As for section C, on the challenges facing the various CBC/Radio-Canada services, we want to emphasize the following elements of the programming offered.
Given that CBC/Radio-Canada has significant human, technical and financial resources and a mandate as a public broadcaster serving the Canadian public, the programs produced or broadcast by CBC/Radio-Canada should always be of high quality and offered free or charge, by over-the-air broadcasting, to all Canadians without exception across Canada.
That will not stop CBC/Radio-Canada from positioning itself on new communication or information platforms as it is currently doing. However, the principle of free and accessible service from CBC/Radio-Canada, financed largely by public funds, should be maintained by using digital over-the-air (HD) broadcasting for the next few years.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, these are the elements of our presentation that we would particularly like the Committee on Canadian Heritage to remember.
The affiliates of CBC/Radio-Canada French-language network currently serve 20% of CBC/Radio-Canada's audience in Quebec.
Twenty-one percent of CBC/Radio-Canada's viewership in Quebec is generated by its affiliates.
For 50 years, our CBC/Radio-Canada affiliates have been broadcasting local content during the vast majority of its station breaks, six times an hour, 18 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Local television has allowed our regions to forge their own identities by preventing them from being flooded by messages from the major centres like Montreal and Quebec City.
If the affiliates can renew reasonable affiliation agreements with CBC/Radio-Canada, we plan to convert our equipment to HD broadcasting in a few years in order to continue adequately serving the entire populace in our regions.
No other distribution platform, including the Internet, will ever be able to equal the technical broadcasting quality offered by digital over-the-air (HD) transmitters.
According to a number of experts and observers, conventional television will continue to occupy pride of place among consumers as a mass medium for many years to come.
As a national public broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada should exercise leadership in over-the-air HD broadcasting, setting the example for the country's private broadcasters. CBC/Radio-Canada should provide high definition conventional television, free of charge, to all Canadians without exception.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, we would like to mention that, as an affiliate, we want to continue playing the role that we have played over the past 50 years.