Canadian Heritage Committee on Nov. 25th, 2014

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

I am very respectful. I just want to have answers.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Thank, you, Mr. Chair.

Can I complete my answer?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

But you are not answering the question.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

I was talking about the recession.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

There was a global recession, of course, but that is not the issue.

I want to know what is happening with Library and Archives Canada. That is my question.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Library and Archives Canada had to do its part, as well. We needed to find a way to protect Canadian jobs. That is what we did during the recession and the economic recovery. We brought together all of our crown corporations and departments. We found a way to satisfy the needs at the time. Back then...

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Thank you, Minister, but this is not what I am asking you.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

You want to know why that institution had to undergo cuts.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

No. It was subject to cuts, and that was the very core of the problem. These are blind cuts. If you knew that there was a problem, you should not have made those cuts. The same goes for the CBC.

You are claiming that the CBC was not affected by the $115-million cuts you imposed and that those cuts are not the cause of the problem. You think that the problem is caused by the fact that the CBC is unable to raise enough money through self-generated revenues.

Minister, do you know what percentage of all CBC revenues were self-generated in 2013?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Mr. Chair, I will be direct. I don't know why the member is getting upset with me. I am trying to answer his questions respectfully. I would simply like to...

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

I asked a specific question. What is the percentage?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

To finish what I was saying about Library and Archives Canada, I would say that cuts were made across government.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Chair, that is not...

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

We're trying to do this so that—

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

The minister wants to talk about something other than my question.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Mr. Dion, if you're asking a question, let the minister answer and then you can come back if you.... I think we need to be respectful or we're not going to be able to—

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

I'm very respectful. I'm just asking for answers to my specific questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

You can ask the question, but let the minister finish—

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Which percentage represents the revenue of Radio-Canada that is coming from their own source? That's the question.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Okay, Mr. Dion, you asked the question, now let the minister have the floor to answer it.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Perhaps I can just answer his question as directly as possible. With regard to advertising revenues for 2014-15, it's approximately 39.3%. With regard to revenues from the government—I can't read it, but—this chart I believe says 60.7%.

But let me be very clear, Mr. Chair, when the Liberals were in power... I'm a bit surprised that a member of the Liberal Party, who was part of cabinet at the time, would attack our government for doing what was necessary during a recession when they cut $411 million from the CBC, far more than what we're talking about today. I just want to get that in, to be fair. Thank you.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Minister, that actually accounts for about 40%. Do you know that this an all-time record? Do you know that the figure was 33% in 2006? CBC/Radio-Canada has never depended as much on self-generated revenues, including advertising revenues.

So here is my question. How can you accuse the CBC of not doing its part when that corporation has never generated so much revenue, not taking into account funds allocated by the state? Compared with public funding, the corporation's self-generated revenues now account for 45%. That proportion has never been as high.

Minister, the reason you used to explain why the CBC is struggling may not be the right one.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

I have the information concerning 1997. At the time, the percentage was 37.1%; in 1998, it was 35.1%; in 1999, it was 36.5%. As I said, that figure reached 39.3%, which is not above the average. I also want to repeat that the Liberal government made cuts totalling $411.1 million when it was in power. We did what had to be done.

At a time when we had a strategic plan to protect Canadian jobs, the CBC said it had what it needed to apply the strategy put forward by its president.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you.

We'll move now to Mr. Young for seven minutes.