Certainly.
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for travelling to Toronto on a Friday morning. Of course, the weather is good, so we hope you get out of here and get some even better weather for the weekend.
I am the executive director from the Writers Guild. The Writers Guild of Canada welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in its study of the role of the CBC as public broadcaster in the 21st century.
Sitting with me is Rebecca Schechter, president of the Writers Guild, and Kelly Lynn Ashton, director of industrial and policy research for the Writers Guild.
For those of you who don't know us, the WGC is the national association representing more than 1,800 professional screenwriters working in English language television, radio, and digital production in Canada. WGC members are the creators of uniquely Canadian stories, such as the hit series Little Mosque on the Prairie, and movies of the week, like the award-winning Human Cargo.
To clarify, because there can be confusion, we differ from the Writers' Union beside us because they represent writers of books while we represent writers of screen material.
In this committee's list of themes and questions, you raised many issues that we could spend all day or longer discussing. However, we'd like to focus on just a few themes: first, the CBC's financial instability and the impact it has on the ability to fulfill its mandate, including specifically the impact on drama on the CBC; second, the challenges and opportunities of digital platforms; and, third, how changes to the governance structure could positively impact the CBC.
Is the CBC fulfilling its mandate, and does it have sufficient funding to do so? The Writers Guild sees no need to change the mandate itself as set out in the Broadcasting Act. It clearly defines what the CBC's goals should be as the Canadian broadcaster. However, the CBC's ability to fulfill its mandate has been severely handicapped by insufficient funding.
Over the years the CBC's appropriation has been slashed. A guaranteed envelope at the CTF was one attempt to address the drop in funding, but let's all keep in mind that the CTF is a fund producer. It allows the CBC to license programs as other broadcasters do, rather than fund their full production costs, which clearly they don't have the money to do. Any cut in the CTF envelope would make it impossible for producers to finance their productions through the CBC, and the CBC would be incapable of covering that shortfall.
CBC is one of the least-funded public broadcasters in the industrial world on a per capita basis. Last year CBC received $33 per capita from the government, while the BBC received $116. Not only does the BBC receive so much more than the CBC, but it also receives stable funding for a period of six years, while the CBC depends on annually approved appropriations. We use the BBC as our yardstick because it is internationally recognized as the best public broadcaster in terms of quality, quantity, and international reputation.
Becky.