Official Languages Committee on Jan. 31st, 2013

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Dion. You're a patriot, to be sure.

We have two new members on our committee, Mr. O'Toole and Monsieur Galipeau.

Welcome to you both. We'll continue with Monsieur Galipeau.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I am delighted to be back in my old haunt. I would also like to welcome Mr. Lacroix. He already knows what a big fan and supporter of Radio-Canada I am and have been for the past six decades. I prefer the radio. Actually, my duties and activities rarely allow me to sit in front of the TV, but my radio is always on no matter where I go. I usually listen to Radio-Canada and CBC the rest of the time.

I am well aware of your mandate, that is, connecting Canadians with their country, their community and one another. Back in 1967, when I was 20, I can remember Radio-Canada firing my enthusiasm for my country. No matter where I would travel in the country, I would always try to find a Radio-Canada station I could tune into. There was always a lot of passion.

In 1992, when Canada turned 125, Radio-Canada did not have much of a presence in the celebration.

In 2012, people on public affairs programs scoffed at the War of 1812 whenever it was mentioned. In 2012, they scoffed at it. It was as though they had no clue that that moment in history gave birth to our consciousness as a country; at that moment in time, Canadians decided they wanted to be a distinct people, separate from the Americans. Radio-Canada readily scoffed at the event. If it mattered to the evil government in Ottawa, it was, by definition, bad.

I really appreciate programs on the English network, CBC, that endeavour to promote French. Bernard St-Laurent deserved his award. Jim Corcoran deserves one as well; he helps English-speaking Canadians gain an appreciation for Canada's French music, especially music from Quebec, and he does a wonderful job.

What's more, I agree with Mr. Godin. The Montreal mindset, rather than the cross-Canadian one, that is rife all over the airwaves, even on radio stations that are not in Montreal, is a problem. The most blatant example of that is the ice storm coverage in January 1998. I listened to the radio all day and all night, and I never heard a word about St. Isidore, Ottawa or St. Albert, but I would hear all about Montreal. I asked people how they found out what was happening in their communities and they said they were listening to CFRA. The secretary at the Notre-Dame-des-Champs church told me she was listening to CFRA. That's unacceptable.

In addition, 15 years ago, I put together a thick file and I sent it to the Radio-Canada ombudsman. The file was on the terminology that was used when discussing the Canadian state and relations between the country and its various provinces. I am particularly irritated when the topic of Quebec and English Canada comes up. I have to tell you I was satisfied with the ombudsman's decision. In the end, three ombudsmen had to get involved before I got an answer. But I was satisfied, as I was with the implementation of that response for five years. Since then, however, the response has been disregarded. The same terminology is being used again. I am from St. Isidore, Ontario, and I am not an English Canadian. The people who live in Shawville, across the river, are not francophones. They are part of English Canada even though they are also Quebeckers.

In four years' time, we are going to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary, and with that in mind, we must not minimize the value of the French fact or the English fact across Canada. I have always stood up for the French language in Ontario, but now I have to stand up for the English language in Canada. On CBC, it's gotten to the point where you frequently hear announcers using American English. They don't say “lef-tenant” but rather “loo-tenant”, which is quite common on American television.

Radio-Canada, on its end, should show some language integrity, like Henri Bergeron used to. And the same goes for the English network. The fact is if we cannot manage to protect Canadian English in Canada, attempts to safeguard the French language will fall by the wayside.

I had wanted to ask you questions, but I ended up making a speech instead.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Fine, but you're out of time.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you for your comments, Mr. Galipeau.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

I hope you will give Mr. Lacroix 15 seconds.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

We're moving on to Mr. Trottier now.

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for appearing before the committee, Mr. Lacroix. You mentioned some upcoming anniversaries that will mark historical events. But I think the 150th anniversary of Confederation—or Canada's 150th birthday, as some prefer—is a bit different. We won't be celebrating a moment in history, but really Canada, its 150 years as a country. History should, of course, factor into the celebration and programming, but so too should our present and our future.

How do you intend to strike a balance in Radio-Canada's programming between the past, in other words, historical events, the present and the future?

[Hubert T. Lacroix]

You are absolutely right, Mr. Trottier. We see the 150th anniversary of Confederation as the culmination of a journey that begins with major milestones in Canadian history and ends with the 150th anniversary celebrations.

The last event of this magnitude that was celebrated was the 100th anniversary of Confederation. Back then, Canadians' eyes were very much opened to just how far the country had come. The big difference today is social networking and the means we have to communicate directly with the public and involve them in our programming. None of that was possible 50 years ago. All we could do back then was offer programs to people. Today, we have the ability to know what interests them, solicit their help, and give them spaces where they can share their stories or connect with someone in another part of the country. That was the goal at the outset, the vision for the 150th anniversary that the conference series will focus on.

I really want to thank VIA Rail and the communities. Some of the meetings will take place in train stations. Others will be held in our studios or community centres. This gives us a chance to really embed ourselves in the regions and bring people together to tell us about their projects. We aren't consulting them on what we are going to do for the 150th anniversary, but on what they want to do. This is also a chance to see if one of their ideas can help us and to connect them with others. That is our vision. Social networking and digital platforms will allow us to establish much stronger ties between Canadians.

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

In other words, the programming will come from Canadians in the regions, and you are facilitating that process.

[Hubert T. Lacroix]

These people will fuel our activities and share their stories with us. The important thing is capitalizing on Canada's diversity. We must celebrate that and showcase it in a different way. What matters is making people all across the country realize that Canada is really and truly a country of diversity.

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Let's talk about history for a moment. My family and I watched a program on the life of John A. Macdonald. It was a great show. My children, who were just 11 and 10 at the time, found it dramatic and quite fascinating. It was really well done. Are there other similar projects? It is worth talking about. Even if it doesn't focus on Confederation, a program could feature Canadian stories that unite us and that matter.

As my colleague Mr. Galipeau said, sometimes we hear more about U.S. history than Canadian history, especially in English Canada. Some young Canadians know more about Lincoln or Washington than they do about Canada's historical figures. How will you heighten that awareness around our own history?

[Hubert T. Lacroix]

As I see it, only we can produce these major historical programs like the one about Sir John A. Macdonald. In response to Mr. Dion earlier, I said there were two types of events: the upcoming conferences on the one hand, and these signature events on the other. What is important is how we share those events with the public, what programs will focus on those moments or tell those stories.

Right now, we need partners because it costs a lot to do this. To achieve the same quality as that of the John A. Macdonald program, we need to convince other organizations to invest so that, together, we can make those programs. We are currently seeking funding. I told you earlier that a major company would be joining us. We are very hopeful that we'll be able to meet our budget needs. That, in turn, will enable us to produce high-quality programming on the events or milestones I mentioned during my opening statement.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Lacroix.

Mr. Dionne Labelle, go ahead.

[Pierre Dionne Labelle, NDP, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Good afternoon, Mr. Lacroix. I am very pleased to meet you.

I, too, am a fan of Radio-Canada. But when I hear Conservative members call themselves friends of Radio-Canada, I can't help but have my doubts. During a press conference, you talked about the fact that between 1,350 and 1,400 people will have lost their jobs at CBC/Radio-Canada as a result of the various cost-cutting measures that began in 2009. Friendship is earned.

I took a close look at the process you put in place as far as your conferences go and the 18 partners you chose. When you were organizing the conferences, did you consider including organizations that work directly on protecting linguistic duality? The Standing Committee on Official Languages regularly meets with francophone federations. The Fédération culturelle canadienne-française, the Fédération des aînées et aînés francophones du Canada and the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada come to mind, among others. Did you think about adding a similar organization, one dedicated to protecting linguistic duality, to the 18 members you call participants or participating organizations?

[Hubert T. Lacroix]

You have the list, so I won't repeat it. You are quite familiar with it, for that matter.

[Pierre Dionne Labelle, NDP, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Yes, I have it here.

[Hubert T. Lacroix]

We have an objective. When we or the local committee organizes the conference, we hope that all the organizations you just mentioned can take part. Those who help us organize the conferences are facilitators. What comes out of the conferences will depend on the level of interest and preparation of the people invited. Those are the people who will make the stories, not us. Those people will certainly be invited.

[Pierre Dionne Labelle, NDP, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Reading the list, I wondered whether—

[Hubert T. Lacroix]

Those people will be invited all over the country, to every conference.

[Pierre Dionne Labelle, NDP, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Would it not have been desirable for them to be part of the process?

[Hubert T. Lacroix]

They will obviously have their say.

[Pierre Dionne Labelle, NDP, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

I noticed that your 12 conferences will basically take place in the various capitals. One of them will take place in Montreal, which is the only officially francophone city among those selected. This means only one francophone city out of 12. Do you think this is enough to reflect the presence of francophones across Canada and what they hope to see in the programming of the 150^th anniversary? Would it not have been appropriate to include other francophone cities as well?

[Hubert T. Lacroix]

If you look at the cities that have been selected, you will see that there is one city per province. That is how we decided to organize our conferences. Each conference is inclusive. There won't be one conference for francophones and one for anglophones. In Moncton, for example, we are hoping that not just francophones will show up at the conference. We would like people from Moncton who speak English and who are concerned about those issues to participate. We want to see people from all over New Brunswick participate in the conference.

The conference will take place in Moncton; people can get there the same way they can from here to Montreal. On the day of the conference, the idea is to have a structure in place that will succeed to attract people and to provide them with an opportunity to talk to each other and to talk to us. Our selection was not based on language, but rather on the major cities in the provinces so as to reflect Canada as a whole.

[Pierre Dionne Labelle, NDP, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

On your website, you mention that the conferences will take place in both official languages. Is each conference going to be bilingual? How will things work?