Evidence of meeting #22 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 crtc.
A recording is available from Parliament.
6:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you.
Mr. Waugh or Ms. Thomas, whomever is the person up for the Conservative Party, you have five minutes.
6:15 p.m.
Saskatoon—Grasswood, CPC
Thank you, Chair.
Let me get my head around this. The CRTC has never regulated newspapers. You have never, in 53 years at CRTC, regulated newspapers in this country.
6:15 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Correct.
6:15 p.m.
Saskatoon—Grasswood, CPC
Now, with Bill C-18, you're going to be asked to regulate newspapers—for money, because of the Internet. I was a broadcaster for over 40 years, and when I heard this, it was like, “whoa”.
You made a statement, Mr. Scott, that without the CRTC, there would be no francophone content because it does not make sense economically. You also talked about indigenous content. Yet in terms of broadcasting, I would say that the French and the indigenous have been shortchanged for 53 years by radio and TV in this country. Thank god we now have APTN, which has filled some of the shortcomings in this country. I can't—
6:15 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Created by the CRTC, and mandatory carriage demanded by the CRTC.
6:15 p.m.
Saskatoon—Grasswood, CPC
Exactly. But why are you looking after newspapers? For 53 years that wasn't your mandate, and it shouldn't be your mandate to look after newspapers in this country.
6:15 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
My understanding of the intent of legislation is not for us to regulate newspapers, and certainly not the content or publication or distribution, but rather the remuneration. Even at that, as I understand the model, we are there to deal with situations where there's a failure to reach commercial arrangements between the supplier, so to speak, of news and those who are redistributing it and profiting from it. Our role will be to set up those regulatory parameters in the face of situations where commercial negotiations aren't successful.
6:15 p.m.
Saskatoon—Grasswood, CPC
Really, it's totally outside—today—your realm of responsibility—
6:15 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
No. I mean, you just pointed out that broadcast news, which we've been regulating for 50 years, is news, and that is part of it, and it is a challenge for Canadian broadcasters to properly fund and support news.
We also do a great deal of mediation and arbitration in all sectors, but particularly in broadcasting, largely between distributors and suppliers—suppliers of programming and those who distribute it—so we have extensive experience in both areas.
6:15 p.m.
Saskatoon—Grasswood, CPC
When you look at the broadcasting field today, has it failed under the CRTC? We have fewer stations and more black stations, dark stations, that have just simply turned off the radio dial, and fewer people in newsrooms in this country.
When you leave in September, do you look back at the last five years and say: “God, we have lost x number of radio stations in this country. We have lost hundreds—if not thousands—of broadcasters in this country.”
When you leave in September, what do you say to your leadership on the CRTC when we see that in this country today—and I'm part of it, local news, and Lisa was part of it—that has diminished to next to nothing in this country? What would you say to that?
6:20 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
I would fundamentally disagree with the premise of your question.
6:20 p.m.
Saskatoon—Grasswood, CPC
How can you say that? The numbers support what I have just said.
6:20 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
If you'll allow me to try to answer, I'll try to answer.
6:20 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
First of all, hundreds of stations have not gone dark, and in fact—
6:20 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Very, very few stations in Canada have gone dark, and the fact of the matter is that the Canadian broadcasting system is quite successful. We do have—
6:20 p.m.
Saskatoon—Grasswood, CPC
It's successful when you turn on a radio station for 6 hours and the rest is satellite for 18 hours of the 24 hours...? In my city of Saskatoon right now, there are three announcers at one station. They do a three-hour shift and then they go ahead and do Calgary radio. Then they do voice track for Edmonton radio. That's successful...? Do you even know that's happening in this industry right now?
6:20 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Thank you.
Yes, we're quite aware of what's happening in the—
6:20 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Would you like us now to regulate the content? Is that effectively what you're saying, that now we should determine—
6:20 p.m.
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!