We will. Thank you.
First of all, welcome to St. John's. Thank you for coming here, and thank you for inviting us to appear and speak to you.
I'll briefly describe the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council. It's a non-profit provincial crown agency, with the main mandate of fostering and promoting the arts in Newfoundland and Labrador. We do this by providing grants to artists and to arts organizations, and by encouraging public awareness of and participation in the arts. We believe the arts bring a wide range of benefits to the whole community, and that government investment in the arts is in the best interest of everyone in Canada.
By way of personal disclosure, just because we're talking about the CBC, I have myself worked frequently for CBC Radio in the past. As a filmmaker, I frequently work on projects that are underwritten by the CBC.
In our submission today, we're going to focus on the CBC's mandate in the area of arts and culture as seen from a regional point of view.
The CBC provides two very important services to the arts in Canada: it promotes public awareness and understanding of the arts, which leads to greater participation, and it underwrites the creation of art. The CBC has had a huge impact in both these areas for many years. No other broadcaster in Canada has even come close. We believe it's vitally important for this country that the CBC maintain this aspect of its mandate and fulfill it with renewed vigour.
In this region of Newfoundland and Labrador, CBC radio and television have both played a major role in creating public awareness of the arts. This is especially true in radio, where the weekend morning show has for many years been an arts magazine. This provides a public forum for discussion of the arts, and of course it's a highly effective tool for promoting new works of art and cultural events. Unfortunately, in recent years the program has suffered from a serious lack of resources, which has reduced its effectiveness.
Television has also played an important role in arts promotion. For more than 20 years, the CBC has partnered with our organization, the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council, to produce the annual Newfoundland and Labrador arts awards. However, as in radio, CBC television's arts coverage has suffered in recent years from a lack of resources.
As well as promoting arts awareness within the region, both radio and television have played a vital role in making other Canadians aware of artists working in this province. The CBC stands head and shoulders above the other broadcast media in this region in producing and supporting work in the performing arts. There is a strong tradition here of radio drama, music, and literary programming, and of television drama, comedy, and music series. Some of these have been produced for regional broadcast, others have been aired on the national network. These programs have been highly effective in reflecting this part of Canada to the nation and to our own region. They've also helped to foster the local film and television industries.
Unfortunately, there has been a steady decline in local production in recent years. There is now almost no local radio drama. Music programs that used to feature original performances have now become disc-spin shows.
Television once proudly boasted local shows like All Around the Circle, Up at Ours, The Root Cellar, and Wonderful Grand Band. Local producers created programming for the national network, such as Dooley Gardens, Hatching, Matching & Dispatching, and the two miniseries Random Passage and Above & Beyond.
At this moment, there are no local drama or comedy shows on CBC television in this region. In fact, not a single minute of the national radio or television schedule is produced in this region. Whether that's the result of budget constraints or management decisions, the result is the same. It has a profound negative impact on fulfilling the CBC's mandate.
CBC/Radio-Canada has had a huge positive impact on arts and culture in Canada, and we urge your committee to recommend that this aspect of the corporation's mandate be retained and reinforced. To sum up, we believe the arts are good for Canada and the CBC is good for the arts.
Thank you, and best wishes in your important work.