Okay.
Evidence of meeting #6 for Official Languages in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cpac.
A video is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #6 for Official Languages in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cpac.
A video is available from Parliament.
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
Paul Lefebvre Liberal Sudbury, ON
What portion comes from francophone Canada and what portion comes from the English side in Quebec?
3:55 p.m.
President and General Manager, Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC)
In all honesty, I don't have that number with me, but I can find it and send it to you.
I imagine it's something like two-thirds from one side and one-third from the other, but I'm not sure. Obviously there is a large francophone population in Quebec. I will check this information and get back to you.
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
Paul Lefebvre Liberal Sudbury, ON
Thank you.
I have one last question.
You talked about a French political documentary about George-Étienne Cartier. Can you give us examples of political documentaries that you've done outside Quebec in French and in English in Quebec?
3:55 p.m.
President and General Manager, Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC)
This is new to us. We have been making documentaries for only two years. We have completed three and are working on our fourth.
For the documentary on George-Étienne Cartier, we crossed the country. We worked on La bataille fédérale du Québec during the election last year. The documentary on physician assisted death is, in fact, Canadian. It is not at all based on the Quebec model. It explains how the debate has gotten to this point. There are interviews that were conducted across the country. The Silent Tragedy is about the history of missing or murdered aboriginal women. That was a Canada-wide project.
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
Paul Lefebvre Liberal Sudbury, ON
I think this is so important for preserving our history.
I have one last comment.
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
Actually, we are going to move on to the next speaker. You can come back later.
3:55 p.m.
President and General Manager, Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC)
May I add something?
3:55 p.m.
President and General Manager, Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC)
Mr. Lefebvre, we also conducted another study. We'll share the results with you. During our licencing renewal, three years ago, the CRTC asked us to provide it with the percentage of hours of programming on minorities. It was not nothing, but I don't know the numbers by heart. We looked into the data for the last few years up to 2013.
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
3:55 p.m.
President and General Manager, Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC)
The condition is that 20% of the content be in French.
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
3:55 p.m.
President and General Manager, Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC)
I will gladly do so.
3:55 p.m.
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you both for being here today.
Congratulations on your new position.
3:55 p.m.
President and General Manager, Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC)
Thank you.
3:55 p.m.
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
As this is the Standing Committee on Official Languages, my first question has to do with linguistic duality. You spoke at length about it.
Does CPAC have an official languages policy in writing? Of course you follow the rules. You said that 20% of the production is done in French. Furthermore, everything is translated. Can you describe exactly how linguistic duality applies in CPAC's daily operations?
3:55 p.m.
President and General Manager, Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC)
I believe I understand your question.
CPAC exists in both languages and the CRTC licence requires us to have everything translated. If the program is in original English, then it is translated into French and vice versa. The licence also requires us to devote 20% of our programming to long format. We therefore broadcast roundtable discussions and press conferences, among other things, in their entirety. The licence also requires 25% of our programming to be original productions.
We have daily shows in French such as Revue politique and Tête à tête. We also produce dozens of vignettes that provide historical, political, and cultural explanations. We also have interludes. They are shorter and allow us to do different things. In fact, not everything is in long format. We also broadcast a roundtable discussion in French. We have to make sure we achieve our objectives every day.
4 p.m.
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
Very good.
The Standing Committee on Official Languages is currently studying the future of the Translation Bureau. We are looking at how things are going since the recent staffing cuts. Unfortunately, a lot of cuts through attrition are coming in the next few years. We are also looking at the implementation of machine translation, which has a lot of people talking.
Does CPAC use the services of the Translation Bureau? How do you operate?
As you mentioned, everything that is broadcast on your channel is available in both official languages. It is automatically translated. Do you work with the Translation Bureau?
4 p.m.
President and General Manager, Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC)
There are two parts to your question.
First, for all the broadcasts of the procedures of the House of Commons and the Senate, we take the interpretation that is provided to us by the House of Commons.
We have three full-time translators. They translate live, or after the fact if it is an event we recorded. We have an office of translators made up of real people who translate. We couldn't do it any other way.