Canadian Heritage Committee on Sept. 29th, 2016

[Martin Cauchon]

When we acquired the six daily newspapers in Quebec, at first it was a business model. At the time, the Gesca group chose a business model for La Presse+ that, as we know, has been a resounding success. Gesca remains a world leader in the field. I applaud those people because they had the courage to make the necessary investment and develop the product, which is the only one of its kind in the world.

However, the fact is that the Groupe Capitales Médias and the La Presse+ media were following two parallel paths, and that, as time passed, these paths spread further and further apart.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Were you expecting such a quick collapse of the advertising framework?

[Martin Cauchon]

When I acquired the newspapers, the difficulties were apparent.

Did things happen faster than anticipated? I can speak on behalf of the coalition members and say that the collapse has been brutal.

Again, we must look back. As I mentioned earlier, we decided to develop a number of platforms. For all the newspapers in the group, readership has never been as strong. Mr. Myles, for Le Devoir, and the other coalition members would tell you the same thing. The finding is very strong. There is a will, a need and a use.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

You're right.

[Martin Cauchon]

This has resulted in a fundamentally unfair situation. I'm in favour of competition, as long as it's fair.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I understand.

[Martin Cauchon]

We're asking to receive assistance for a few years.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I agree with you.

I have a follow-up question for Mr. Myles. The people from Maclean's and Carole Beaulieu from L'actualité told me that their readership has never been as strong, but that they've never had as little advertising. I have a hypothesis about that acceleration, but I would ruffle feathers by stating it.

Is it possible that advertising agencies and agencies that purchase seconds and minutes on the television, radio, and so on, receive a significant kickback if they choose digital media rather than the usual advertising service?

Mr. Myles, what do you think?

[Brian Myles]

In my view, advertising agencies and their clients must do some soul searching. The client, which is the government, to some extent, says that it has an annual budget of $20 million and that the agency must provide a return on its advertising investment. Inevitably, the agency will try to opt for the least expensive client portfolio management.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Do you think it's important meet with these people to hear their version of the story?

[Brian Myles]

I think the agency will adopt the mandate of Public Works and Government Services Canada, which manages investments for all the departments. That's where an ethical investment policy becomes important.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Certainly for governments, but—

[Brian Myles]

The instruction must be given to favour national media first and foremost and not to only consider value for money by investing in programmatic advertising on Google and Facebook.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

You used the word “programmatic”, which we've heard a few times.

As a client, the government must undoubtedly adhere to a policy and a vision and establish why it's purchasing the advertising. However, Angelo's Pizza wants the most bang for its buck, and we can't expect otherwise.

That said, the idea is good. Often interests overlap, and those interests are not always expressed. Without putting anyone on the spot, I want to know whether Le Journal de Québec and Le Journal de Montréal have shown interest in joining the movement you launched yesterday in Montreal.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Larry Maguire]

You have just a few seconds left.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Can we let him answer? Okay, thank you.

[Brian Myles]

They are welcome to join us if they wish to do so, but it would be up to them to answer the question and justify their absence.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Larry Maguire]

I know there are more questions. With the committee's indulgence, I'll allow another question. Is it Mr. Breton or Mr. Fergus? Both were interested.

[Pierre Breton, Liberal, Shefford, QC]

It's me.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Larry Maguire]

Mr. Breton. Okay, go ahead.

[Pierre Breton, Liberal, Shefford, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here. Your recommendations are very clear and specific, which I truly appreciate.

I represent the Shefford constituency, which includes Granby. Mr. Cauchon, La Voix de l'Est covers 100% of my constituency. It's important. The quality information in the newspaper plays a central role in the daily life of citizens in my constituency. Every day, when I walk around the constituency, people speak to me about La Voix de l'Est and the local information in the paper.

I don't see how your newspaper could no longer exist tomorrow. Who will speak of the municipal council of each village? Who will speak of the soccer club that won the tournament in Repentigny? Who will speak of local artists who stand out and who want to develop in our society?

Clearly an unfair situation exists with regard to the major players. You don't need to convince me of the need for government intervention to support the various daily newspapers that constitute traditional media for me. The need is clear.

You spoke of temporary assistance or transitional assistance. I want to go back to that. It was vaguely referred to earlier. I heard a reference to two or three years. I want you to clarify this temporary assistance. What does it imply? I don't know whether it was Mr. Myles or Mr. Cauchon, but it was interesting when you said that you didn't want to depend on the government, but that you were in crisis and it was probably the time to help you.

Can you elaborate on this?

[Brian Myles]

We're asking for five years of assistance. We think that will be long enough to finish the transition that has already started. Contrary to what people sometimes think, we weren't “asleep at the switch.” We didn't wait for the digital revolution to start moving. Le Devoir was the first Quebec media outlet to have a website in the mid-1990s. We have all been developing applications.

[Martin Cauchon]

It was after Le Soleil.

[Brian Myles]

It was after Le Soleil? So it was the first independent media outlet to have a website.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!