I'm afraid I didn't have a chance to do anything formal, so I've just written down some fairly random notes here. I didn't hear about this terribly long ago.
Anyway, I'll move right along and say thanks for being here. It's very important that you've come here.
First of all, I'd like to say that I can't imagine Canada or the north without CBC. Mr. Shaw gave us all the reasons why CBC is so extremely important to the north, so I won't go into that. It's important in many ways, for many people in the north.
To me, the CBC is an important part of the glue that holds this country together. That's why I can't imagine Canada or the north without it. The CBC is a very important part of our face to the world, rather like the BBC is for the U.K. One thing I couldn't imagine is CTV as our face to the world. I think it would be a wholly different face. And if I ever catch that guy who says “C-T-V”, I think I'll have a word with him.
If the CBC didn't exist, we'd have to invent it, wouldn't we. Without the CBC or something like it, we would be on the slide to becoming another part of the U.S.A. Those forces lurk all around us. I think the CBC is an important part of helping us remain Canadian.
As I said, these are random notes, so there's not necessarily a rational flow here.
I've heard tell that some folks--obviously the radical ones--say that the CBC should be done away with, that we should let the private sector do it. Well, I'll fight that tooth and nail forever. Sure we should make the CBC as efficient as it possibly can be. That's something we have to be vigilant about with any form of public organization, whether it be government or anything else. But in terms of cuts to the CBC, we have to be extremely careful, because cuts can lead to a downward slide as well.
We all remember the self-fulfilling prophesy of the railways; I think it was the Conservatives who started it. You cut the railways, the services weren't as good, so people didn't use the services. Then the government said, “See? People aren't using the railways like they used to.” They cut them further, and it became a downhill slide.
We have to be very careful about that perhaps happening to the CBC. You can destroy morale very easily inside an organization by making cuts in certain sneaky ways.
I think the mix of programming on radio and TV on CBC is fine as it is. There are bound to be some adjustments. The CBC has to be careful about avoiding the latest trendy thing. We are all aware of some rather embarrassing examples, such as the reality show that died after the first two minutes, things like that. Bring in the new stuff, including the new media, but do it carefully, with the country's future in mind, basically.
I don't think the private sector can do this kind of thing, because you end up with the profit motive entering into it. A race to the bottom is something we want to avoid for the CBC, and at all costs. Yes, there is a profit motive in broadcasting. We know what happens there, and we know the influence of people who own the broadcasting organizations.
Basically, especially on the news side of things, in the documentaries, in informing Canadians about what's going on in the world, you end up with a self-censoring kind of thing. You have to be totally above and beyond all that. Keep it away from political influence. Defend the CBC against political influence. And get rid of these patronage appointments. I don't know a lot about them, but it seems to me there have been some recent disasters. Get some professional folks in there. Obviously there has to be some general guide in terms of keeping an eye on the CBC from the political realm, but political influence on the CBC is very dodgy in any shape or form.
I've mentioned the influence of big advertisers or big commercial interests. We all know how irritating advertising is. We don't have it on the radio, and that's something. Why it's still on the TV, I don't know. It's obviously a cost thing. Again, there has to be some influence from advertisers. CBC relies on advertisers for some of its funding, so there inevitably will be a subtle influence there.
When you look at the BBC, it may or may not be totally above all influences--I don't think it's that pure--but there is that feeling of integrity there. I would like to see that with the CBC as well.
Funding for the CBC must be sufficient. We can't expect the CBC to pay for itself. Again, that is all part of the slippery slope of funding cuts and worrying about income, and it can lead to a downward spiral.
I would say, then, keep CBC pretty well as it is while still allowing for changes coming in the future. The CBC is just too important to Canada to start playing around with it and taking shots at it, trying to water it down, trying to change it into something it shouldn't be and can't be, all the while trying to have it be what it is. Keep it pretty well as it is, but make it even better and make it more secure so that people don't have to go to work every day wondering if their station is going to be closed down or whatever. All of these things have happened in the past, with dire results.
Mr. Chair, many things have been said already, and many things will be said, so why don't I just leave it there and let others speak.
Thanks very much for the time.