Evidence of meeting #17 for Canadian Heritage in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cbc.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
James Moore Conservative Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC
First, Charlie, I think you need to get out of this habit of taking some quotes and not understanding the full conversation, and the context—
Conservative
James Moore Conservative Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC
Charlie, I didn't interrupt your question, and I think you can extend—
Conservative
James Moore Conservative Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC
If you extend the same courtesy to me as I did to you, I will gladly answer.
I think you need to get out of the habit of looking at newspaper articles and taking some quotes that are portions of some conversations and suggesting that somehow reflects some kind of a policy position.
I was asked a particular question by a reporter about a particular kind of support that might be offered to the CBC, and I said that wasn't considered. The quote you're now going to try to read and hit me with is not within the context of the question. The question, as you'll note in the newspaper article, is not in fact printed.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
“A loan against future allocations was never discussed”. End of story.
Anyway, I only have a few minutes.
Conservative
James Moore Conservative Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC
No, I'm sorry, Charlie, it's not the end of the story. You asked me a question and I'm going to answer it.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Minister, that was the quote, so don't say it's out of context. That was a quote.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Schellenberger
Mr. Angus, you asked the question. Let the minister respond, please.
Conservative
James Moore Conservative Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC
Are you inventing words now, Charlie?
The reality is, Charlie, as you should know—but you can take advantage of it if you like—that in politics quotes are often taken out of context within the context of newspaper articles.
We have a very strong and healthy working relationship with the CBC, and I can tell you that I'm not responsible for headlines that were written in the Ottawa Sun or the Toronto Sun. And you can make comments, as you will, about quotes or heckles that may or may not be made in the House of Commons, and I'm not a member of this committee, but let me just address the loan issue.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Okay, just to be clear, so it's on the record, did you not say, “A loan against future allocations was never discussed...I don't know where that came from”? Is that a fact?
Conservative
Conservative
Conservative
Tim Uppal Conservative Edmonton—Sherwood Park, AB
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Minister, thank you for taking the time to being here. Just from the display at the beginning of this session, it's unfortunate that the opposition is more concerned about these kinds of cheap photo ops and corny stunts. It's unfortunate.
But I really wanted to talk to you about results for Canadians, about what this government has been doing for results for Canadians. Can you give us some details pertaining to the Canada Media Fund and how this is going to help?
Conservative
James Moore Conservative Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC
Sure, but I really would like to continue to try answer Charlie. He's interested in continuing question period rather than having an answer. I'd be glad to explain the quote and glad to explain the question of the loan, but he's more--
Conservative
James Moore Conservative Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC
Well, sure, I'd be glad to.
As is always the case, Mr. Chairman, in this place, as you know, it's a tactic of opposition politics to take a quote, take it out of context, throw it back, and ask, “Did it happen?” I was answering a question from a reporter about a different conversation; it was taken entirely out of context, both in the newspaper article itself and in the way in which, of course, Charlie Angus is using it here.
I have a complete and full understanding of the financial situation at CBC/Radio-Canada and a complete and full understanding of the request that was made by CBC/Radio-Canada. We have a very healthy, strong working relationship. The decision that was made was entirely, in my judgment, in the best interests of taxpayers, in the best interests of the corporation, and in the best interests of the long-term reality of the broadcasting industry.
Now, with regard to the Canada Media Fund, this is a modernization that needs to happen. When you're going through cyclical changes in the economy and a cyclical downturn and structural changes in an entire industry, I think one of the most responsible things for the government to do is ensure that the kinds of funds and programs they're setting up are flexible and can adapt to the realities of the future.
That's what the Canada Media Fund is about. We've merged the Canadian Television Fund and the Canada New Media Fund into the Canada Media Fund. It is done in such a way as to rebuild the partnership with private broadcasters and in a way that will allow more money and more flexibility over time for the creation of Canadian content on multiple platforms. This is what's needed. I did the announcement at the studios of Flashpoint, a CTV show that's available in streaming online. It's available on the Internet. You can watch it on Friday nights as well.
I also give the example all the time of the CBC. I really think CBC is to be commended and is really leading the way in multimedia, multi-platform content provision. I give this example all the time. I don't know that I've ever listened to Q with Jian Ghomeshi, but I watch it all the time. I download his video podcast and I watch his show all the time because they film it in such a way that they actually show it by video, but I've never listened to it. I almost never watch Don Newman's show Politics, but I always listen to it, because it's available on audio podcast.
This is sort of the new reality, where you have what is traditionally a television show available in multimedia platform so you can download it and listen to it at your convenience, but it's only available in audio format, and a radio show that's broadcast across the country but is available online in video format. So on the concept of a television show versus a radio show, these things are entirely converging, as are, of course, movies, podcasts, and radio shows. All these things are converging into what used to be called “new media” but now is just media.
So we've updated and improved the fund. We've merged the Television Fund and the New Media Fund to create the Canada Media Fund to support these kinds of productions. These funds are going to be available. There's going to be a set-aside for official language and minority content. There's going to be a set-aside for production in French to ensure that there's equal distribution in both official languages.
This is what we need more of: the government stepping up, modernizing, and improving the kinds of investments that we make for media creation so it's available on multiple platforms. CBC has really led the way, and we want to encourage private broadcasters and those creators on the ground to have access to funds in order to create the kind of content that Canadians want to watch on the platform in which they choose to watch it.
Conservative
Tim Uppal Conservative Edmonton—Sherwood Park, AB
Do you have a sense of what third parties, those that will be affected, are saying about this fund?
