Official Languages Committee on March 16th, 2010

[Francis Potié]

We are projecting into the future, but clearly some will disappear and others will have to make draconian changes to their community coverage, the number of pages, the number of copies they distribute. Efforts would surely be made, because communities can show great creativity in efforts to ensure that they will have the services and institutions they need, but there would certainly be a very detrimental effect.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Mr. D'Amours.

We will continue with Mr. Godin.

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

Which department was asked for the $4.2 million for radio and when?

[François Côté]

This has not yet been done. We asked for a meeting with Minister Moore. We are still waiting.

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

When did you make the request of Minister Moore?

[François Côté]

The first time was a year and a half ago. We asked again last year, in November. We finally received an acknowledgement of the request stating that we would get a meeting later on.

We believe that government officials will await the results of the Community and Campus Radio Policy review before doing anything else. That is why we are telling ourselves that it will take some time.

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

With all due respect, it seems to me that organizing a meeting does not take a year and a half. Thank you for your answer.

As far as the ratio of 20% of musical content is concerned, have you filed an application with the CRTC?

[François Côté]

Yes, applications were filed with the CRTC when we appeared regarding the review.

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

When did that take place?

[François Côté]

It was in January, but we do not necessarily expect to see the new policy before the fall. It is a rather long process.

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

Yes, but the request was made.

[François Côté]

Yes, we made several requests, including approximately a dozen requests for more flexibility.

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

I want to stop there, unless you can think of anything else you would like to say or about which we have not asked any questions. Sometimes witnesses leave thinking to themselves that they would very much have liked being asked certain questions. Are there any that we did not ask you?

[François Côté]

In answer to the question as to whether or not radio stations will die if we do not get funding, I would say yes, indeed, radio stations will disappear and it will be in major markets.

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

In terms of print media, you said the same thing earlier on to Mr. D'Amours.

[Francis Potié]

If support is cut, whether it is from federal advertising or subsidies from the Canada Periodical Fund, newspapers will definitely go out of business.

The most appropriate solution in our eyes would be that the departments develop their own programs. Right now, we are talking about the interdepartmental aspect. Normally, we should be asking what the criteria would be that are best adapted to the realities in our communities. In that way, when we speak to officials from the various departments, we would less often be told to go and consult Canadian Heritage, because we are talking about official languages. That is what should form the basis for all of the support programs for the various sectors of community development.

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

Unless I am mistaken, are some of them passing the buck?

[Francis Potié]

Yes, that has always been the case.

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

What will you recommend then? That a single department be responsible for it?

[Francis Potié]

No. That the officials from each department, when they are developing a program, ask themselves what is best for official languages, what is best for official languages development—

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

They should be responsible for programs—

[Francis Potié]

Rather than send us an answer expressing their regret because we do not meet the standards, we do not have this or that, we do not meet their criteria, they should be wondering how they can tailor their programs in order to meet requirements.

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

As an MP for the NDP, I would like to congratulate you for all the work that you do. Keep going. We really do need you.

Earlier I was somewhat critical of the Irvings. In all honesty—I am blunt about this and I am sure that they are going to read the blues and all that—it really upsets me that, in one province, 17 newspapers belong to one individual alone. In my opinion, this is anti-democratic. We should be launching an inquiry into this issue. I do not want to reserve my criticism for the Irvings alone. The same thing applies to Quebecor. And before that, there was the National Post, and that other individual who acted the same. I feel that this is completely anti-democratic.

We need you. Continue working. We are here to represent you and to help you when you need it. You said that it takes a year and a half in order to get a meeting: we will try to shorten this timeline.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Godin. We will continue with Mr. Nadeau.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Conrad Black was also the owner of all of Saskatchewan's newspapers and he is now in the dungeon. I did not say "in London", I said "in the dungeon". Well he could be in London, but that is another matter.

That said, there is this issue of the $15 million from Canada Post that have been redirected. This matter concerns me. Indeed, we did a study here a very long time ago. You know what the problem is. You have to submit your application for funding to the federal government. You have to meet certain deadlines, which only makes sense, but the deadlines for the federal government are very elastic, and at one point, the money is not forthcoming, or if it does arrive, it comes after the activities have taken place, or were supposed to have taken place, or before the shop has shut down. So that is the problem.

I am very interested in something that Minister Moore said. The federal government, regardless of who is in power, should have some follow-up process for these applications, based somewhat on the Canada Post model. When you mail a package somewhere, you have a code. You can call Canada Post and ask where the package is. The same thing applies to FedEx and other companies. You can find out where the package is in the process. At any rate, I would make that suggestion to you. The minister raised the matter. He is open to the idea. This is a door that is open and which is interesting. Ask for this. Demand it.

We also made a demand in our report, so that this money would arrive. We are not talking about luxury; this is a process that is at times vital and it is very important.

My first question earlier pertained to the interdepartmental aspect, and I will conclude with that. I recall back in 1998 or 1999, Paul-André Baril was working at the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne and he was responsible for the interdepartmental file. His job was to ensure that the federal government was made aware of the fact that its job was to meet requirements by involving all of the departments, agencies and Crown corporations and to satisfy the requirements of the franco-Canadian and anglo-Quebec communities, because this issue went beyond the language of teaching. We had programs with the OLEP.

Today I am saddened to learn that, in many respects, the federal government played a game by providing money for studies, but that when all is said and done—and we are going back some ways in time, to 1998 and 1999—there are no more results today than there were when you made these requests. You live in the world of communications and, indeed, other departments should be involved. You also live in the world of commerce, industry, markets, airwaves, you have dealings with the CRTC, etc.

You need to press the matter once again, along with my colleagues here. This is an extremely important element. Being an anglo-Quebecker, an Acadian, or a franco-Saskatchewanian does not mean that you are to be served by one department alone, Canadian Heritage. You should be served by all departments, just as an anglophone or francophone from the majority is served. This is a serious problem, and for me, a sovereignist—