Mr. Stursberg, thank you for coming today.
I have been working for the unity of this country for 25 years. For 25 years, modestly and humbly, I have been trying to build bridges between the communities. Your role is not to tell us that members are at fault because they were too quick in asking for an investigation. It is most certainly not our fault when an event has been held to celebrate singer-songwriters... Your job does not consist solely in pleasing an English audience. It is to demonstrate—and you'll probably talk about Mitsou and poutine again—that the purpose of this event was to celebrate what this country represents: two languages, several cultures, including francophone culture and anglophone culture, and the founding peoples of this country.
My citizenship is inclusive in that regard. You can talk to me about all the events that you hold, and we congratulate you on that. However, one specific event is a responsibility. When we ask for an investigation, it's because we want to know what is going on and we want to see the other side of the coin.
I am a fan of Claude Dubois. To be frank, I was insulted. There is also Raymond Lévesque. I am not a separatist, my culture is non-partisan. This is like me asking to take a photograph of us and asking you to stand in the background. That way I can cut it up and take what suits me.
I don't want to hold a cross-examination of CBC today; I want to understand what happened. Put yourself in our shoes. If we were to tell anglophone singer-songwriters that because we only had 44 minutes we were going to cut everything that was anglophone because we francophones only listen to music in French and didn't need it, what would you think? It's a little insulting, Mr. Stursberg.
You can produce a program that includes everyone. In 40 minutes you can give equal representation to the French segments because these performers did exceptional work. The idea is not to tell you that you didn't take your responsibilities in other areas. We're not dealing with a Don Cherry syndrome today. We're talking about this event because we want to understand what happened.
It took two days of people up in arms before you apologized. I wasn't a member of the committee but from what I understand it's because of this that an investigation was requested. I would simply like to know if next year you're going to do the same sort of dirty work. If there are singer-songwriters and a gala is being held, then you'll be able to tell us that... The idea is not to please the audience. Radio-Canada/CBC's mandate is to showcase what is happening in our country.
Next year, if there are francophones, will we still be treated as second-class citizens or are you going to make sure that, as your mandate dictates, francophones and anglophones will be on an equal footing?