Evidence of meeting #142 for Canadian Heritage in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cbcradio-canada.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
There were performance indicators in your salary agreement, and if you met your targets, you got a bonus. Is that correct?
Chief Executive Officer, TV5 Québec Canada, As an Individual
It was corporate policy, based on the corporation's overall performance, the performance of the division and individual performance.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
In response to one of my colleagues earlier, you said that CBC/Radio-Canada had gone through tough times in the past, including job cuts.
The corporation's funding has not been cut in the last nine years. However, the outcome was a 50% drop in the CBC's audience, and it was recently announced that 800 jobs would be cut.
Funding is not necessarily linked to performance. They don't necessarily go hand in hand. Would you agree?
Chief Executive Officer, TV5 Québec Canada, As an Individual
We have to agree on one thing: When we talk about performance, we're not just talking about television, but also radio and digital content. Many factors go into assessing the overall performance of the corporation in relation to its mission and mandate, on the one hand, and in relation to the various sectors of the organization, on the other. There is no equivalence between the two.
In addition, I would remind you that CBC/Radio-Canada's funding is not only public. There is also commercial revenue from advertising. Anyone could tell you that the market has been challenging for everyone in recent years. I can tell you more about TV5.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Indeed.
As you know, when it comes to the advertising pie, there is a difference between the private sector and the public sector. The public sector is subsidized while also getting a slice of the advertising pie. The private sector has to make do with advertising alone. I feel that there is unfair competition between the two. I come from that background.
Mrs. Bouchard, will you cancel the performance bonuses at CBC/Radio-Canada when you become its CEO?
Chief Executive Officer, TV5 Québec Canada, As an Individual
When I take up my position, I will read the analysis that was commissioned. I will assess, together with the board of directors, what future policies need to be put in place to be fair to our employees and, at the same time, to ensure the sound governance of our compensation regime.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
If I understand correctly, you're not opposed to it.
Chief Executive Officer, TV5 Québec Canada, As an Individual
What I want you to keep in mind is that I have no preconceptions and will rely on the facts.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Personally, what I understand is that you're not opposed to the idea.
Chief Executive Officer, TV5 Québec Canada, As an Individual
What I'm going to do is look at the study.
Conservative
Liberal
Liberal
Michael Coteau Liberal Don Valley East, ON
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Thank you so much for being here. I join my colleague opposite in congratulating you on this extraordinary opportunity to look for ways to strengthen not only the organization as a whole but also the perception out there.
As you know, over the last several months, we've been meeting with CBC through this committee process and talking about some controversial issues, such as performance pay, or “bonuses”, as some refer to them. I believe you have an opportunity to go in there and review processes to better align with where Canadians are at. I've said that from the very beginning. There is an opportunity to....
Madam Chair, there are a lot of people talking while I'm talking.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
I'm sorry. The clerk and I are trying to figure out the number of rounds we have left.
Liberal
Michael Coteau Liberal Don Valley East, ON
Can you pull back 20 seconds? I'll start from there.
Congratulations. I think you have a great opportunity to review some of the processes to better align with where Canadians are at. However, you have a huge challenge in front of you.
CBC, to me, is the number one asset owned by Canadians. It helps promote our culture. It preserves our heritage. It educates. It fights against disinformation and misinformation. This is a huge asset for Canadians. I'm a big supporter of it.
However, I know there are a lot of people out there—maybe 20% or 30%—who would like to defund the CBC. If you google “defund the CBC”, the first thing that pops up is the Conservatives' website. They're fundraising off the issue. They are playing to a base. They're raising money off this issue, because there are Canadians out there who would love to defund it. However, the majority of Canadians want the CBC here. They want to support it. You have an enormous task in front of you.
Here is my first question: You've been at TV5 over the last several years and have spent much time at CBC, but what have you learned outside of CBC that you think can apply to CBC, based on your experience outside of it?
Chief Executive Officer, TV5 Québec Canada, As an Individual
I have learned many things. I think I alluded to some of this earlier.
One of the biggest learnings from my time at TV5 is how you can go much further when you collaborate. CBC is a big organization. It's deep, and there are always challenges for collaboration inside. Sometimes I think it could benefit from being more connected to more components of our ecosystem. It is already very much connected, and I'm not saying this is a new idea. However, going forward, with the challenges we have as a country and as different peoples—francophones, anglophones and first nations—there's so much risk of losing our culture that we need to collaborate better.
I also think there's a depth of resources and expertise at CBC/Radio-Canada that could benefit the whole ecosystem, so I'll be looking for ways to better connect the corporation with other pieces that support Canadian culture and journalism.
Liberal
Michael Coteau Liberal Don Valley East, ON
Governments' budgets have become tighter over the last two decades. Things have become more challenging for governments, not only in Canada but around the world, when it comes to supporting public broadcasters. There may be, potentially, future governments that would like to defund the CBC. They said this. The Leader of the Opposition said that he would do this.
Why did you decide to take this job, considering the enormous challenges you have in front of you?
Chief Executive Officer, TV5 Québec Canada, As an Individual
I have public broadcasting at heart. I've been doing this for a long time. To be frank, when the search for candidates started, I was approached and I said no. Then I volunteered for the minister's expert committee because I thought, “Okay, that's going to be my contribution. I'm going to go and give back my ideas and benefits from what I've learned through my contacts internationally.”
Then it started working in my head that there are so many opportunities, and it's so precious for all Canadians and for future generations that we, together, figure out this problem. There's a limit in resources—I understand that—and we have to be really efficient, but there's an incredible wealth in this idea of a broadcaster, a medium, that belongs to the public and whose first focus is the audience.
Liberal
Michael Coteau Liberal Don Valley East, ON
I wish you all the best. I hope that your vision, once implemented, eventually wins the hearts of even more Canadians and maybe even our colleagues opposite.
Thank you so much.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you, Mr. Coteau.
I now go to Monsieur Champoux for two and a half minutes, please.
Bloc
Martin Champoux Bloc Drummond, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Two and a half minutes is quite short.
Mrs. Bouchard, I want to ask you to tell us a little about Radio-Canada's essential impact on the entire cultural sector in Quebec and on francophone Canada as a whole.
What impact can the French public broadcaster have on the work of our technicians, creators, producers and artisans?
What would be the main repercussions of reducing the public broadcaster's funding on cultural workers and the cultural industry?
Chief Executive Officer, TV5 Québec Canada, As an Individual
It's vital. This is so important because the entire media sector obviously suffers from a lack of funding. In addition, Radio-Canada has a presence in all regions and in all artistic fields. Music in particular is an area I'm familiar with. I used to run music radio.
Without Radio-Canada, it would be extremely difficult and challenging, if not impossible, for many artists to have a career. Emerging artists from all genres receive support, whether in classical, jazz, French chanson or what have you. By that I mean that the public service's mission is to support arts and culture, and without CBC/Radio-Canada, our cultural sector would be in woeful shape.