Good morning, Mr. Chairman and committee members.
With me is François Lewis, who is a member of the coalition's steering committee and President of the Syndicat des techniciens et artisans du réseau français de Radio-Canada. He is an active member of the coalition. For my part, I am the coalition's spokesperson, although that is not how I earn my living. I am a contract employee of the Télé-Québec public network in Quebec. I am organizing a magnificent international competition called “La Dictée des Amériques”. I won't be telling you about the dictation today.
And I'm going to stick to the rules and keep my presentation short, so we have more time for questions.
The Coalition pour la radiotélévision publique francophone was established on December 14, 2005, on the initiative of the unions and associations that represent the employees of the French-language arm of the CBC/Radio-Canada—radio and television—as well as Télé-Québec. It is made up of individuals and organizations representing various sectors of Quebec and Canadian society that consider public broadcasting to be an essential service, an invaluable tool for democracy and social development.
Essentially, we want to argue in favour of the public radio and television broadcasting system consisting of the large CBC/Radio-Canada network as a whole and, to a lesser extent, Télé-Québec and, in Ontario, the small TFO network.
What are the coalition's objectives? The coalition wants to raise public awareness and put pressure on decision-makers so that: a stop is put to any weakening of French-language public broadcasting; a public debate is held on the future of French-language public broadcasting; French-language public broadcasting receives adequate and stable funding; public funding for private independent production is not done at the expense of French-language public broadcasters; the system of public funding for French-language television production is recognized so that the broadcasters have access to all available production grants; French-language public broadcasting has the means to promote distinctive in-house production, using its most valuable asset, the tradition and expertise of its craftspeople, in order to preserve our cultural heritage; residents of all regions, and all the various groups that make up Quebec and Canadian society, enjoy high-quality, pluralist services free of charge from public broadcasters.
On these points, I have just heard the words of my distinguished colleagues, and I believe we are quite in agreement.
In the coalition's view, the facts clearly show that general-interest public broadcasters are still the heart of the Canadian broadcasting system, and guarantee its uniqueness. The current system cannot continue without substantial involvement by government in its funding, whether through grant funds or general interest public broadcasters.
The regulatory framework for the Canadian broadcasting system should reflect this undeniable reality. More specifically, the coalition believes that general-interest public broadcasters must have the same access to grant funds, on the same conditions, as the so-called independent producers, which, incidentally, are not independent in the slightest because they are dependent on public funding. Moreover, today I'm going to make a statement that will surprise you, committee members: all television production in Canada, particularly in the Francophone community, with the exception of information and public affairs programs, is financed out of public funds.
When we hear Pierre Karl Péladeau say that it is unfair that CBC/Radio-Canada receives public funding and that is unfair competition, that's rubbish. Moreover, we saw what happened when Shaw Cable and Vidéotron decided not to pay their contribution to the Canadian Television Fund. Vidéotron pays $14 million into the Fund, but it gets $18 million back. So don't tell me that private television isn't receiving public money. That's an unmitigated lie.
In addition, the broadcasting rights for subsidized productions should belong to the institutions that provide the subsidies and assume the marketing risks, that is the grant funds and the general-interest public broadcasters. Technological developments have made it possible for productions funded by the government with commercial risk shouldered by the general-risk public broadcasters to cannibalize the Canadian broadcasting system if they are widely broadcast via unregulated media such as the Internet.
The coalition considers that the government must make recommendations, or impose requirements, for stable, multi-year public funding for general-interest public broadcasters. Situated as they are at the heart of the Canadian broadcasting system, the general-interest public broadcasters are trustees and guarantors of the public property represented by almost entirely subsidized production, which is the key characteristic of the Canadian audiovisual industry.
The coalition also considers that the CRTC must insist to the government and to the general-interest public broadcasters that the latter themselves produce a significant portion of the audiovisual content they broadcast in order to maintain a high level of competition and quality throughout the industry.
Thank you.