My name is not Chantal Larouche, but rather Pierre Roger, and I am General Secretary of the Fédération national des communications.
FNC is affiliated with the Confédération des syndicats nationaux and has 7,000 members from roughly 100 unions. In that respect, FNC is the largest and most representative union organization in the communications sector in Quebec. The federation represents member technicians, journalists and presenters of the main private and public Francophone broadcasters, that is Radio-Canada, Télé-Québec, TVA, TQS, Radio Nord, Astral and Corus.
As I said at the start of my presentation, Ms. Larouche could not be here today. I will be making the presentation for her.
The current context is such that the relevance of and need for a strong public broadcaster as an alternate source of news and information programming are greater than ever. We believe that the public broadcaster has to do more and to it better as far as the regions and communities are concerned, but we realize that the CBC sometimes has to make unpopular choices because of its situation.
The problem is not so much the CBC's mandate as the framework in which the CBC has to operate. On the subject of governance of the public broadcaster, criteria and guidelines must be established for appointments to the CBC.
It is hard for the CBC to fulfil its legislative mandate with its current parliamentary votes and revenue. Since 1990, the corporation's financial capacity has diminished significantly. The CBC needs stable, continuous funding so that it can remain a public benefit not-for-profit corporation.
The public broadcaster is known especially for its general programming and news and information services. Amid today's proliferation of broadcasting platforms and new media, there is a high risk of Canadian society becoming fragmented. In that context, the public broadcaster can play a determining role in ensuring social cohesiveness and protecting cultural identity by using the different broadcasting platforms.
The melding of radio, television and the Internet can work in the broadcaster's favour relative to other competing services. However, this strategy must not be applied at the expense of the quality and credibility of content. The CBC must endeavour to provide television viewers with programs that offer Canadian content, which tend to be under-represented in the programming schedules of Canadian broadcasters, especially in dramas, music programs, children's programs and documentaries, which the CRTC recognized when it renewed the CBC's licences in 2000. The CBC cannot be compelled to focus on complementary programming without adequate, stable public funding.
The emergence of new media poses many new challenges for conventional media. The new order is not only having a financial impact, but is bringing about cultural changes as well. Preserving the current funding rules for television production could make it extremely hard for the CBC to position itself on new media.
The allocation of payable royalties creates real problems, however, and could ultimately foster a return to in-house production. The current system also raises the important issue of the future of Canada's television heritage. The government has chosen to place the production and ownership of television programs in the hands of private independence. What this means is that we are using public funds to deprive Canadians of ownership of material some of which has great heritage value. We believe that the television production funding system is no longer in tune with reality and that it needs to undergo a comprehensive review to make sure that it is meeting national cultural objectives as a priority and that it actually takes the latest changes into account.
In conclusion, public broadcasting remains an extremely important tool for ensuring the viability and vitality of a strong and unique national culture. The cultural sovereignty of states is being threatened at a steadily growing pace because of technological and industrial changes, in particular the concentration and joint ownership of media outlets.
The need for Canada to have a strong and effective public broadcasting system demands a more comprehensive and systematic assessment of the obligations we have to set for a public broadcaster and the financial resources it needs to meet its objectives.
While the cohabitation of public and private broadcasting services has proven itself, we have to keep it going, especially in a context where private sector media outlets, which are highly concentrated, tend to subscribe more and more to the notion of shareholder return over public interest.
The objectives of democracy set out in the Broadcasting Act mean that the CBC has to be supported as it should so economic ups and downs do not affect its choices at the expense of the public interest.
Finally, the Fédération nationale des communications believes that it would be good for the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage studying broadcasting and the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications to act on the analysis and recommendations made in the past decade.
We believe it is essential that these major exercises, carried out at taxpayers' expense, be taken more seriously by government representatives.
Thank you.