Canadian Heritage Committee on March 10th, 2026

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Again, I would like to thank all the witnesses for joining us today. This extremely important study addresses a topic that remains of great concern. The variety of media sectors represented here speaks to this.

I'll start with you, Ms. Carrero. We hear a great deal about community media. We know that times are tough and that the support isn't commensurate with the needs. I'll put the same question to Mr. Deegen, who represents the print media. However, I'll start with you, because you raised the issue of the journalism initiative, or LJI.

Have your members noticed a drop in the support provided by this program? Does this support still live up to their expectations? I know that it's vital to ensure journalistic coverage in the regions of Quebec and in other places, of course.

How do things stand with you and your members when it comes to the LJI?

[Angelica Carrero]

Yes, the LJI is a measure we appreciate. It's funding that's available to stations. We haven't noticed any particular decline. Stations apply and hope to receive funding. However, we certainly hope that it will be renewed in time for the 2026 budget.

I would also add that, sometimes, it's a rather odd situation. Although a station may qualify for LJI support, it still needs to find and hire staff. So it's not just a matter of having the subsidy; you also have to be able to use it. That's a whole other story, but I wanted to point that out. Otherwise, we appreciate the LJI. Again, as I was saying, we're really hoping to see a renewal for the 2026 budget.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

I also wanted to ask you this question, Mr. Deegan, because I know that your members are often supporters of this program, which is very important, not only for coverage, as I was saying, but also for print media. My colleague Andréanne Larouche, the member for Shefford, received a comment from Val‑Ouest, a community newspaper in her region, that funding was 30% lower this year. That has a huge impact on small regional print media, as well as on community media.

Have you seen this concern among other members of News Media Canada?

[Paul Deegan]

Yes. Newspapers benefiting from the program received about $37,000 per journalist this year, and we have about 200 journalists in the program. It's very important to weeklies and other independent and community media in Canada.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Have your members told you that the program was less generous toward them this year?

[Paul Deegan]

Yes.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

So we're still waiting on an expansion of this program that's essential to cover media deserts, which we discussed briefly. News deserts are everywhere, and this program is part of the efforts to address them. Thank you very much.

I'll come back to you, Ms. Carrero, because we talked about AI earlier. It will certainly come up often in this study. In community media, I imagine you don't use artificial intelligence for news broadcasting and production. However, some media outlets are turning to this technology for very real financial reasons, and these are often media outlets that have access to funding programs to which you don't have access.

How do you view this kind of distortion in the fairness of the rules? I guess it isn't a reason to crack open the champagne.

[Angelica Carrero]

No, you're absolutely right.

You can clearly see that community radio stations work with certain principles and certain missions that they try to carry out as best they can. If any organizations can take advantage of AI, it's community radio stations, since they don't have the staff, because they don't have the funds needed. Yes, it's a bit nonsensical that other media can receive certain subsidies to which community radio doesn't have access.

So it's a big question. Community radio stations must uphold their mission. Those tools do exist, and we can't ignore them. Yes, we would like some help in that regard.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

I'd like to ask all the witnesses a question about federal ad placements in general and the somewhat of a transfer of ad placements from traditional media to digital media. I've been in my position since 2019, and today we're asking for the same thing as we were then: that the government commit to investing less in foreign digital platforms and investing more in traditional media.

I'll turn to Friends of Canadian Media, who have been working on this for years.

Do you feel that this is a lost cause, that the government—

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

I'm sorry, Mr. Champoux, but there isn't enough time left for a response.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

They can respond a little later.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

They may be able to respond next time, perhaps.

Mr. Diotte, you now have the floor for five minutes.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Dhanraj, I found your testimony quite fascinating. I myself was a journalist for 30 years. I was also the national director of the Canadian Association of Journalists.

Journalism has indeed changed. You noted that you used to sit down and listen to Knowlton Nash as a trusted voice. As a kid, I remember watching Lloyd Robertson. Peter Kent, Stanley Burke.... Ironically, Peter Kent stepped down in 1978 after criticizing political interference from the Liberal prime minister.

The CBC does talk about being diverse, inclusive, fair and balanced, yet one of the CBC's premier segments is something called At Issue, which features Toronto Star journalists Chantal Hébert and Althia Raj and Globe and Mail journalist Andrew Coyne. In what universe is this diverse, fair or balanced as a news panel?

[Travis Dhanraj]

The National makes their own decisions, I suppose, in terms of who they put on that panel. It's Ms. Barton's panel, so I guess you'll have to talk to her about the editorial decisions.

What I was attempting to do on this program was have a diversity of opinion. When they cancelled the panel, I sent a note to panellists asking for feedback, and I was disciplined for that.

I want to talk about the NDA I got, because it's important. I was raising concerns about editorial...and was slapped with an NDA, which is a practice that the CBC is using frequently and was raised by Dave Seglins. You guys all have the paper. “Dhanraj has considered whether he has a human rights complaint with respect to the issues in dispute and, by his signature below, confirms that he does not. Further, he confirms that he seeks no right or remedy under the Canadian Human Rights Act, as amended with respect to the issues in dispute, and any such claim is barred by this agreement.”

That should be shocking to every member on this committee, and I hope that other members on the committee take an interest in the issues I'm outlining here, because it is very important. We should not have a public institution silencing their own employees and having them waive their rights under the Canadian Human Rights Act. That should be shocking.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Getting back to the bigger issue of fairness and balance in news, you mentioned at one point that CBC management actually prevented you from interviewing Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre on your show. Can you describe what happened there?

[Travis Dhanraj]

I basically wasn't allowed to pick up the phone and talk to Conservatives.

I have some Gchats here. I want to read you part of them. I'm talking to my senior producer and asking—this is an editorial discussion—if we can get a Conservative perspective. That's essentially what I'm saying. “It is a no to the Conservatives”, I'm told. “We can't chase anyone from the entire party. The chase is with P&P.” If Power & Politics is not able to secure a Conservative or somebody who presents an alternate perspective, then we are not allowed to.

I'm told at one point, “We're sure that there's a myriad of other types of interesting guests that you can chase outside of the Conservatives.” “Can I be included on conversations with Power & Politics?” I'm told, “That's not how we work.”

I said to management, “By playing petty office politics, we feed into Conservative narratives that we have a bias against them. Canada Tonight is a melting pot of news of the day, and politics and decisions from it largely impact Canadians, so we need flexibility to respond to emerging stories.”

Yes, I wasn't even allowed to pick up the phone and call to request Pierre Poilievre. Look at what happened when I had Melissa Lantsman on my show. I was threatened with being pulled off the air, and the CBC then said in a news statement that they didn't threaten to do that. There were recordings of them trying to do this.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Why do you think they were doing that?

[Travis Dhanraj]

There's an effort to essentially protect those in Ottawa, in terms of their perspectives on these things and in terms of who they want on the show.

We did an interview with Karen Johnson, my co-host on the new podcast I'm doing. It is out right now. She's another former CBC employee who is talking about the toxic culture. She alleges that she was called a “brown Barbie” and a “bimbo”. She says there's a high school culture, and these are things that...this is fine. If you have hosts doing that—it's not fine—management is responsible for dealing with it. If management is not going to do anything and if the president of the CBC is going to come here and expect a tongue-lashing and then go back to the CBC and continue to get funding without accountability, these practices will continue.

Shame is clearly not enough to get the CBC to a place where it will hold itself accountable, so it's incumbent upon this committee to do that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Ms. Royer, you have the floor now for five minutes. Go ahead.

[Zoe Royer, Liberal, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to begin by welcoming witnesses from my community: Janis Cleugh and Mario Bartel of Freshet News. Thank you both for your decades of service.

When Glacier Media's Tri-City News closed last year, it was a devastating loss for our riding of Port Moody—Coquitlam. I'm extremely grateful that veteran reporters like you stepped forward—

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

I'm sorry. Ms. Royer, your audio is a little low for the interpreters. I'm hearing that they are having trouble hearing you. Can you try moving your boom closer to your mouth and see if that's any better?

[Zoe Royer, Liberal, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Is that better?

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Yes, I think it's better. Keep that boom close to your mouth. It just sounded as if you were a bit far away.

[Zoe Royer, Liberal, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

I'll keep it close. Are we going to start the clock from the beginning?

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

You can have your time back.