Thank you.
ACTRA supports the CBC and the current mandate. The ACTRA Newfoundland branch expresses its support for ACTRA's national submission made on March 15, 2007.
In addition to ACTRA's national presentation, we feel it is important to focus on the regional significance of the CBC. We need the CBC to return to its leadership role in reflecting our Canadian culture from the regions to our fellow Canadians. CBC remains vital to achieving a wide range of high-quality Canadian programming. The most significant part of the CBC's mandate is the production and acquisition of programs, and the organization of radio and television schedules. It is absolutely necessary for the CBC to respond to regional interest by increasing programming that reflects our regional interests and culture.
In the last 17 years there has been the destruction of high-interest, traditional, successful, and long-running programs that reflected all regions of Canada, to the point that our regional audience has abandoned CBC. Regaining that audience has proven to be incredibly difficult, even when major decisions have been reversed. An obvious example of this is Here and Now, our suppertime news show, which had the highest ratings in the country for any regional news show of the CBC and private broadcasters. It was cut from one hour to half an hour, and the ratings bottomed out. When CBC returned to the one-hour format, the audience did not return.
CBC must be technologically up to date. The CBC must be appropriately funded to ensure that it can adapt to the technological changes and the new media platforms, so that it can carry out its mandate. This funding must be over and above any programming funding. The CBC requires adequate and long-term funding commitments.
The CBC has the obligation to produce and acquire Canadian dramatic programming attractive to audiences. Currently the CBC schedule includes far too many American programs that can be found on any other American station. These programming slots must be filled with Canadian programs that cannot be found on other networks.
The government must give the CBC the resources to produce distinctive, high-quality programming, including Canadian drama. It has reached a situation where it is very doubtful that the CBC could possibly fulfill all aspects of its mandate with its current resources.
Currently there is no in-house performance comedy or drama being produced in Newfoundland. Variety programming is scattered, at best. In its heyday, CBC created shows in this region producing national stars, such as Mary Walsh, Cathy Jones, Rex Murphy, Andy Jones, Greg Malone, and Gordon Pinsent. Regional shows such as Up at Ours, Skipper and Company, and Wonderful Grand Band laid the groundwork for the next generation of national icons. If we do not create Canadian drama, we cannot produce Canadian artists.
Three mini-series that were created and produced here for the CBC have gone on to national and international success: The Boys of St. Vincent, Random Passage, and most recently, Above & Beyond. We are capable of producing high-quality dramatic programming. Hatching, Matching & Dispatching, our most recent regional offering, created a huge audience draw nationally—and was dropped by the CBC, leaving no regional dramatic programming.
Regional CBC radio currently encompasses pickup performances of special events, concerts, and award shows. Regional dramatic content is near zero. This is despite a string of successful radio drama series, such as The Great Eastern and Terra Nova Theatre.
The CBC must have the resources to take the lead in addressing the Canadian drama crisis.
In conclusion, ACTRA respectfully requests that this committee recommend to Parliament that the current mandate is sufficient for CBC to meet the needs of Canadians; that the mandate of the CBC, as currently written, needs to be appropriately supported with adequate public funding; that the CBC must have special funding to make the transition to digital signals and high-definition television; and that the CBC must take the lead to ensure that Canadian English-language drama programs are available to Canadians regionally as well as nationally.
Thank you.