Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. My name is Pamela Brand. I'm the executive director and CEO of the Directors Guild of Canada.
With me today is Monique Lafontaine, who is the general counsel and director of regulatory affairs for the DGC.
We are very pleased to be here today to discuss the mandate of the CBC. It's a very important issue to Canadians across the country and indeed to our members.
Since its inception, the CBC has played a critical role in showcasing Canadian stories. It contributes to our shared consciousness and sets the stage for a national dialogue on matters that are relevant to Canadians. Many of our members have worked on and continue to work on productions broadcast on the CBC. These include Little Mosque on the Prairie, Intelligence, Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story, Da Vinci's Inquest, and many others. Without a doubt, the CBC is the leading cultural institution in our country.
Our remarks today touch upon the key recommendations set out in our written brief. We'll begin by discussing the critical role of the CBC in Canada's broadcast landscape.
The CBC is an essential part of the Canadian broadcasting system. It is the champion of Canadian content and provides an important window for Canadian programs in prime time. It is through the CBC's innovation that we've had the opportunity to see such high-quality Canadian programs as The Beachcombers, Da Vinci's Inquest, The Newsroom, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, the two Trudeau mini-series, Canada Russia '72, and Shania: A Life in Eight Albums, to name but a few. Several of these programs have had long runs on television and have been licensed for broadcast in many countries around the world.
Supporting the creation and broadcast of Canadian programs is a key part of the CBC's business plan. Nowhere else on the television dial is the support greater for Canadian programs. This was confirmed last month when the CRTC released its most recent financial information for private conventional broadcasters. Those numbers showed that the private broadcasters reduced their spending on Canadian drama programs by 25%, from $48 million a year to a paltry $36 million, yet they increased their spending on foreign content by $69 million, almost twice the amount of the total budget for Canadian drama.
Given this reality and given the economics of the Canadian television market, it is essential for the telling of Canadian stories on television that we have a strong public broadcasting service in our country. At a time of consolidation of media companies, the proliferation of broadcast services, and the launch of many new platforms, it is more important than ever for Canada to have a strong public broadcaster. This will allow Canadians to continue to have access to Canadian programming that speaks to them in the new television environment.
Monique Lafontaine is now going to speak about funding at the CBC.