Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'm pleased to be here to provide an update on CBC/Radio-Canada to the committee.
We shared with you a letter back in March to clarify the facts about our financial situation. Since then, our financial outlook has improved. Last December's estimated shortfall of $125 million for fiscal year 2024-25 has been reduced to about $20 million. This reduction is due to steps we have taken, including significant cuts to our operational costs, the elimination of 205 vacant positions and 141 occupied positions, and the additional $42-million investment in the recent federal budget. This will allow us to maintain our services and to manage this year without further job cuts to balance our budget.
However, to be clear, we are not out of the woods. You have heard it from other witnesses: All Canadian media organizations face serious challenges from a digital world ruled by global players who simply do not share the same commitment to our country's interests.
I believe this is what this committee should consider today. How will we—here in Canada—support our own media ecosystem when the dominant players are leveraging global revenues with little regard for the needs of our local communities?
We saw it last summer when Meta blocked Canadian news in the middle of a national fire emergency, when communities facing evacuation desperately needed up-to-date information.
Canadians are spending more and more time on digital platforms. Canadian media, broadcasters and newspapers are subject to laws and regulations as well as established standards of accuracy, impartiality and balance. Foreign digital platforms operate in Canada without any of these obligations.
There's another problem. The more time that Canadians spend on foreign platforms, the less they are finding out about their own country, the challenges we share and the things we have in common. That mutual understanding is the glue that keeps societies together.
We believe that the role for the public broadcaster is to connect Canadians to ensure that they know what's going on in their communities and across the country. I'd like to quickly give you just a few examples of what CBC/Radio-Canada does to strengthen these national conversations.
Our presence in communities means that we share local stories with the entire country. We've been shifting resources to expand that presence to places like Kingston, Nanaimo, Grand Prairie and Lethbridge. It's a start, but there are still 35 communities with populations of over 50,000 that don't have a local CBC/Radio-Canada presence.
We present big nation-building events like the Olympics and Paralympics, the ADISQ gala and the Junos. These events bring Canadians together in the millions and they showcase the incredible talent we have in this country.
We're committed to reaching young Canadians and newcomers where they are. That's why we launched Collab, our partnership with hundreds of libraries across the country. We host media literacy programs, teach podcasting and video production and introduce new audiences to Canadian music, books and other great programming. We're the only media in Canada offering children kids' news in both English and French on digital, on TikTok, on YouTube and in the classroom. It helps them decipher their world and learn how to develop digital smarts and critical thinking about the news.
We showcase uniquely Canadian stories. Lakay Nou on Radio-Canada is winning praise for its portrayal of Montreal’s Haitian-Canadian community. Bones of Crows is the first indigenous drama in the history of television produced in English, French and Cree.
Still Standing takes Canadians to small towns they may never have heard of and shows us how much we all have in common. No one else does this.
Just this morning, we announced our latest project, Public Spaces Incubator, a first ever collaboration between four public broadcasters—