Evidence of meeting #7 for Canadian Heritage in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cbcradio-canada.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Mr. Lacroix, for appearing before us.
It is very clear from the testimony we've heard so far that you're well on your way to preparing yourself for this very important post, and I welcome you to this very important Canadian institution.
Getting back to the whole issue of qualifications and what you've done to make yourself ready for this job, have you had a chance to familiarize yourself with the current culture and direction within CBC?
Designate President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio-Canada, As an Individual
In terms of business culture? Is that your question?
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
Not necessarily business, but more of the creative culture and also the direction the current creative culture within the CBC is moving in.
Designate President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio-Canada, As an Individual
All right. I understand the question.
I had the pleasure of meeting Sylvain Lafrance. I have had the pleasure of sitting down so far with Richard Stursberg. We have done it a couple of times, a couple of debriefs. We're starting that.
Remember, I'm kind of cheating because right now I'm still doing, or supposed to be doing, what I'm doing as a person, not a CBC person yet. So I am giving as much time as I can to that.
I had the pleasure yesterday of sitting down with the executive director of the English radio services, Jennifer McGuire, who just blew me away with her intensity and her vision. I think this is what I'm doing right now.
In terms of the culture of the place, the creative people and where they want to go, I'm starting to meet them as I go along.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
That's good to hear.
In terms of what opportunities are out there in the world that we can learn from and apply here in Canada, have you had your chance to familiarize yourself with some of the other public broadcasters around the world, such as BBC and PBS, and are you prepared to take those experiences into account in building a stronger CBC?
Designate President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio-Canada, As an Individual
Absolutely. I know that CBC and Radio-Canada and its management team have been looking at best practices. This is what we do in private practice and this is what we do in private companies. We look at best practices. We compare. We benchmark with other companies.
I know they've looked at the BBC. There are in-depth reports that have been made as we reflect on what the other great broadcasters in the world are doing. It is something that we absolutely have to take into consideration when we develop our own vision and our own products.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
You're well aware of the fact that we're undertaking a CBC mandate review. It's actually a review of a public broadcaster in Canada.
We have heard from many witnesses across Canada. Perhaps one of the most critical witnesses will be you. I'm not sure you're yet in a position to be able to appear as the head of CBC, as the president of CBC, with respect to that review, but I'm wondering how long it will take for you to be in your position and familiarize yourself with what's going on at CBC right now, so that you'll be able to appear before this committee and provide the kind of input that I think all of us are looking forward to receiving.
Designate President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio-Canada, As an Individual
The only answer I can give you to this very important question is, as quickly as possible.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Thank you.
Mr. Lacroix, in your opening statement you talked about the need to dialogue with stakeholders. I know you have already told us you've had 600 or 700 stakeholders contact you, so you are already developing a mailing list, I suspect, or an email list.
Can you tell us how you see the president of the CBC consulting with or having a dialogue with stakeholders. What would that look like to you as you work your way into this position or as you do the job?
Designate President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio-Canada, As an Individual
As we do in any other private company situation, when there are stakeholders who have a lot to say and who are impacted by the activities of a company, we sit down with them, we share views, we listen to what they say. And obviously in an environment that is as important and is as fishbowl an environment as CBC/Radio-Canada, where there are a number of players interested and impacted by CBC/Radio-Canada, this is something we have to do.
I just want to go back to the 600 or 700 people who wrote me. All of them were friends or people I knew. In terms of developing a mailing list, they were already on my mailing list.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Yes, I understand that.
Do you see that as a formal process or more of an informal process?
Designate President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio-Canada, As an Individual
It's an informal process, but some of these stakeholders I will want to sit down with because they are key to CBC evolving and moving on in the environment that it is in.
We will seek them out. I know they are going to seek me out. So we are going to look forward to these dialogues. It has to be open.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Do you see a need for any kind of formal advisory panel, or advisory committees, that kind of advisory mechanism? Is that something you see as useful in this kind of study?
Designate President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio-Canada, As an Individual
I'll look at that, sir, when I come into the position. I'll see how best I can tap the resources around us and make sure we understand, or I understand also, the environment in which I play.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
You also mentioned a dialogue with employees of the CBC. Do you see that happening in a different way, or how do you see that particular aspect?
Designate President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio-Canada, As an Individual
I'm starting now and trying to meet as many people as I can, sitting down with people from all over the organization. I'm obviously going to be travelling the country, because the reality is, it's not going to be Montreal-centric; it's going to be across the country. So I need to understand what our employees right now are thinking.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Do you see that as having any kind of formality to it, or again, is it sort of an informal process as you work your way into the job?
Designate President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio-Canada, As an Individual
I just want to make sure that the employees feel very free about the conversation we're going to have. It's going to take different formats. Perhaps sometimes it will be informal and sometimes it will be more formal.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
I wonder if you could comment a little on your sense of where audience share figures into decision-making around the success of programming. I think that comes up quite regularly. How do you see that issue?
Designate President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio-Canada, As an Individual
It's a very important question, because you've heard many times from my predecessor and the team that's in place, the famous sentence, “one cannot have a public broadcaster without a public”, and I believe that. It is absolutely one of the benchmarks, one of the measurements.
You probably saw on Tuesday how well CBC/Radio-Canada, on the radio side, did in all the ratings. So that's a measurement. It's one of many, but it's a really important one.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Stursberg was commenting recently on elitism and “the broadest possible offer”, was I think the phrase he put it in, and the dialogue between those two concepts.
How do you see that issue? Have you had discussions with him about that yet? I suspect you have.
Designate President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio-Canada, As an Individual
Oh yes, we have. Mr. Stursberg is a person with great vision. I really look forward to working with Richard.
The act asks the CBC to have a wide range of programs. It says the CBC should take these programs and deliver them in the best, most efficient ways to the greatest number of Canadians. That's where we start from. When we talk about culture, it talks about making sure we give Canadians the broadest array of smart, compelling Canadian programming. That's what we're going to try to do.
