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.
9:45 a.m.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
Pardon me for interrupting you, but I'm not talking about Quebec. We want to know to what extent, in your capacity as chair of the board of directors, you are going to ensure that CBC/Radio-Canada plays a neutral role across Canada, that is to say that it does not represent the interests of a Conservative government or a Liberal government. That's what we want to know.
In your opinion, are ethics and neutrality important?
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
I accept your opinion, but, for us, this is a Canadian identity issue. We have to represent Canadians from all regions. I met a lot of Francophones in Vancouver. And they love Radio-Canada and the services it provides them.
9:45 a.m.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
I'm going to make a brief comment, which will be followed by a final question. When you say Canadian identity, recognition of the Quebec nation should not be forgotten.
Earlier you said that your mandate was to mobilize listeners and viewers and to tell them what was going on elsewhere. In all the cities where the members of this committee have travelled, the Canadian public has told them two things. First, we've been told that not everyone is connected to high definition television, to the new products or new platforms. What people want is service. Second, they don't necessarily want to know what is going on elsewhere: they want the network to talk about them, their town and their region.
How important are these two elements for you?
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
You are right; that's fundamental. The CBC/Radio-Canada people are currently investing time and effort to improve local resources in order to enhance what is offered to and the connection with the regions.
9:45 a.m.
Conservative
9:45 a.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd first like to clarify a comment Ms. Bourgeois made. Our government, with the support of two other parties, confirmed the Québécois as a nation within a united Canada--just for clarification and on the record.
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
I concur.
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
Yes, I did.
9:45 a.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
I want to first of all refer to what's been probably the most defining report on broadcasting in recent years, and that's the Lincoln report. Have you had a chance to familiarize yourself with it?
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
No, I have not.
9:45 a.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
Would you be prepared to do that, at least to read the executive summary?
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
I shall.
9:45 a.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
Although it may be a little bit out of date, it's still for the most part very relevant to the conversations we're having around this table right now regarding CBC's role within the broadcasting industry.
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
The point is well taken.
9:45 a.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
The other thing is, have you had a chance to review some of the transcripts from our CBC mandate review?
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
I've reviewed documents by Mr. Rabinovitch before the committee. I was listening to the interview of the Auditor General from last week. I've reviewed the documents of Mr. Fournier's appointment. Most of my focus has been on information being provided to me by the senior management and the board at this point in time.
9:50 a.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
I was pleased to hear you put an emphasis on youth. I think one of the things that's come out very clearly in the mandate review and from the witnesses who have appeared before us is that we need to find better ways of reaching out to the new generation, which is being bombarded by new media, new technology.
Do you have some strategies in mind to reach out to the youth of our country and to make sure CBC is relevant to them?
9:50 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
Do I have the strategies? No, but I believe our senior management are working on them right now. In my trip to Vancouver at the beginning of May and my trip to Montreal last week, having seen what is going on in Vancouver with CBC Radio 3, where it's run, and in Montreal, where Bande à part is run.... You would do well to come and see the enthusiasm these young people have for CBC and CBC Radio 3 and Bande à part.
One of the fascinating discussions I had with a young announcer in Vancouver was about his absolute delight at the number of e-mails that were coming in from all parts of the world. He said they got one from Easter Island and one from Iceland. He said the next lady who came on, Lorna, who's on from 6 until 10, has a following on Sirius satellite radio in the States among truckers, who listen to her fervently.
I'm very proud of the outreach that's going on; that we are reaching out, not just to Canadians who are living in other parts of the world, but in telling our story to the rest of the world. We have a lot to be proud of in this country.
9:50 a.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
I was also pleased to hear in your remarks that you're not committed to turning back the clock on commercialization. As you probably know, divergent views have been presented at this table regarding CBC's commercialization. There are some who believe that CBC should be free of any advertising and others who believe that advertising is a reality today, and that if we remove it, government is then simply replacing commercial dollars with government dollars and isn't actually moving CBC ahead in any way.
I was pleased to hear that, but it's always a matter of balance. I agree with some of the comments around this table that there's truly a distinction between CBC radio and CBC television. I agree with the comment from Mr. Scarpaleggia that in fact CBC radio is more like a friend. When I'm driving back from hiking, as I did just last week, pretty well the only station I could get was CBC radio. Listening to Vinyl Cafe was just a wonderful experience. Again, it's like having a friend next door and having a chat over some of these cultural issues, including music.
How do you find a balance? Do you have any idea how you're going to provide a balance between the commercial aspect of CBC and its role as a public broadcaster, which should not be subsumed under this weight of commercialization?
9:50 a.m.
Chairperson designate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, As an Individual
You've probably posed the most profound question that CBC wrestles with on how to find that balance.
There are so many components to what I call this jigsaw puzzle that makes up CBC and its financing. When you uncouple one, a case in point being Hockey Night in Canada, to see what it means to the commercial revenues of CBC and the implications for the rest of the organization, it's a fundamental issue that can't be looked at in isolation.
On part of this mandate you and your group are doing, we need to provide you with more input, and you need to challenge us. If we presented you with three models to work with on complete commercialization, where we are today, or the complete non-commercialization of CBC television, what are the implications? What would you ask the government for by way of funding? What does it mean for CBC in going forward?
This whole idea of the mandate review must be done in the context of the broadcasting industry per se. If you look at CBC, particularly with the consolidation of CTV and CHUM, Astral and Standard, and CanWest Global and Alliance Atlantis, we are a very small piece of that, and yet we are a profound piece of it because we're the only public broadcaster in Canada. We need to make sure we can protect our flank and are not overwhelmed by becoming too commercialized.
For senior management, it's a constant balance. When Mr. Rabinovitch took on the challenge of being president in 1999, he didn't come to the House asking for more money. He asked for more time, and he would find funding from within the organization, which he has done.
The problem I would caution all of the members about is this. It is finite. There are finite real estate resources. There are finite sources of funding. At some point, we are going to need to get absolute affirmation from this committee and the House that the funding from government is solid. We have to deal with issues like inflation.
But as I said earlier, I really believe the biggest issue, which was presented to me yesterday by our vice-president of finance, Madam Charbonneau, applies to many organizations in Canada. We have a very senior workforce moving on to the possibility of retirement in the next 10 to 15 years.
We have to be able to replace them with qualified technical people. You cannot bring in technical people and tell them to do the work. You have to bring them in, train them, and get them through an apprentice program. We have a lot of expertise that we must not lose.
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
Don Bell Liberal North Vancouver, BC
Thank you.
Welcome.
I have a series of questions.
One relates to American public broadcasters, PBS and KCTS, and the difference in the CBC. In the States, they are basically competing with commercial American networks, but it's the same culture, if you want to call it that. In Canada, as a public broadcaster, you're competing with Canadian commercial networks and American commercial networks in terms of programming content.
You talked about the programs. What challenge do you see? How do you see addressing that challenge?
