Canadian Heritage Committee on March 21st, 2011

[Ian Morrison]

An affiliate.

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

An affiliate, thank you.

Do you know who operates those two affiliate stations in Ontario?

[Ian Morrison]

It was the man who had trouble understanding your question.

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

It's Corus.

[Ian Morrison]

Yes, Mr. Maavara from Corus, who was here on November 23, but I imagine you're aware of that as well.

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

Yes. In fact, I encourage you to write the gentleman who wrote me the letter. His name is Shaun Poulter. I encourage you to ask Mr. Poulter about my work behind the scenes to ensure that affiliate agreement was extended in Peterborough so that CBC programming would continue to air on CHEX-TV, because unlike a lot of communities--and I think we could go around the table and find some communities where CBC has lost local programming--their reach into those local communities is limited. In fact, in a lot of major markets, CBC news regularly ranks third or fourth where it used to be number one in the ratings. In my community that's not the case; it's number one and it has been for a long time.

A lot of people watch CHEX. It's a healthy station. When we did the study on local television stations, to which Madame Lavallée referred, we found that most of the stations were losing money, except for two, and there were three in the west as well, which are owned by the Pattison Group.

[Ian Morrison]

That's right.

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

Two stations in Ontario were not losing money and they were the Kingston and the Peterborough affiliates of the CBC. I was fighting to make sure that they extended those affiliate agreements. Shortly after Gary Maavara appeared here with Corus, are you aware that they extended those affiliate agreements in Peterborough and Kingston?

[Ian Morrison]

You have criticized me, but I praise you because I think what you're doing is very valuable in pushing the CBC to extend those affiliate agreements. However, I would also say to you that Peterborough and the surrounding Kawarthas area, which is larger than your constituency—

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

Yes.

[Ian Morrison]

The footprint of that channel is quite substantial. It goes up to Haliburton and down almost to Lake Ontario. It is the only local television available to people in your area. We could say the same thing about CKVR in Barrie, for the whole Barrie-Huronia area, one-quarter of a million people. That is very important in the Canadian audiovisual system.

I can't tell if you're writing, Mr. Chair, or just waving at me.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Neither.

[Ian Morrison]

Okay.

In fact, we commissioned research on this topic from Canadian Media Research Inc. What I would say to you is that when Canadians are asked if they could only receive one channel, what would that channel be and what would they be watching, they say local news is their very top priority. Their second priority is national news. There may be a difference in what they mean by national. Their third priority is international news. After that, it's sports, Hollywood, and things like that. Canadians care about that local programming.

CBC at one point abandoned that role in its television work and it's gradually coming back to it. But I point out to you, and I'll say this briefly, that to do that well is expensive. There are 30 or 40 places in Canada that are like Peterborough and the Kawarthas. It costs more. You have to have cameras, staff, people, and amortize the cost over a small audience, rather than national programming, where you amortize it, in the English Canadian sense, over 26 million people. That is a very high priority.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Morrison.

Mr. Del Mastro, do you have another question or comment?

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

No. I would merely close by telling Mr. Morrison that—I'll be clear with you—I didn't appreciate being the punch toy of your fundraising letter, especially when you quoted me out of context. Madame Folco may not be aware of that, but my likeness was used on mailings that were sent across Canada and I was misquoted.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Okay.

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

What I was seeking to do, as I just indicated to you now, was place pressure upon a network to extend an affiliate agreement.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Del Mastro.

Thank you, Mr. Morrison, for your testimony.

[Ian Morrison]

Could I say one thing, sir, for 10 seconds?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Very briefly.

[Ian Morrison]

I just want to tell you that I do not agree with Mr. Del Mastro--

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

[Ian Morrison]

--and we did not misquote him.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

I appreciate you clarifying your position on this.

We're going to now move to a consideration of a motion that Madame Lavallée is going to move.

Madame Lavallée, would you move your motion?

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Yes, I think everyone has it in hand.

As you know, the CBC has presented us with its five-year plan. Several witnesses have testified about it. Because time is short, and we don't know what is going to happen this week, I think it is urgent to move the motion that you have in hand.

It reads as follows: It is proposed that it be recommended that the federal government provide CSC with stable funding until 2015-2016 to carry out its five-year' plan, as presented to the Standing Committee on Heritage, and definitively include additional annual funding of $60 million and it will be reported to the Chamber at the first opportunity.