In the Toronto region.
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.
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.
9:15 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
No, I have done nothing with the Conservatives. However, I must tell you that, in April, I became a member of the Conservative Party in the riding of Eglinton-Lawrence in order to support Joseph Oliver, who was nominated in that riding.
9:15 a.m.
Bloc
Maka Kotto Bloc Saint-Lambert, QC
All right.
What expertise do you have that would be decisive, in your opinion, in your appointment and that would be useful to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation?
9:15 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
In fact, my expertise is not in the broadcasting field, but rather in business, that is to say that I can work with operations advisors and managers and in corporate management.
9:15 a.m.
Bloc
Maka Kotto Bloc Saint-Lambert, QC
All right.
I listened carefully to your presentation. You talked about the vision and role of a public television network. Has this question often been a concern to you or have you only recently considered the ideal role that a public broadcaster, like the CBC, could play in our society in the century in which we are living?
9:20 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
As I said earlier, the role of a public broadcaster is profound. With everything that's going on in the world right now, we must attract young people so that they understand that discussions in favour of democracy do not merely exist, but that they must continue, and it is the role of CBC/Radio-Canada to raise the level of that discussion across the country.
9:20 a.m.
Bloc
Maka Kotto Bloc Saint-Lambert, QC
All right.
Knowing that the challenges facing the CBC and Radio-Canada are very different, what do you intend to do to ensure the development of the French network's radio and television?
9:20 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
You know that CBC and Radio-Canada are a corporation and that the current strategy is to integrate all initiatives. For example, here in Ottawa, there are platforms for news in English and in French, on television and on radio. With technology, we can put everything together.
I went to Montreal last week and to Vancouver in early May. In both places, there are very distinct initiatives to support CBC in the west and Radio-Canada in Quebec. I believe that each one has a role to play in moving things forward.
9:20 a.m.
Bloc
Maka Kotto Bloc Saint-Lambert, QC
My question was more concerned with content, rather than structure. Witnesses have told us about the major differences between Radio-Canada and the CBC. In view of the fact that the CBC is not doing as well as Radio-Canada, what are you considering doing?
9:20 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
That's a very good question, but I'm not in a very good position to give you an exact answer at this time. All I can tell you is that the team responsible for CBC/Radio-Canada is solving the problems, in particular on English-language television, as was the case with French-language television five years ago.
9:20 a.m.
Conservative
9:20 a.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Casgrain, it's very good to get a chance to meet with you this morning. I look forward to our discussion. As the old television commercial used to say, it's our job to squeeze the Charmin so that people back home will know that a good decision was made.
Whether I'm asking technical questions or not I don't think is relevant. I'm only interested in getting a reflection of what you think are possibilities and where we need to go. One of the big issues we've dealt with in our study is the issue of governance. It has come up again and again that CBC seems to stand alone in the world of public broadcasting for not having a clear system of electing people to the board, a headhunting process to ensure that we have independence. I'm wondering now, as our new chair, where you stand in terms of overhauling governance structure, in particular having the ability to hire and fire the CEO, and ensuring that the best of the best are put to overseeing this corporation.
9:25 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
As you know, the government in power has the final decision on the appointments of chairman, the president and CEO, and also the directors of the board. I would say that my job is to present them with candidates that the board is satisfied with, and then on that basis, the decisions will be made. I don't think it's any broader than that.
9:25 a.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Do you think it's a good idea to have an overhaul of governance structure in general?
9:25 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
I don't think I'm in a position to give you that answer. I've only been in the position a few weeks.
9:25 a.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Okay.
I took the time to look into your background, to find out what you did in grade five, grade eight, and grade twelve. It's a very extensive and very interesting background. Of course, as you've stated, you have no broadcast experience. Can you explain to the committee how you would have come to be chosen? What process happened? Did you get a call from the minister? Was there a headhunting firm?
9:25 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
I was approached by the PMO's appointments office.
9:25 a.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Okay.
How would they come to know you, as opposed to someone else?
9:25 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
I was asked to provide a resumé and submitted to an interview. I think it was no broader than that in the approach.
9:25 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
A group of people from government, and it was, as I understand it, part of the process. It's all fairly new to me.
9:25 a.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
I'm asking because we don't have a clear sense, and governance has come up, so would it have been an interview with people in the PMO, people in the bureaucracy, people at the CBC?
9:25 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
No, it was not the CBC; it was the government.
