We find it very hard to understand why the idea of reducing or cancelling funding for CBC/Radio-Canada is a priority for some people, when, as I said, many surveys show that's not what Canadians want.
According to our own survey, which we conducted last December, a majority of Canadians even get their news from CBC/Radio-Canada. The CBC is the news source that English-speaking Canadians trust most. For the francophone population, particularly in Quebec, La Presse is the primary source, but Radio-Canada is a very close second. I think Radio-Canada is probably one of the only news sources that francophone communities outside Quebec have on the ground.
I've previously done interviews with Radio-Canada in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, and I'm sure the member has conducted many as well. We can't be sure that services will continue if funding is reduced or cancelled. When Ms. Tait appeared here, we heard her say how close the two institutions are, but they operate separately at the editorial level. Radio-Canada has its own ways of doing things, but, from the standpoint of resources in the field, we know they're very close and often work together.
The other question that isn't often asked is whether the anglophone majority alone would agree to pay for the francophone population. I'm sure anglophones would have something to say if everyone were asked to pay for a service offered solely to francophones.