Canadian Heritage Committee on March 29th, 2007

[Serge Quinty, Director of Communications, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada]

Thank you for your question.

In preparation for the position paper we put forth, we looked back 10 or 15 years at the reactions the FCFA had put out on the various cuts that happened, and what happened at that point in 1995-96 is that some stations on TV were melded into one for the entire west. A few years later some money was put back into the regional stations in the west, especially in regional radio, and that allowed a certain strengthening of local coverage. However, what we heard from our members is that there are still not a lot of means and resources, and as you pointed out, in some regions in the north the communities do not have access to a local service of Radio-Canada.

I'll take the example of Alberta. What the community in Alberta deplores is that Alberta generates a lot of national news these days, for obvious reasons, and a lot of the resources of the local station, instead of being dedicated to coverage of news from the French community, are dedicated to coverage of national news. That's one example of how there is a need to reinforce the resources for local coverage.

[Tina Keeper, Liberal, Churchill, MB]

As you're speaking, my mind is reeling, because this is a CBC mandate review, and you know the challenges are.... One of the things I pointed out, as our previous presenters mentioned, is that the financial contribution to CBC has dropped significantly over the last decade and decade plus, and the costs of programming has gone up, so you see the challenges for CBC are significant.

However, as we move forward, what do we make priorities and how is it that we serve the mandate, as you are saying? How do we ensure Canadians have distinct programming from the public broadcaster? How do you think the CBC can serve the official languages in terms of its broadcasting through radio, new media, and television? Could we have some specific recommendations?

[Marielle Beaulieu]

I will answer you in French.

In our brief, we obviously talked about the problem of resources. I think this is a basic problem. I believe that all members of the committee have understood very well that if we wish to have a public broadcaster in a position to fulfil its mandate, you will of course have to study the overall issue of resources. That is an important component.

We also mentioned in our brief—and this was briefly discussed earlier on—the need to tie the resources granted to the SRC to an accountability framework. In a way, the SRC must be like any other government agency, that is to say it must be accountable. With this end in view, I think there is substantive work to be done.

The issue of local and national service concerns us because, in the end, there is very little done nationally, with the exception of the major newscasts, that goes without saying. So we are not talking about one or two small steps. I think there are several corrective actions that could be taken if we want a broadcaster that properly represents who we are and highlights the major issues of Canadian society.

As far as we are concerned, over the last year, we took on the responsibility of becoming active partners, on a national basis as well as locally and regionally. We strengthened our dialogue with the people from Radio-Canada. In fact, as you may know, RDI has modified the programming that concerns us, and we are following these changes attentively.

We now have a dialogue that I would describe as being active, as a group that is of significance to Canada. I believe that it is often thanks to this kind of dialogue that we are able to make ourselves heard. This also allows us to put measures into place by which we can facilitate, in some measure, an adapted content, to ensure that Radio-Canada represents us appropriately.

In my opinion, once again, it is not an issue of taking one or two steps. It truly is an issue of dealing with things comprehensively and of deciding what it is we expect of Radio-Canada, as a country. I think that is at the root of our discussions this morning.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Thank you very much for that.

Ms. Bourgeois.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Ladies, gentlemen, good morning.

I would like to make a brief comment before asking my questions.

First of all, you said earlier on in your presentation that the francophone communities needed Radio-Canada. I think that depends on how one interprets these words. In fact, people from anglophone and francophone communities pay their taxes to Canada and they have the right to have access to CBC-Radio-Canada's services. This is not only a need, it is an undeniable and historic right that was given to us under the Canadian Constitution.

Having said that, we travelled to Vancouver and to Yellowknife, where there are francophones outside Quebec who came to talk to us about the relationship they have with the Société Radio-Canada.

First of all, do you feel that Radio-Canada is really fulfilling its mandate as far as these francophones communities are concerned?

[Marielle Beaulieu]

That is a very good question.

I think vast improvements must be made. There is room for a great deal of improvement.

As we indicated in our brief, it is obvious that the cutbacks permanently affected the capacity of the radio service of this public broadcaster. In that regard, it is obvious that on this point, we hope to have a public broadcaster that is much more robust and in a better position to appropriately respond to its mandate.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Young people from the regions came and told us that there was a shortage of young francophone journalists. Does your federation try to encourage young francophone journalists who can cover the local news for francophone communities?

[Marielle Beaulieu]

We are not the ones who hire them.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

No, but do you talk about that?

[Marielle Beaulieu]

The youth issue is important. I will no doubt ask my colleague to add something on this issue. I can, however, tell you that in many cases, the Radio-Canada journalists who arrive in the francophone communities and must contribute to the SRC mandate if I can express myself in that way, come from Quebec. Very often, it is a foot in the door for them. They stay one, two or three years, then...

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

There is quite a turnover.

[Marielle Beaulieu]

Indeed. Of course, they do acquire a knowledge base, but the fact remains that for them, it is often a foot in the door. However, that does not mean that these people are not able to do good work. In many cases, they are starting from scratch, they have little knowledge and they are delighted to see that there are francophones elsewhere, be it in Regina, in Edmonton or another place. These people are often discovering a new reality.

Having said that, more and more programs are being offered. There are excellent ones at la Cité collégiale, for example, and at the Collège Boréal. With these, we will be able to train young people in their communities so that they will be in a position to fulfil mandates, be it those of the Société Radio-Canada, the community radio stations or others. Clearly we must count on training youth from these communities. Then they will be able to take over, get jobs and become, in my opinion, very good intermediaries. It is very important that youth be present.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

My last question has two components.

We have been told that there is a huge lag regarding French content on the Web. Given that young people use the Web a great deal, it could be used to promote the French fact outside of Quebec. I don't know if you are aware of that.

Furthermore, there is one place, and I believe it is Yellowknife, where the Société Radio-Canada uses the local francophone antenna to broadcast its programming to other francophones, particularly in the Northwest Territories. Moreover, Radio-Canada does not provide any money for the repair and maintenance of this antenna.

Do you approve of this way of doing business? What can we do about this?

[Serge Quinty]

I will begin by answering your first question.

As far as young people and community networking is concerned, I think that we will have to turn more and more to new technologies on the Web. We have to reach out to where the young people are. This is absolutely clear. We are talking about the future audience of Radio-Canada and the new generations in the communities.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

It is only in English for the moment. There is nothing on the Internet in French, at Radio-Canada.

[Serge Quinty]

Currently, Radio-Canada is webcasting news bulletins. Moreover, there are certain shows that are available live. On the other hand, I agree with you that as far as the regional stations are concerned, there is a great deal of work that remains to be done.

As for your second question, you were probably referring to CIVR, which is in the Northwest Territories. I am not aware of the situation, but I will ask one of our members, the Alliance des radios communautaires about it to see what is happening.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Perfect.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Mr. Angus.

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

Thank you.

Thank you.

As an MP representing an isolated Franco-Ontarian rural region, I believe that Radio-Canada plays a critical role in the cultural life of the Franco-Ontarian community. In the Timmins-James Bay region, for example, Radio-Canada is the sole voice representing the communities.

Hearst communicates with Sudbury and Timmins communicates with Larder Lake. I'm well aware of the role and importance of the radio in the francophone regions, but I am asking myself the following question: in your opinion, is there enough funding for the francophones in the regions to really see themselves on television?

[Serge Quinty]

We've discussed that in our brief. We collected comments from the members of our federation. They told us that there was not enough local content on Radio-Canada television, in this case one or two shows. For example, during the 1990s, the broadcasts called Ce soir out west were merged into a single program, and it proved to be most unsatisfactory. And so the answer to your question is very simple: in our opinion, no.

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

Thank you.

Would you have specific recommendations then? It seems to me that if Radio-Canada is going to fulfil its role, the francophone regions of Canada have to be able to speak to each other. We see the extreme importance locally and regionally, but we're talking about isolated islands across Canada. In television and radio, how do we bring those islands together into one common dialogue?

[Serge Quinty]

That is a very good question, Mr. Angus. In fact, there is a dynamic concerning editorial freedom that prevails as we speak as far as the national news is concerned. Of course, the people at Radio-Canada want to maintain their rights, their editorial independence when the time comes to choose the news items, but they should perhaps have the responsibility of guaranteeing that when we are talking about national news on the Téléjournal, it is not just about Quebec. I was watching Radio-Canada a few weeks ago when the census data came out. At one point, the person presenting the data talked about the growing urban population in Quebec, but she then corrected herself to say that she was referring to Canada. I don't know if it was a slip of the tongue. That still gives you an idea of the dynamic.

In my opinion, some steps could be defined. RDI has done some work on this by developing mechanisms and software, among other things, that guarantee that a certain percentage of the news comes from the regions. In the past, these regions had their own shows, including L'Ontario en direct, L'Atlantique en direct and L'Ouest en direct. There is perhaps something we might explore in that direction, in order to guarantee that on the Téléjournal, we hear about what is happening in New Brunswick, in Ontario, out west, and so forth.

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

In my region we've had a wonderful renaissance of Franco-Ontarian identity. There are many reasons--the catholic and public francophone school systems created a generation of leaders. But Radio-Canada has been there at the centre, taking the very isolated rural communities and making them believe they're part of something and that there's a common voice. In our region it's very much centred on the Franco-Ontarian identity.

Do you believe that in areas where the francophone communities are more challenged because of demographics and lack of linguistic services, an increase in Radio-Canada's regional and local presence would help at least maintain or build cultural identity?

[Marielle Beaulieu]

Mr. Angus, to us, this is obvious. You are talking to me about your region, which in fact I know very well because I am a Franco-Ontarian, but I would say that if you were to go out west, you would observe exactly the same phenomenon. It is evident that the support of a significant public broadcaster like Radio-Canada would have an absolutely extraordinary effect on the community both in terms of supporting it but also in terms of its cultural identity.

This is a vital component. For people living outside of Quebec, access is a problem. The fact of being supported and of hearing their own voices would have, evidently, a very significant impact on their identity. That is one of the reasons why we state in our brief that we need Radio-Canada. Nevertheless, I agree with you Ms. Bourgeois, in stating that it goes beyond the issue of needs: it is part of what Radio-Canada must do.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Thank you for that.

Mr. Warkentin.