Evidence of meeting #17 for Canadian Heritage in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was nfb.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL
No. You're misleading the committee, is what you're doing.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Moore
We've got 29 seconds left for this round, so I'm going to let Mr. Adler finish up.
Go ahead, Mr. Adler.
Conservative
Mark Adler Conservative York Centre, ON
Okay.
Again, I'm just curious how a private foundation...how The Test Tube could end up on the website.
Assistant Commissioner, National Film Board of Canada
No, it's not a partnership with the Suzuki Foundation; it's a project with David Suzuki, which we developed. It's not at all related to the foundation.
Conservative
Mark Adler Conservative York Centre, ON
Thank you.
Would you be open, then, to private organizations that are involved in the 150 appearing on your website, too? How would one go about doing that?
Assistant Commissioner, National Film Board of Canada
I'm not sure I understand your question.
Conservative
Mark Adler Conservative York Centre, ON
If a constituent of mine was heading up a project to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Confederation of Canada, how would they approach the National Film Board to appear on your website, just as David Suzuki did?
Assistant Commissioner, National Film Board of Canada
No, again, I'm sorry, we have no relationship with the David Suzuki Foundation on The Test Tube.
Conservative
Mark Adler Conservative York Centre, ON
No, I understand that, and I accept that, but I'm just wondering how someone else could end up also—
Assistant Commissioner, National Film Board of Canada
Well, we are always open to partnerships, absolutely. We favour them. It's something we would absolutely welcome, and we try to find the best approach. Again, given our limited means, we always want to leverage. So, absolutely, we would be very happy to entertain that.
NDP
Andrew Cash NDP Davenport, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Joli-Coeur, you referenced a strategic plan that the NFB developed four years ago. How long was that in the making, first of all?
Assistant Commissioner, National Film Board of Canada
Generally, the strategic plan comes with a new commissioner. Our commissioner was appointed in June 2005, and in the following months he developed this plan.
NDP
Andrew Cash NDP Davenport, ON
It was not part of the strategic plan. Okay.
I'm wondering if you could just clarify the issue of autonomy at the NFB. Canada 150 isn't part of the NFB's strategic plan. We have a government that wants to allocate resources and time, and it sounds to me like some ideological input as well, into Canada's 150. I'm wondering how that impacts the NFB and its autonomy.
You mentioned that if you're going to get involved in Canada 150, actually, additional sums probably need to be allocated for your involvement. It strikes me that this was not part of the NFB's direction, so I'm wondering how it became part of the NFB direction.
Assistant Commissioner, National Film Board of Canada
There will be a new strategic plan coming shortly. I would imagine that it will be in the next one because it will be covering that exact period.
In terms of autonomy, I can testify to the committee that we have total autonomy. We have absolutely no interference at all from the department. We have the full support of our minister, but we have never been influenced by anything coming from the department. There was never a call saying we should do a certain kind of project. We have total independence. I've been at the NFB for the last eight years in a senior position, and in my current position for the last four years, so I can tell you that for a fact.
What we do want, though, is to be strategic. We want to get as much focus as possible on what we decide to do to...what's globally going on. That's why we're a little opportunistic doing some projects, which is basically part of our mandate.
NDP
Andrew Cash NDP Davenport, ON
I understand that. You want to, as you say, be part of the fabric of what's going on, and you should be.
When you look at it in terms of the operational aspects of things, how much allocation do you think you're going to need to participate in the way you think NFB should and in a way that gives full voice to the multitude of stories, aspects, and opinions that we have here in this country? What kind of allocation do you think you are going to need?
Assistant Commissioner, National Film Board of Canada
It's way too early to put down any figures. Just to give you an example, we did what we did for Shanghai without any allocation from the government. We decided to take an important sum of money because we knew it would have a major impact. We devoted $1 million to that project. We got $500,000 from Cirque du Soleil, and we did a major flagship project. That was a lot of money for us, in terms of our $70 million budget.
We can't imagine something that will have a big impact, so it will remain small, given the overall projects that will be done for 2013-2017. It will really be a matter of what's going on globally and how we can fit that kind of project in with our limited means. It can be a flagship film. It can be a project. It can be a couple of million dollars. It's very early to say.
NDP
Andrew Cash NDP Davenport, ON
Listen, there is no question in my mind that the NFB is a major, significant part of how we talk about ourselves and how we talk to ourselves. The NFB has done great work. You have a lot of support in this room, I believe.
I want to ask you, does the occasional veering into big events—you mentioned Shanghai and when we're going to go to Canada 150? Is that a distraction sometimes to the NFB's mandate and main focus?
Assistant Commissioner, National Film Board of Canada
No, because every time we do a project.... For example, the project we did for Quebec City, Champlain retracé , was acclaimed around the world, in terms of a new way of telling stories in 3D. That was 2008. We took the opportunity of the 400th anniversary of Quebec, and we decided to do something that would be outstanding, in terms of storytelling and the way it was produced, using innovative 3D. We did the same thing for Shanghai. It was a film, to give you an example, where the screen was three times wider than an IMAX theatre and the same height. We did a film with a new technique of animating photos that was spectacular.
Every time we try to do something, our goal is always to do something that the private sector could not normally do. That's the only reason why there should be a public producer in Canada: to be the trailblazer and produce something that the private sector could not do easily or adequately in the normal—