Information & Ethics Committee on Oct. 20th, 2011

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

Not specifically. But I would be inclined to think that's the kind of thing that comes from the newsroom.

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

But you don't know.

You mentioned in your statement that a couple of pieces of information that were requested from freedom of information were outdoor advertising and some information on a commercial magazine and that you were concerned that this was blocked out. Don't you see those types of requests as a way of getting to the commercial activities of the CBC? It was part of the freedom of information, part of that. They are allowed to protect that information for commercial interests.

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

No, we don't.

I guess probably Radio-Canada/CBC itself would consider that the Access to Information Act needs to be interpreted generously, not limiting. So therefore I don't see any relation with commercial.... Because if they were to raise this, they would raise it all the time. And as I've been using as an example, a fleet of cars would all eventually be in commercial matters. So you would raise and use commercial matters to just say no to all questions.

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

You brought up outdoor advertising. Would you mind telling us how much money Quebecor/Sun Media spends on outdoor advertising in the country?

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

Why would I do that?

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Well, I'm asking. You asked the question to the CBC; I'm asking the question to you.

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

First of all, I'm not asking. The editorial departments are asking this question, and this is a public corporation. They receive over $1 billion of public funds. Why would we do this?

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Sir, don't you see that if certain information was given to you, it would be in your commercial best interests to know what they're spending on advertising so you can adjust your course on advertising?

You mentioned the bid for the Olympics. You asked to see all related documents to the bids for the Olympics. Wouldn't that be in your commercial interests as well if you had that information so you could use it against the CBC in another broadcast?

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

I'm not saying we're never going to bid on the Olympics. It's probably too expensive and we're not going to be able to compete with the zillions of dollars that CBC/Radio-Canada have to bid on the Olympic Games.

But I would answer your question. If I were to follow your logic, no one would be able to ask any questions of the CBC/Radio-Canada because it would come from a media company. Therefore, you would relate that to commercial matters.

I would relate this to information requests that Canadians have the right to know. This is what this business is all about.

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Do Canadians have the right to know all the information about your company? Would you have your company subject to the same freedom of information laws?

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

Mr. Andrews, I think you're confusing everything. We're not a public corporation.

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

You do receive public money.

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

Do you want to compare the amount of money that we receive as public funds to the amount that CBC/Radio-Canada receives? It's a drop in the bucket.

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

I'm comparing it as two media companies, sir. That's where my line of questioning is going. These are two media companies, yours and theirs, and you're trying to find out commercial information about your competitor to use to your advantage.

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

No, we're not looking for commercial information. We're looking for information to be able to provide Canadians the proper knowledge on how CBC/Radio-Canada manages public funds. This is what this business is all about. As we do require to know—

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Do you think Canadians require to know how much outdoor advertising CBC does? Explain to me—

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Patricia Davidson]

Gentlemen, Mr. Andrews, please conduct your questions through the chair. There will be no more hollering back and forth between the two of you. We'll have a little more decorum here, please.

Go ahead, Mr. Andrews.

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

You brought up outdoor advertising in your opening statement. What in the public interest do Canadians care how much outdoor advertising the CBC does? That would be of direct benefit to you to know.

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

I don't think so at all, Mr. Andrews. We don't really care ourselves what price they pay for their outdoor advertising. But we think that Canadians would eventually be interested to know how much they're spending there. We don't care. In fact, you know, as a policy, we're not really using outdoor advertising.

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Another question that was brought up earlier: you say CBC doesn't advertise enough with you. How much advertising have you done with the CBC?

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

None. We don't need CBC/Radio-Canada to be able to reach the audience we're looking for.

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

So don't you think CBC would feel the same way about your company—that they don't need your help?

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

We're the largest media company. I think it would be a problem not to use Sun Media and the many other assets that we manage, because we're, as I mentioned in my introduction, the largest newspaper chain in Canada, on top of being the largest private media company.

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

I'm sure CBC would feel the same way—that there's no need to advertise with you.

[Pierre Karl Péladeau]

Well, you know what, sir? They've advertised with us previously. Two years ago, before they went with a boycott policy, they used our media many times because they know that we have been reaching an audience for many years. On top of that, we have information that the agencies representing CBC/Radio-Canada have received strict advice or direction not to use our media company.