Canadian Heritage Committee on June 17th, 2008

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

Thank you.

My local cable company, for example, a COGECO affiliate, receives funding from this fund and they do an awful lot of local programming with it. They cover a lot of community events. They do a better job, actually, than my local CBC affiliate does in covering community events. They cover parades and all sorts of things. How would this change affect them? What would it mean to them? Would it result in potentially more funding for them, less funding for them, or would it affect them at all?

[Paul Gratton]

They don't get directing funding from the CTF for their cable channels. That's a redistribution of their own benefits. And part of their requirement to the CRTC is to maintain that cable fund. So this wouldn't affect your community cable channel at all.

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Ms. Creighton.

[Valerie Creighton]

I would add that the revenue that comes to the CTF from the BDU's revenue, that 5% that everybody talks about, 80% of that 5% comes to the Canadian Television Fund. For the other 20%, those BDUs are allowed to contribute to their own funds.

One other example that comes to mind is some of those independent funds, like COGECO or the Shaw Fund, for example, the kids fund...it's a great program. In fact, the CTF and the Shaw Fund are partners on many, many projects in this country. Stéphane may have the exact number, but I think it was something like 78% to 82% of what the Shaw Fund supports financially is also triggered by CTF financing. So in many cases--not on the community channel side, but with many of the programs that are financed by the private funds--the CTF is also a partner.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Thank you.

Mr. Siksay, do you have questions?

[Bill Siksay, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

No, I'm fine, Chair. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

I thank our witnesses very much for their participation today. I hope our questions have been answered around the table.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

I have a point.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Mr. Coderre always has to have a point.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

I think it's for the benefit of everybody.

You have an amazing annual report.

[Valerie Creighton]

That's just the stakeholders' report so far. The annual report is coming next.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

I would appreciate, if it's possible, getting a copy. I looked smart because I read all those charts. Since it's bilingual, it would be an asset for the members of our committee. Can we have a copy of it, please?

[Valerie Creighton]

Absolutely.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Thank you very much for that.

We'll just take a short recess, and then we will have to deal with Ms. Mourani's motion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

We're back to business here.

I'd like to deal with Ms. Mourani's motion.

Ms. Mourani, would you like to read your motion again, please?

[Maria Mourani, Bloc, Ahuntsic, QC]

Yes, Mr. Chair. I read it last week as well. It reads as follows:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee report the following to the House at the first opportunity: The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage recommends that the government commit to allocating to the Canadian Television Fund long-term funding that is indexed to private sector increases so that the share allocated to CBC/SRC productions is always at least 37% of total funding regardless of the government's follow-up to the recent CRTC recommendations on the Canadian Television Fund.

I know that Ms. Fry wants to move an amendment and I completely agree with it.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

We've heard the motion.

I understand Ms. Fry has an amendment to the motion. Ms. Fry, could you make your amendment, please?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Thank you.

It would add the following:

The envelope of public funding allocated traditionally to the other public, not-for-profit and educational broadcasters must also be maintained and similarly indexed.

That is inserted after “global” and before “quelles que soient”. In English it says, after “total funding” followed by a period:

The envelope of public funding allocated traditionally to the other public broadcasters and to educational programs must also be maintained and similarly indexed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Okay.

Mr. Abbott.

[Jim Abbott, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

This raises a very interesting question, because I believe Mr. Coderre asked the question right at the beginning. It is completely unclear. If you take 37% of the total funding of the CTF as it presently stands and it is applied to the allocation to the CBC—that's the way it sits right now—and then you split it approximately 55% and 45%, or whatever it is, this is a very substantial decrease for the CBC, because it's talking about 37% of 45% of the total fund.

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

They are talking about the whole fund.

[Jim Abbott, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Where does it say that here?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

It says it in the statement....

Mr. Chair, perhaps what I—