Official Languages Committee on April 15th, 2008

[Richard Stursberg]

If I recall correctly, there was one hour of francophones. It's different on television, because we had only 44 minutes. Oscar Peterson died, and we decided to focus on Paul Anka and Oscar Peterson. We also decided not to include other anglophones, whose names I already mentioned.

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

It's not even a pattern any more, it's a fact. Every year, you invite francophones and you cut them every time. I assume you're going to do the same thing next year, since you told Mr. Godin that you still stood by that reasoning.

[Richard Stursberg]

Yes.

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

So you're going to do the same thing next year.

[Richard Stursberg]

We are currently—

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

Could you, out of respect for francophones, tell them in advance that they're going to be cut?

[Richard Stursberg]

The thing that struck me is that this is quite an interesting conversation. I was quite impressed by the whole country's reaction to our decision. So we are currently thinking about what we're going to do in the future. We haven't decided yet what we're going to do about this event, but—

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

If you stick to the same pattern, Mr. Stursberg, if you condense a 3-hour show into 44 minutes... Going by your philosophy, you have to broadcast things that anglophones understand and appreciate. You say that you stand by your past decision. I don't see any change in direction; you're going to do exactly the same thing next year.

Out of respect for francophone artists from Quebec or outside Quebec, I'm asking you to tell them that they won't be broadcast.

[Richard Stursberg]

I reject the notion that we have no respect for Quebec artists. That's not true. We have even gone to considerable lengths to reflect the reality, to build bridges between the two cultures. It's one of the CBC's main goals. It is my impression that we've done a very good job. Frankly, I find that talking about this one show in isolation—

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

It's because it is the Canadian gala. I asked you initially if there was a francophone equivalent, a francophone music hall of fame gala. There isn't. There's just one gala for all Canadian music, including francophone music. Canadian music includes Quebec artists and francophone artists outside Quebec. That's my country, my culture and the music I listen to. It includes everyone.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Rodriguez.

Do you wish to comment briefly, Mr. Stursberg?

[Richard Stursberg]

At the risk of repeating myself, yes, that's very important, but we made some decisions. Our colleagues from Radio-Canada chose not to broadcast the show.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Stursberg.

[Richard Stursberg]

That was their decision.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

We're going to go to the government side now.

Mr. Petit.

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

Thank you.

Good morning, Mr. Stursberg.

We asked you to appear here today to try to determine what happened at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame gala. Naturally, you saw that there was quite an uproar, that a lot of people were complaining in the newspapers of Quebec and the rest of the country. Questions were raised about this show.

I think you've understood our questioning. It's because it is the hall of fame gala, the height of Canadian culture, and you are under an obligation, as an institution, to respect linguistic duality and multiculturalism. You have to; it is part of your mandate. Personally, I don't think you lived up to your mandate as far as this particular show was concerned. When you invited all of the artists to participate in those 44 minutes, you could at least have had the decency to broadcast the francophone artists.

You say your audience didn't want to see francophone artists on TV, but I don't agree with you. Personally, I am able to watch TV in English. How do Americans convey their culture to us? Through their music, through their culture, which is constantly being broadcast. How can we influence anglophones? Through our culture. It's a two-way street. You say that in Toronto, people only wanted to see anglophone artists, but that's not true. You can't get inside the heads of all Canadians. Some English Canadians want to hear our artists. You're dividing everyone into two camps. Those responsible for the gala decided not to give us a single minute out of 44 minutes. That is really insulting. It is for that reason alone that you are here today.

You also say you broadcast the full three hours of the gala on Radio 2 and an hour or two of it on Radio One. If you come to the Quebec City area, you'll see that no one listens to Radio-Canada radio, even in French. So don't try to tell me that was the right medium. What I want is television. It's the most important because it's modern. I don't mean to say that radio isn't, but television is important. I want to see my artists dancing, singing and expressing themselves, and I want the other cultures to be represented too.

My question is straightforward. In answer to a colleague's question, you seemed to be saying earlier that you were going to repeat the same format at the next hall of fame gala. Are you going to cut our artists' performances again, or are you going to hold some meetings with a view to a change in attitude? I am criticizing you, but I don't mean to criticize you personally, it's the CBC. I want to know if, of those 44 minutes, you're going to give us at least one minute. That's the minimum we're entitled to, given that we provide 33% of your budget.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

One minute, that's all you have left too, Mr. Stursberg.

[Richard Stursberg]

I can repeat myself again. We are currently considering what we're going to do in the future with the hall of fame gala. I'm here to listen to you and to have this conversation. I've tried to explain my reasoning in relation to this show, but I can clearly see that you reject it. I hear you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you.

We're going to continue our second round with Mr. Gravel.

[Raymond Gravel, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

I won't do a long preamble. I'd like to know whether Claude Dubois would have been part of the show if he had sung in English.

[Richard Stursberg]

Probably not, since he's not very well known among anglophones. There was also the problem of Oscar Peterson's death. The time was incredibly limited. You may reject that reasoning, but we decided not to include Claude Dubois' performance in the show because he's not very well known in English Canada and we were afraid people would change the channel.

[Raymond Gravel, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

How would you suggest that francophone singers from Quebec or elsewhere in Canada be made known? How can they be made known to anglophones if they are never shown because the anglophone audience doesn't want to listen to them? Give me a recipe.

[Richard Stursberg]

We've done many exchanges, but on radio. We have done programs that are—

[Raymond Gravel, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

I'm talking about TV, sir.

[Richard Stursberg]

Yes, I understand. The best medium for music is radio, not television. We have created a number of radio programs that broadcast francophones. That's no problem.