Official Languages Committee on March 16th, 2010

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

There is also Wilfred, Jean-François Breau, and Annie Blanchard.

[François Côté]

Yes, there are so many of them.

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

You are asking for greater freedom just for the 20%. You are not asking for measures to be relaxed in terms of community services.

[François Côté]

It's just for music.

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

Just for music.

[François Côté]

That is correct.

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

You are not questioning the fact that the CRTC has told you that because you are a community radio station, you have a certain role to play in the community. For example, community radio has a much greater presence, in my view, during festivals, and so on. It has nothing to do with that. What does the CRTC say about that?

[François Côté]

Community involvement is part of our mandate. Unfortunately, not all stations, like CKRO, have the resources to do that. Some stations only have one employee. That person can't do everything, in addition to making representations before committees.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Godin, for allowing us to discover artists like Cayouche. You will have to help me discover them.

I have a question for Mr. Côté or Mr. Forgues. Your community radio stations are in minority communities, but they are nonetheless community radio stations.

Do you collaborate with English-language community radio stations or French radio stations in Quebec?

[François Côté]

There is some collaboration, but at the national level, we do a lot of work with the National Campus and Community Radio Association Inc., which represents anglophone campus and community radio stations and with the Association des radiodiffuseurs communautaires du Québec. Now, we always represent our sector together. In the past, it was somewhat divided, but now we always work together. There is some collaboration, I am thinking namely of a station in the Magdalen Islands which provides programming to our station in Chéticamp. However there is not much among the stations themselves.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

All right, thank you very much.

Mr. D'Amours, are you ready?

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Ms. Zarac has not had a turn yet.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Ms. Zarac, you have the floor to lead off the third round.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Good morning Madam, and gentlemen. Thank you for being with us today.

In a country that calls itself bilingual, I think the existence of what you represent is very important. We have heard evidence that you provide support for bilingualism. That is very important. You need the means to continue to exist. We wanted to meet with you today to ensure precisely that, that you do have the means to continue.

I have a question for Mr. Potié. You said you were very satisfied with the consultations that took place in February 2008. You talked about an increase from 13 to 17 members. However, I am not sure that has been done.

Are you still waiting, or has it been done? Do you have the funding you need for the increase?

[Francis Potié]

How could I put it? When we look at the criteria and the exceptions put in place for official languages publications, and when we call federal officials to see if we have understood what a clause meant, we must conclude that the number has gone from 13 to 17. I picked up the phone and I called the members in question. I told them that in my view, they were now eligible for the program. They put in an application. The government is currently processing all of the applications. I may well come back in a few weeks and say that it doesn't make sense, but I think we are expecting—

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

That is all I wanted to verify with you.

[Francis Potié]

I think that we are expecting—

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

When will you receive the answers?

[Francis Potié]

It will have to be over the next few weeks, because it begins on April 1.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

That's rather soon, isn't it?

May we ask you to send a written confirmation to our chair if you receive it? That is very important.

[Francis Potié]

All right.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

You also talked about 2012-2013, which is not that far down the road. It may be somewhat long term, but you quickly talked about concerns you had for the period following 2012-2013. I would like you to elaborate on that. What are your concerns?

[Francis Potié]

I want to start by taking a step back. The new Canada Magazine Fund replaces several programs, including the Publications Assistance Program, which represented approximately $44 million per year, provided by the Department of Canadian Heritage, and approximately $15 million from the Canada Post Corporation. A few years ago, the Canada Post Corporation indicated that it was no longer interested in participating in the program and providing $15 million. The government asked—I imagine it didn't ask, but it told—Canada Post to continue contributing the money for two years, to allow for reorganization.

Following that two-year period, in budget 2008 I believe, the federal government announced that it would replace the $15 million per year that Canada Post had withdrawn. I think that it will run until the end of 2011-2012. Given deficit reduction and other measures, we are concerned about what will happen to the 25% of this program two years from now.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

So you are unsure if you will continue to receive $15 million.

[Francis Potié]

There is still no commitment to that effect. The commitment was for two years. Beyond that, we will have to wait and see.