Information & Ethics Committee on Oct. 20th, 2011

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

We've been seeing many other institutions in public life advertising in our paper, the only exception being Radio-Canada/CBC.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Okay, so--

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

And this has taken place over the last few years.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Sorry, but I have only about five minutes left, sir.

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

Before, CBC/Radio-Canada had been advertising in our papers--

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

I'm going to have to cut this short, sir--

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

--because they knew very well that those papers reached appropriate audiences.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Okay. I just wanted to clarify.

And I'm not trying to be confrontational here, but I only have five minutes, and we have a tough chair here.

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

I'm not trying to be either, sir. I just want to answer your question.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

I read the Sun. My dad always read the Sun. I like your talk about freedom of expression and the importance of it. I think of Joe Liebling, who said that freedom of the press belongs to the people rich enough to own them. Every time I see that you guys buy a local newspaper, all these great little local newspapers, they suddenly all take the exact same line, which is to attack the CBC, defund the CBC. Every smalltown paper I see has the exact same line. It's always the same.

Now, is that all independent, or does that come from somewhere higher up the food chain--i.e., if you want to work for us, this is now our line, and you're going to follow that line?

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

I'm sorry, sir, I didn't get your question. What's your question, sir?

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

I'll put my question a little clearer, then. This is in terms of your obligation in a vertically integrated company. You have a competitor in your television market. You own newspaper operations across the country. Every single newspaper that you buy has the exact same editorial imprint on an attack on your number one competitor.

Just to clarify, in case I'm not really clear, I was reading an article by Marc-François Bernier, the Canada research chair in francophonie communication specializing in journalism ethics. He entitles it “Quebecor--A tarnished ethical and democratic track record”, and refers to incidents where journalists were ordered to write articles attacking Radio-Canada.

Does that happen?

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

Well, that's the prétention du professeur Bernier. I don't know where he's taking this from, so....

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

So it's not true?

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

I understand that he will be in front of you later, but he's absolutely wrong.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Okay. He said that this is part of a—

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

I don't know where he's getting this. I think this is unfortunate, you know—

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

He said this is part of a slur campaign against Radio-Canada.

These indications suggest that Quebecor might be engaging in wilful propagandizing (hammering, repeating the same arguments) or even misinformation (deceiving the public by hiding facts that are pertinent to understanding the events). Such behaviour pushes the damaging potential of its media to an extreme, all in the name of freedom of the press, of course

I raise this because at Quebecor you have so many diversified assets, yet they're all vertically integrated under you, Mr. Péladeau, and I certainly wouldn't want us to see a situation where you would begin to act like a Rupert Murdoch, poisoning the political atmosphere of this country.

Would you assure us that every single journalist in all those little newspapers is not getting told how to write? It seems to be the exact same article I read. Where is the level of interference within the newsrooms at Quebecor to push your corporate line against your number one competitor? Who sends that message?

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

Well, you know this company is managed by many executives, and every newspaper has a long tradition of being independent. Obviously, you know, this is not a party; this is a business, also. If we want to have something that will be able to provide Canadians with strong information, this company needs to be managed, and we're not going to—

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Do you mean managing the newsroom? Journalists tell us they were ordered to write—

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

We have our accountability and a responsibility to our shareholders—

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Were journalists ordered to write?

You said it's managing a business, and certainly it's an extremely profitable one. It's in the top 90th percentile in the world, as a business.

Are your journalists ordered to follow the party line? That's what ex-journalists have said, that if they want to work for Quebecor, once you've taken over these newspapers, they have to follow that line, and that line is to attack the number one competitor of Quebecor.

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

I have nothing to answer to this. That's coming from Professor Bernier. I have nothing to say about what he is thinking or his opinion. I'm paid to manage my business, and I will continue to do so.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Should the newsroom be separate from your other vertically integrated operations?

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

I just answered you. This is not a party. This is a business, and we're running our newspaper like any of our other businesses.