Canadian Heritage committee  CIDA doesn't produce, if that's what you're saying.

Canadian Heritage committee  They finance, just as we do. My understanding of the situation is that because the slot for them would be considered news, and because it wasn't balanced journalistically, giving both sides, they made a decision not to show them at CBC.

Canadian Heritage committee  Well, it certainly has an appeal. A producer's end objective is to get their product shown, so that certainly has an appeal. I'm wondering about your question, though, when we have the CBC. Are you saying this because you think the CBC doesn't meet its mandate? I'm not quite sure.

Canadian Heritage committee  Well, certainly. It reminds me of when Famous Players, I think it was, was for sale many years ago and there was discussion among the bureaucrats and other people on whether the government could buy it so that Canadian films would be shown in those cinemas. It sounds to me like a parallel kind of idea.

Canadian Heritage committee  The documentary channel, as you know, has been the channel where independents have been very helpful. They've done some very interesting things. They've been a leader in documentaries. There is some concern on our part, as there is for the independent community, that the CBC may diminish that role.

Canadian Heritage committee  We made suggestions in our presentation. Personally, I believe that the CBC has the mandate to anticipate this situation.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think so. I'm not entirely sure.

Canadian Heritage committee  We can talk about it, but I don't go back to that time. I was a little pressed for time, so I haven't done that. I certainly can supply it to you. My impression is that they were more involved previously. I may be wrong, but I'm certainly willing to send you the information.

Canadian Heritage committee  I would say there's a general--

Canadian Heritage committee  I think it's important, because all broadcasters are important. Broadcasters are key in this environment right now. Producers are in a lesser position. What a broadcaster wants to commission and what they air is of critical importance to the filmmakers we work with. I think it's a general concern about all broadcasters, but with the fact that the CBC is the national broadcaster, there's a certain expectation on the part of producers that they would ante up to this responsibility more than say a commercial broadcaster.

Canadian Heritage committee  No. I think there was some concern when it was stated that they wanted documentaries that attracted audiences of 1.5 million. I see they've commissioned a documentary series called The Week The Women Went, which is based on a BBC format. Men are forced to cope in a community where all the women are removed for seven days.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'm not saying anything about this, other than that I don't know that this is really the kind of thing our filmmakers want to make. Our filmmakers are very dedicated to social issues, to examining issues of real content in this country. This will knock off a number of other documentaries that won't get shown by the CBC.

Canadian Heritage committee  Mr. Chairman, this concludes our remarks.

Canadian Heritage committee  We have been advised by our producer clients that while the CBC continues to exhibit documentary programming, more and more of this is in-house production. It is difficult for us to confirm this because the CBC is not required to report on exhibition and expenditure allocations between in-house and independent production.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you very much. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am the executive director of the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund. With me is Jean-Louis Robichaud, chair of the fund and former director of the Centre provincial de ressources pédagogiques in Saulnierville, Nova Scotia.