Now, before we review the facts, it should seem fairly obvious that the historic fit between the CBC and documentaries is rather long-standing. As CBC's mandate outlines, their duty is to accomplish many of the same things that documentaries aspire to achieve: to be distinctly Canadian, to provide a means of cultural expression, to contribute to our national consciousness, and to reflect the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canada in both official languages.
However, in the past few years we have seen some alarming declines in documentary programming from the CBC. Programming hours have declined from a peak of 263 hours for documentaries in 2003-2004 to just 122 hours in 2005-2006. We have seen strand after strand cut from the CBC main network, or diminished in its extent.
For example, The Nature of Things has been significantly reduced over the years. The producers have been told that it will be reduced from its 17-hour peak to a nine-hour summer series. The Passionate Eye has decreased significantly in recent years. Life and Times, which has been the CBC premier biography series, will not have another season. Producers have been told, and it's confirmed, that Opening Night will be cancelled after the remaining unaired productions have been broadcast.
The CBC appears to be moving toward a big-ticket production schedule of productions such as Canada: A People's History or Hockey: A People's History that are produced in-house and consume a large number of financial resources that would otherwise be available to independent documentary producers.
Certainly the CBC continues to exhibit documentary programming, but in our experience there has been a rise in in-house programming to fill their programming slot. The situation is only exacerbated by a lack of transparency regarding the split between hours of programming spent on in-house versus independently commissioned documentaries.
We feel that there needs to be a balance restored, because in-house producers cannot replace, nor can they replicate, the spirit and the message of independently commissioned documentaries.