Official Languages Committee on April 15th, 2008

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

So she would have been included in the show.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Petit.

[Daniel Petit, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

With your permission, I will be sharing my time with Mr. Chong.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Just as a point of information, the CBC's mandate is not to reflect the cultural duality of the country; it's to reflect the multicultural nature of the country but the country's linguistic duality. There is a difference. I think it's very important for all members of the committee to know this. We are not a bicultural country, we are a multicultural country with two official languages; there is a difference.

So the CBC's mandate is to reflect our multicultural and multiracial nature and at the same time promote our linguistic duality with respect to the two official languages.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Chong.

Please be quick, Mr. Petit.

[Daniel Petit, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

I too would like to draw something to the witness's attention. Perhaps we did not invite the right person, perhaps we should have invited your president.

I was intrigued by something you said in replying to a question asked by my colleague, Mr. Lebel. You say that this was not a business decision, that you decided that francophones did not go over very well in Toronto, and so on, and that if you had had more money—because you say you only receive 55% of your funding requirements—this francophone performer might have been broadcast.

It sounds like you are saying that if we francophones give you some money, you will broadcast us, but if we do not give you any, you will not broadcast us on CBC. That is not right. That is the answer you gave. You said you had to work like a private corporation, and that for this reason, you had to pay attention to your ratings, and so on. Your mandate does not take money into account. Even if you do not have full funding, you must comply with your mandate, and that you did not do.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Would you care to comment, Mr. Stursberg? No, alright.

Thank you, Mr. Petit.

I would like to thank you for coming in to meet with committee members this morning, Mr. Stursberg. You reminded us that the CBC, the public broadcaster, has a special mission—namely, to give English- and French-speaking Canadians a forum for expressing their culture, points of view and experiences to each other.

As I said at the outset, the purpose of our committee is also to promote linguistic duality. You said that Mr. Dubois, among others, had taken the trouble to talk about a possible rapprochement of francophone and anglophone artists at the gala. You also told us that you could have done a better job at reflecting the diversity of all the participants.

I think committee members have stated clearly that they would like the media coverage of a national cultural event to reflect Canada's linguistic and cultural diversity.

Thank you very much for coming. We will keep you posted on the committee's work on this issue. Thank you.

[Richard Stursberg]

I would like to thank committee members.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Chairman, I have consulted my colleagues, and in light of the testimony we heard today, since we are talking about committee business, I would respectfully suggest that the Standing Committee on Official Languages call the president of Radio-Canada/CBC to appear before us to explain whether the attitudes we heard today are strictly personal in nature or whether they reflect what is going on at Radio-Canada/CBC.

At that time, we could ask all the questions we need to ask about what happened at this event, but also about CBC's activities generally. It could be quite interesting.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Alright. I have checked with the clerk, who told me that the motion is in order because it has to do with the subject of today's study on the CBC—

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

I would like this to be done as quickly as possible.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

You are moving that the committee invite the president of CBC/Radio-Canada as soon as possible to discuss this matter.

Are there any questions or comments about Mr. Coderre's motion?

Mr. Chong.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Yes, I'll support that motion--but in the spirit that we're calling the president of the CBC to discuss how the CBC is fulfilling its mandate under the 1991 Broadcasting Act, focusing on that issue as opposed to the personalities involved, because I think that's more important, frankly.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Coderre.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

In any case, Mr. Chairman, this is my motion and I have the last word on it.

People can ask all the questions they like about the proper way to proceed with our work. Personally, I want to go a little further. I have been a member of Parliament for 11 years, and I want to avoid personal comments, but I think that today, we have seen that the francophone community is feeling rather left out. It might be interesting and important to hear what the person in charge at the corporation thinks about all this.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

If there are no other comments, we will now vote on the motion.

Do you wish to comment, Mr. Godin?

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I want to go even further. I do not want to side with anyone here, but if we have the president of CBC/Radio-Canada appear before us, I will want to know whether ratings are what drive the corporation, or whether it is its mandate as a public broadcaster under the act. If we take the trouble to invite the president of CBC/Radio-Canada, I will take the opportunity to talk about francophone communities outside Montreal. This is Montreal television, not Radio-Canada.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

If the committee members want to pass the motion today, we will have to restrict the number of comments, because we are going to have to leave this room.

Mr. Lebel.

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

I would just like to remind the committee that the subject of today's meeting was the broadcast of the hall of fame gala. Mr. Stursberg answered our questions on this. Some people now want to broaden the debate. I would just ask that we do not confuse things too much, out of respect for our witness, who did agree to come here today.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Okay. We will now move to the vote.

( Motion carried unanimously.)

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much. We will meet again on Thursday.

The meeting is adjourned.