole area of the various technologies that are coming at all broadcasters, as we all know: the Internet, iPod downloads, and satellite radio. The CBC is starting to look at itself more as a content provider, and you, the users, determine how you want to access that.
As it relates to the cultural organizations in this country, there are many areas where CBC reaches out to the cultural organizations of this country.
But we're a big country, and the cultural organizations are really quite region specific: the National Arts Centre, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. So you have to go into the regions and look at what CBC and Radio-Canada are doing there.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
Andy Scott Liberal Fredericton, NB
We had some witnesses say that they believe that perhaps the CBC could do a better job of engaging, let's say, Telefilm or the National Film Board.
The National Film Board sends members of Parliament a lot of their work from time to time, but I have to wonder why I've never seen it on television. I'm trying to get to that kind of relationship.
9:15 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
I will take that under advisement and get more information for you for our next meeting.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
Andy Scott Liberal Fredericton, NB
You mentioned long-term stable funding. What are your thoughts in terms of quantitative observations about such things?
9:15 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
Our efforts should be focused on programming. Our efforts should be focused on expanding into the regions. That is difficult when you have to concern yourself with the uncertainty of funding from parliamentary allocations from one year to the next, in an environment where you do have ongoing inflation, and you have ongoing demands for upgrading your technologies and also attracting good people. In this country, and particularly at CBC, we have an aging workforce that needs to be replaced. People are going to be moving into retirement. We have to groom people to come along to fill those roles. We have a shortage of engineering specialists that we need to bring into CBC.
So you need to have some financial bench strength to be able to bring these people in, train them, and then move them into positions as people move out of the workforce.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
9:15 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Schellenberger
Mr. Scott, yes, hopefully we can get another opportunity for you.
Mr. Kotto, please.
9:15 a.m.
Bloc
Maka Kotto Bloc Saint-Lambert, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Welcome, Mr. Casgrain.
Have you ever been associated, directly or indirectly, with the government currently in power?
9:15 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
Have I—
9:15 a.m.
Bloc
Maka Kotto Bloc Saint-Lambert, QC
In the past, have you been associated, directly or indirectly, with the government currently in power, or have you been part of the government currently in power?
9:15 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
I'm not currently close to the government.
9:15 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
I haven't been in the past either.
9:15 a.m.
Bloc
Maka Kotto Bloc Saint-Lambert, QC
Did you work for the Conservative Party in the last federal election, in the Toronto region?
9:15 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
In the region of—