We see diversity every day in the street, and in life. I do not feel, for the most part, that diversity is shown on television, in commercial media and on public television. Most of the time, we just have stereotypes. We have clichés; for example, we put a black man in a program like Watatatow so that we can say we are reflecting Canadian diversity. It is quite hypocritical. The basic problem is that most people in positions of power, whether in a public institution like the CBC or in private broadcasters, are people from a certain generation who are a little removed from what is going on in the street. There is a communication problem between people in their ivory towers and the grass roots, the people in the street.
There really is a difference and I see it. I am not very young anymore, I am 38, but I generally relate well to young people. I listen to hip-hop, I travel a lot, I make documentaries and I am interested in problems of identity and of youth.
This is a fundamental question for me. There really is a problem. Staff changes already need to be made. I am not just talking about skin colour, but also age. There are many people in decision-making positions in their 50s. There should be a little diversity there. Why do they have diversity in the United States? There are people 25 or 26 years old who are in positions of power, whereas here that is very rare. You have to be 45 or 50 years old to be a decision-maker and the choices that you make are perhaps not the same. There is a lot of work to be done in that regard in public networks.