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.