Official Languages Committee on Nov. 1st, 2011

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Welcome to the 10th meeting of the Standing Committee on Official Languages on this Tuesday, November 1, 2011. Pursuant to Standing Order 108, today we will be discussing the Evaluation of the Roadmap: Improving Programs and Service Delivery.

With us this morning are the representatives of three groups: Mr. Côté and Mr. Forgues from the Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada; Mr. Potié, of the Association de la presse francophone;

Madam Ryan from the Quebec Community Newspapers Association. Welcome to all of you.

We'll begin with l'Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada.

[François Côté, Secretary General, Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada]

Ladies and gentlemen, the Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada would like to begin by thanking you for the invitation to appear before the Standing Committee on Official Languages. We are pleased to have this opportunity to contribute to improving programs and service delivery for the benefit of official language minority communities.

An active player nationally since 1991, the Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada was established by francophone and Acadian community radio stations anxious to take control of their own development and thus guarantee their autonomy.

As the overall administrator of community broadcasting in minority francophone communities around the country, our not-for-profit organization provides a variety of services to its members, including consultation, training, communications and liaison, as well as services related to all aspects of creating and operating a community radio station.

Our radio stations—27 in all—are social economy enterprises whose work is critical for the development, indeed the very survival, of many different communities around the country. They contribute to the economic, social and cultural development of the cities, towns and regions where they operate in a thousand and one different ways. Allow me to give you a few examples.

First of all, our radio stations create jobs in their communities and promote both entrepreneurship and local purchasing. They also help to curb erosion of the local economy and the flight of capital to other communities. In addition, these stations play the music of community artists and, in so doing, contribute to the development of their singing and musical careers. As well as contributing to the emergence of these artists, our stations are also virtual “radio labs” where Canadians from all around the country can have their first experience with radio and, in some cases, even make a career of it.

The community media are also an important source of information for thousands of social, cultural and community organizations around the country, not to mention, of course, the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments.

In fact, we would say that the positive impacts of community radio stations in the communities and, generally, around the country, are so numerous that it would take too long to list them all here.

We are of the firm view that our movement's contribution to Canadian communities cannot be ignored.

[Simon Forgues, Development and Communications Officer, Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada]

The definition given by the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission clearly states the following:

[A community station] is owned and controlled by a not-for-profit organization whose structure provides for membership, management, operation and programming primarily by members of the community at large.

That is certainly the reason why so many Canadians volunteer for and are so actively involved in the work of these community radio stations. On the other hand, it is very difficult for small organizations such as our own to train and supervise human resources and volunteers, while carrying out the rest of their mandate, without adequate and ongoing funding.

In practical terms, many stations do not have adequate resources to secure studio equipment, regularly renew their programming and production software, offer appropriate training and support for their volunteers or provide a quality local and regional news service.

Programming budgets in our area represent approximately 11.5% of the average revenues available to commercial FM stations in Canada. That is not enough to allow them to actively support citizen participation or to adequately fulfill their mandate. Because community radio stations are required to present diverse views and programming to residents and that they are, in that sense, a public service, we firmly believe they should have access to some form of public funding.

If Canadian society wants community radio stations to continue to provide effective coverage of local, community and social events, the kind of programming which neither CBC/Radio-Canada or private broadcasters can or will provide, unfortunately, as it is not part of their mandate, we believe that community radio stations will need to have the budgets they require in order to do so.

[François Côté]

The Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada, the National Campus and Community Radio Association and the Association des radiodiffuseurs communautaires du Québec, which together represent 140 community and campus radio stations across the country and are supported by more than 500 employees and 10 000 volunteers, have already made a step in the right direction.

Indeed, it is out of a desire to ensure the development and sustainability of the third broadcast sector that the three associations established the Community Radio Fund of Canada in November of 2007. The three associations estimate that the sector as a whole requires more than $20 million. Thus far, the fund has generated approximately $1 million, which represents less than $5,000 per station, an amount that is obviously inadequate.

It is our belief that, in order to fulfill their responsibilities, our radio stations must be able to count on a guaranteed annual amount of at least $30,000, which would at least allow them to maintain one permanent position per station.

Given that the current funding model has reached the limit of its usefulness and that fundraising does not actually allow for any growth, community media organizations must possess twice the ingenuity just in order to survive. Advertising sales are considerably limited, because our stations operate in markets or programming slots that are not targeted by private radio, given that the latter has determined them to be unprofitable. So, the findings are clear: revenue growth is limited.

In our opinion, a federal government contribution would support the following statement from the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013:

Measures are also planned to support community radio and other local media that promote cultural and community activities among youth. For young Canadians, this will mean greater availability of local media and activities in the minority official language.

Without recurring government funding, we are concerned that the status of our radio stations will steadily worsen and that this will have disastrous consequences for official language minority communities.

I should mention in passing that we would like to extend our thanks to the government of Canada for including the Franco Médias 2010 project in the Roadmap. This initiative enabled francophones and Acadian communities to also contribute to the success of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver. However, it is important to keep up the momentum.

[Simon Forgues]

Our stations may not all be the “cornerstones” of their communities in terms of social and other activities, since they do not necessarily all operate in markets of comparable size and make-up. The fact remains, however, that they must make the same effort, whatever the size of their market, and whatever the audience they serve, in order to properly fulfill their mandate as an open and inclusive broadcaster.

Furthermore, we often hear talk of the new media and the need for community radio stations to be part of that. In the space of barely a few years, technology has developed at such a pace and changed the Canadian media landscape so dramatically that even public and private broadcasters have been overtaken by events. Just imagine what it is like for radio stations like our own.

In the current globalized environment, where broadcasting giants are merging and diversifying their activities in order to deal head on with the phenomenal rise and popularity of the new media, community broadcasters, and particularly those operating in official language minority communities, are struggling to contain the erosion of their own audience and are fighting a totally unequal battle against the Internet, a medium which has neither boundaries nor clear and precise rules. Indeed, the CRTC made the point again recently that it does not intend, at least in the very short term, to regulate Internet content.

Canadians' interest in the new media is such that we are facing a massive migration of our audience to these new platforms, but without all the necessary means to recapture those listeners.

It should also be mentioned that, very recently, the President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, Mr. Hubert T. Lacroix, told members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage that he intends to double the Crown corporation's investment in digital broadcasting between now and 2015. That means that more money will have to be invested in new platforms.

We would also like to draw your attention to the fact that the Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada recently filed a project application with Canadian Heritage, and we are hoping to receive the requested funding in order to develop mobile applications that would enable Internet users to tune in our stations using their mobile devices, such as smart phones or touch-sensitive tablets.

[François Côté]

In closing, we say that community radio stations are not definitely of critical importance to all our communities, and to the country as a whole. Furthermore, we are trying to do our best with the few resources at our disposal. However, we believe that an annual contribution of $840,000 under the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality would at least allow every one of our stations to have one permanent staff member, while at the same time fostering the maintenance and development of these community media. Examples of similar government contributions to community radio stations can be found around the world, including South Africa, Australia and, closer to home, Quebec.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your kind attention and we look forward to answering your questions. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Mr. Potié, please.

[Francis Potié, Executive Director, Association de la presse francophone]

Mr. Chong, Mr. Bélanger, Mr. Godin, members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, members of Parliament, the Association de la presse francophone would like to thank you for the invitation to appear today. We wish to commend you for undertaking a study of the Roadmap and want you to know you can count on our full cooperation. It goes without saying that the Roadmap is important for Canada's linguistic duality and for official language minority communities.

Having said that, when it comes to assessing the impact the Roadmap has had on the development of the French-language press in Canada, it is fairly difficult to arrive at a fair and satisfactory picture of the current state of play. Indeed, the document does make reference to the French-language press. It talks about measures to support community media that promote cultural and community activities among youth. According to the Roadmap, for young Canadians, this will mean greater availability of local media and activities in the minority official language.

To our knowledge, there are no specific measures in the Roadmap aimed at developing the French-language press. Indeed, when the Roadmap was first launched, we made the point that the community media sector was almost completely absent.

In spite of that, it is possible to make some connections between the priorities set out in the Roadmap and those of the APF. I am sure you are aware that local media play an important role in every aspect of community life. Our newspapers can see their own influence in some of the initiatives developed through the Roadmap, at least indirectly.

Whether we are talking about linguistic duality, youth, economic development, access to services or governance, in all these cases, newspapers are the primary vehicles used to inform people, raise their awareness and also contribute to and stimulate debate. Community newspapers are partners with the businesses and organizations that are part of their community. They also act as a conduit between citizens and their public institutions.

The same could be said of the action items targeted in… Without exception, examples can be given that demonstrate the undeniable role played by the French-language press. The press are there to make people aware of the services provided by community organizations and government. Local newspapers also act as pillars of economic activity in their respective communities. One of the ways they do that is by allowing business to introduce their products and services to the community. I would go even further than the ARCC, as I believe that local commerce and local purchasing are closely linked to the local media.

I want to take this opportunity to tell you about some of the APF's activities that could be considered to be connected to the Roadmap. However, I cannot say that they are spinoffs of the Roadmap. None of the activities that we organized came with the “Roadmap” seal.

With respect to youth, one of the objectives set earlier in the Roadmap was to build the future by engaging youth. That is a happy coincidence, because that is a priority area for the APF. For a number of years, we have been focusing on two things: finding ways to develop loyalty and attract young readers; and, developing young people from our communities, in particular, to work in our profession.

We have taken a number of youth-oriented initiatives. For many years now, we have been providing bursaries for studies and internships that have nothing to do with the Roadmap. They are simply part and parcel of our ongoing activities.

I can also give you some other examples.

We developed educational activity sheets with the Association canadienne d'éducation de langue française. We also organized a contest in immersion schools with the help of Canadian Parents for French. With the ARCC, we set up a team of young journalists that took part in the Vancouver Olympic Games.

All of these projects received funding from the Official Languages Support Programs Branch. I believe Canadian Heritage could tell you whether this is part of the Roadmap. As far as we are concerned, the money comes from Canadian Heritage.

As for the Economic Development Initiative, the experience was not particularly conclusive for the APF and its partners. As part of a joint project with the ARC du Canada and the Quebec Community Newspapers Association, the APF took various steps with a view to securing funding under this program which, I believe, is part of the Roadmap. We discovered that it was pretty well impossible to carry out a national project covering two linguistic communities as well as all the provinces and territories. After making repeated inquiries, we realized there was no mechanism in place that would allow for the creation of a national program. In order to do that, you have to make six different applications to six different organizations, each one then assessing the project based on its own criteria and terms and conditions. I have not completely given up on it, but it's extremely complicated. It's feasible, but almost impossible. If the goal was to not fund national projects under the Economic Development Initiative, I'd say that this goal has practically been met.

With respect to governance, I can tell you that, as a general rule, the relations between the APF and our federal counterpart are satisfactory, whether we're talking about Canadian Heritage, the advertising coordination section of Public Works and Government Services Canada or the Canada Periodical Fund. Here I am referring primarily to our relations with public officials. They are relatively satisfactory. There are open discussions and we are kept informed about what is coming up. We also met with Minister Moore in 2010 and had an opportunity to make him aware of our concerns.

I'd like to come back to the Roadmap now. As I mentioned earlier, we are not denying its importance, but in many cases, it is impossible to make a direct connection between that program and the APF. For the francophone press, the most important government programs are federal government advertising spending and the Aid to Publishers component of the Canada Periodical Fund.

With respect to advertising, we are currently going through some tough times. In the last two years, French-language newspapers have seen a 35% reduction in federal advertising. The effects of that decrease are being felt. Newspapers are publishing fewer pages. Some are talking about the major challenge facing them in order to survive.

With respect to the Aid to Publishers component, which is not necessarily linked to the Roadmap but could be in the next edition of the program, the results are shared. We reviewed the program. We were told that there was a desire to ensure that official language publications would receive more support.

The positive aspect for the APF is that a larger number of publications are eligible under the program because the criteria have changed. Recently, however, we were finally made aware of the funding formula, which is different from the criteria, and we now know as a result that some newspapers will be winners, whereas others will lose a lot in the bargain. The unfortunate thing is that the big losers are provincial newspapers that serve communities in places like Saskatchewan, Alberta and Nova Scotia. Significant amounts of money are involved. In Manitoba, for example, they are talking about an annual loss of $60,000 over the next three years. We intend to make the government aware of this and of the fact that, because of the formula it has established, the most vulnerable newspapers will be affected.

In closing, being a part of the family of organizations and communities that promote the francophone linguistic minority as well as linguistic duality, the APF cannot be opposed to the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality. We are in favour of it, but the APF cannot say that any actions taken directly as a result of the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality have had a major impact on us.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Potié.

Now we'll go to Madame Ryan.

[Lily Ryan, Member of the Board of Directors, Editor, West Quebec Post, Quebec Community Newspapers Association]

Good morning, Mr. Chong, Mr. Bélanger, Mr. Godin, and members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

On behalf of the Quebec Community Newspapers Association, my response to evaluating the road map initiative is to talk about community media. Before I offer a picture of the world of English community newspapers and the challenges they face offering news in this minority language in Quebec, let me explain our relationship with advertising.

What does this word mean, exactly? For readers of community newspapers, advertising is information. Indeed, many readers may not differentiate between what is a paid ad, an opinion piece, or a news article. They simply read every thing, every word, with great interest. The key here is that before we look at increasing or decreasing advertising rates, we need to understand that we're talking about increasing and decreasing information to residents.

This is particularly critical for the English minority in Quebec. Our small newspapers are sometimes the only way residents are informed about what's happening that impacts them, from various agencies, from the province, or even from the municipalities. Advertising bookings from federal agencies dropped from 2008 to 2011 in the range that the APF has experienced. But we can't look at 2009 for these drops, except that there was an interesting lesson that year. Federal agencies were highly proactive in their fight against the H1N1 virus. They used community newspapers to run a preventive information campaign, with success rates any top agency would admire. Rates of infection for H1N1 were controlled in large part due to this aggressive advertising campaign. Readers responded by following advice contained in the ads. Readers were scared, they felt isolated, and they heard horror stories from abroad and from television headlines, but they didn't understand what was being published in the French newspapers. The spending that went into community newspapers targeted them and helped them through this, offering them very reliable information. It empowered them to act responsibly and to help themselves. However, advertising bookings from federal agencies dropped off to virtually nothing following that pandemic. Road map or not, the effect was chilling.

The situation where the federal governing bodies do not communicate with residents is shared across Canada; it's not just in Quebec. For a minority language group, this information is critical. It's information about what agencies are doing for them or about them.

Community newspaper readership rates across the country are extraordinarily high. Whoever said newspapers are dead has neglected the weekly newspaper bracket. We're doing better than ever. Circulation is up, readership is up, and profits are up. Recent polls show that 74% of adult Canadians read their local community newspaper. The numbers are even higher for those newspapers in minority language situations.

A Léger Marketing study commissioned last year by some member cities of the Union des municipalités du Québec showed rates of readership reaching 89%—that's the number for the Aylmer Bulletin in the Aylmer sector of Gatineau. Newspapers Canada, the Canadian association of newspapers of which the Quebec Community Newspapers Association is a member, is running an information campaign right now asking federal agencies the following question. If three out of four Canadians read their local community newspaper, why doesn't the Government of Canada advertise with us? Why are you not informing minority language groups?

The campaign goes on to explain that this readership market is growing and enjoys a dedicated readership of over one million people in every corner of the country. Canadian numbers indicate that federal government spending in newspapers is under 10% of its total advertising budget. These numbers do not add up to responsible governments. Does this trend follow the road map guidelines?

Maybe the Internet is better than newspapers. The Internet is widespread, of course, and most newspapers have online versions, but the proof has not been established that turning to online advertising fulfills the responsibility the agencies have of informing Canadians about critical information. This responsibility has been outlined in the road map.

There's currently an online advertising campaign that celebrates veterans. On the ground yesterday I polled everyone I met in the busy shopping centre where our offices are located. Nobody I spoke with knows about this campaign. At the same time that I was out there asking people if they had seen it, we fielded 23 telephone calls or e-mails regarding information that was in our paper that day, information that did not include anything about veterans or that campaign. But my anecdote might not be convincing enough.

Editor and Publisher, a media industry magazine, published results of a readership study relating to advertising in their July 2011 edition. The study evaluated advertising media options--readers', viewers', listeners' various responses to advertising messages. Again, these are information messages coming from agencies. Thirty-six percent of adults preferred newspapers and responded to the information they received through their community newspaper. The study included questions about the Internet, television, radio, direct-to-user platforms, and social media. I have copies of these results if anyone's interested.

The Quebec Community Newspapers Association urges federal agencies to increase communications with residents, particularly in areas of Quebec where the English don't understand what's in the majority-language newspaper or on television. It needs to happen in such a way that residents can assimilate the information most effectively, and that's community newspapers. The English-speaking minority in Quebec has supported its weekly newspapers because these people read their papers every week. They read every aspect of it, and they respond--letters to the editors, submitted photos, tips. They continually use the newspaper. Local businesses advertise. And this shows how important it is. Anyone with a message to share uses the paper, and why would anyone with a message not use the community newspaper? Can federal government agencies put themselves in the group that does not follow best practices?

The road map initiative, with its flow charts and best practices guides, seems to require federal agencies to use community newspapers to dialogue with residents, based on performance results of these newspapers. The Quebec Community Newspapers Association and the Canadian Community Newspapers Association have documented the performance of the newspapers.

Use what people use. In Quebec, minorities use English newspapers.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Madam Ryan.

We'll have about one and a quarter hours of questions and comments from members, beginning with Monsieur Godin.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I'd like to welcome our witnesses to the committee. Thank you for being here.

In terms of following up on the Roadmap, I think it's important to have these discussions here and now, and to know your opinion. The mid-term report is currently being prepared. Were you consulted about it by the government?

[François Côté]

Actually, a meeting was recently held to talk with Canadian Heritage about what has been done thus far under the Roadmap and to find out whether we had received anything with respect to the media, culture, and other components of the program. That took place about a month ago Ottawa, I believe.

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

Is it Canadian Heritage that consulted you?

[François Côté]

Yes.

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

You wondered whether you had been… I'm trying to understand.

[François Côté]

It was a mid-term evaluation. They wanted to know whether there had been any successes and, if so, find out more about them. The APF and our association have not had any, other than Franco Médias 2010, which was a success thanks to the Roadmap. But, other than that, the Roadmap did not affect us.

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

And you, Mr. Potié?

[Francis Potié]

There was, in fact, a meeting—consultations. There were workshops and discussions around certain themes. For us, the theme was culture in a broad sense. I did not see it as the end of the process. I saw it as the beginning of a process being undertaken by the department. It lasted one day.

I think I remember the point I made when we were talking about communications. The problem is that newspapers are very often forgotten, since most of the discussion focuses on television and the Internet. That's fine, but the fact is that a lot of people still read newspapers and listen to the radio. The traditional media are not finished yet; they are still around.

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

Yes, absolutely.

[Francis Potié]

So, I didn't see this as the end.

So, there were consultations that lasted one day.

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

Whether we're talking about the Roadmap or the plan that was introduced in the early 2000s, is this the first time that you have been consulted since then? It's just that the way you were talking earlier, Mr. Potié, I had the impression that you feel as though you are not part of the process at all. You don't even know whether the money you're receiving comes from the Roadmap.

[Francis Potié]

I'll be honest with you. I don't consult the Roadmap every other day… We establish our plans and priorities based on the needs of our members.

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

Which means—

[Francis Potié]

When we read the Roadmap, we saw nothing in there that said there would be something for the French-language press.