We produced a series entitled Destination Nor'Ouest, not for the SRC, but for TVA. An audience of one million tuned in each week. The program recounted a voyage by canoe between Montreal and Winnipeg. I maintain that we need to produce programming locally, nationally and regionally. We can develop programs that specifically target the Montreal audience, but these do not have a great deal of value added. If a program is produced entirely in Montreal, the broadcaster will wonder why the program must be ordered from Winnipeg. We need to develop programs for local audiences. From time to time, these programs can be aired on the network. For example, we produced a program on Henri Bergeron, a SRC announcer who is from Manitoba. We also produce programs for young people. We are capable of producing a range of interesting programs that could be aired on the full network.
I don't want to belabour this point. Sylvain Lafrance and René Fontaine are very attuned to our situation. That's why I believe policies must be formulated. The problem becomes apparent when you take a closer look at the SRC. Let me give you a concrete example.
I was speaking with a corporation employee who informed me that so far this year, she had worked on two projects with regional offices. She told me that she had been a SRC employee for 33 years and I was rather surprised to hear her say that she was just now finding out that the regions provided program content. The situation leads me to believe that a policy must be put in place to allow all corporations employees, and not just management, to forge closer ties with the regions. I mentioned champions. However, what's going to happen when they leave? Therein lies the problem.
We're counting on you to formulate policies of this nature, somewhat like the Canadian Television Fund did with the support of Heritage Canada. CTF officials decided to allocate 10% of all funds to productions originating from outside Quebec. I don't necessarily want to specify quotas, but I do think the funding proportion should be clear.