I think we have tremendous cooperation within this committee. If we take a look at the Broadcasting Act in part III, section 40, and I quote:
The Corporation is ultimately accountable, through the Minister, to Parliament for the conduct of its affairs.
Also, there is the Broadcasting Act, part III, subsection 46(5):
The Corporation shall, in the pursuit of its objects and in the exercise of its powers, enjoy freedom of expression and journalistic, creative and programming independence.
One other relevant section is part III of the Broadcasting Act, section 39:
Subject to this Part, the Board is responsible for the management of the businesses, activities and other affairs of the Corporation.
So what we've decided to do here is completely in line with the Broadcasting Act.
There's just one piece of wordsmithing that I think is important, and that is that we use the word “invite”, that we invite them to come to the committee. I think we would find that possibly Mr. Lacroix, Mr. Stursberg, and Mr. Lafrance would be open to that idea.
It's just a matter of getting organized with CBC. I understand that because they are also before another committee of Parliament during the month of April, they also have to make presentations to the CRTC. Understandably, they are quite tied up. My understanding is that they would be available at the very first part of May, but because of the CRTC hearings and because of the other committee hearings they've been invited to, it would be exceptionally difficult for them to be able to fit us in during April.
So it's just a matter of cooperating with them, with us having that understanding.