Evidence of meeting #48 for Official Languages in the 41st Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was radio-canada.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
Yes, we can. Is it the will of the committee to vote now on this particular motion in front of us? Okay.
Is there further debate on the motion?
Monsieur Gourde.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
The motion is very interesting, but had it been proposed earlier, we could have adopted it and worked on all these issues. I suggest that you save it for later. It would actually be a really good idea to adopt it and work on it when we reconvene, in the 42nd Parliament.
We will vote against this motion because we don't have enough time left to undertake a study of this scope. I think we could easily hold six, seven or eight meetings on the topic. Thank you.
NDP
Anne-Marie Day NDP Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Chair, we are members of Parliament until the election. So we have plenty of time. The committee can keep sitting until the election. We have the time we need to do the work the motion calls for.
Conservative
NDP
Jamie Nicholls NDP Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC
I just wanted to add that fact, that the committee itself doesn't dissolve until the election, so it is possible to still do studies.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
Further debate? Seeing none, I'll call the question.
Recorded vote.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
Okay.
(Motion negatived: nays 5; yeas 3)
Mr. Nicholls, you have the floor to move your motion.
NDP
Jamie Nicholls NDP Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC
Sure. My motion was:
That the Committee begin, before the House rises for the summer, a study to determine whether CBC/Radio-Canada has the financial, human and real property resources to adequately meet its obligations under the Official Languages Act and specific aspects of the Broadcasting Act; that it place special emphasis on official language minority communities, and that the study's meetings be televised.
NDP
Jamie Nicholls NDP Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC
I think the motion is self-explanatory. Ontario and Quebec have carried out a study. We saw that they were united and defended Radio-Canada.
We are increasingly seeing that Radio-Canada is having difficulty fulfilling its mandate under the Official Languages Act. Our committee has four members from Quebec and four from Ontario. Sorry, Mr. Williamson, you are not part of that group. Mr. Chong, I forgot about you! You are the fifth member from Ontario.
People from francophone minority communities have told us that they had access to programming in French, but that the coverage focused on Montreal. For instance, they were being given Montreal traffic reports!
Yes, it's in French, and yes, they can hear French on the public airwaves, but their experiences in their own regions are not really being covered. I think it would be a good idea to start focusing more on stories from our regions. I find Radio-Canada's service in Quebec to be terrific, but the broadcaster has problems outside Quebec. I think francophones outside Quebec want to hear their own stories, their own voices in their regions.
Mr. Gravelle, who is sitting next to me, lives in northern Ontario. I think that large region could be a source of many francophone stories broadcast on public television across the country. However, investments are needed for that. When cuts are made and the public broadcaster's funding is limited, the quality of services in regions outside Quebec drops off.
I think the report and the study Quebec and Ontario produced together highlights the fact that we have a long way to go. I know there isn't much time left in this Parliament, but the committee will exist until the election is called. So we could hold one or two special meetings to carry out this study, so as to explore what we can do in coming years to promote the public broadcaster in the regions of the country where francophone communities want to hear their own voices.
Conservative
NDP
Claude Gravelle NDP Nickel Belt, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to support my colleague. He talked about northern Ontario and the CBC. There used to be a program on CBC Radio that told stories from all over Canada, and it was very interesting. Unfortunately, that program disappeared with all the cuts.
On Radio-Canada, we can listen to a local program until 9 a.m. and then, until 4 p.m., we can hear about traffic in Montreal and about the Champlain Bridge. We can hear all sorts of things about Montreal, but we don't learn anything about other francophone regions of the country. There are many other francophone regions in Canada, but, unfortunately, ideas from those regions are not heard on Radio-Canada. I think it would be a good idea to hear from francophones outside Quebec.
Mr. Chair, you may know that we no longer even have access to Montreal Canadiens games in French in Ontario. The French broadcast is no longer available across the country, just in the region from west of Pembroke to the Maritimes.
We could do many things to improve Radio-Canada's television and radio broadcasts. Therefore, I will support my colleague's motion.
Liberal
Lise St-Denis Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Mr. Gravelle talked about the importance of francophone programs for small communities, and I fully concur. However, he said something that's not true, and I cannot believe it.
I personally listen to the radio a lot when travelling to Ottawa. However, Radio-Canada does not talk about the Champlain Bridge until 9 a.m., but about the cities in the region, Saint-Joseph Boulevard and other Gatineau streets. Afterwards, they switch to the national network, and the programming content becomes more cultural. What you are saying is false, but aside from that, I completely agree that we must make sure Radio-Canada maintains its services to all the small remote francophone communities in the rest of Canada.
However, I completely disagree—my apologies to Mr. Nicholls and others—with working this summer. This is a very important topic. It may actually be the most important issue we can tackle, and that is why we have to approach it very seriously. That cannot be done haphazardly in two meetings, in the middle of the summer, to piss off everyone else. Pardon my impolite language.
NDP
Jamie Nicholls NDP Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC
I want to point out that we have an excellent service in Gatineau, but Sudbury is a long way from Gatineau. I will give you a more concrete example of the town of Hawkesbury, which is very close to the Quebec-Ontario border, in a riding neighbouring mine. Although they have access to the “voices” from Gatineau and Montreal, people from that region don't have their own voice. That's a special case.
I would like to have an anglophone radio station in my region and a francophone radio station in Hawkesbury and its surroundings, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell. I feel the Official Languages Act is all about the vitality of the language, across the country. The idea is to provide minority communities across Canada with a voice.
In my own region, we do not view ourselves as Montrealers. We really are from Vaudreuil-Solanges, and there is a difference. I think the same goes for Hawkesbury residents, who do not consider themselves to be residents of the national capital region. Investments and strategic plans may be needed, but we won't have a study.
I know that my colleagues work hard and believe that we can continue working until the election. If the Liberal Party is not interested in studying an issue that has to do with official languages, what can I say? Official languages have been neglected in the country for 30 years. I would like to know whether our Conservative colleagues have anything to say about that. I am sure they are also prepared to work. We will see.
Conservative
John Williamson Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am interested in this issue, especially in the second part of the motion. I think, and the comments we have heard so far indicate, that this is not something we should rush. That is why I think it would be better to deal with the matter in the next Parliament.
NDP
Claude Gravelle NDP Nickel Belt, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I just want to clarify, regarding what Ms. St-Denis said, that I was not talking about Gatineau, Saint-Joseph Boulevard or Wellington Street, but strictly about northern Ontario. Moreover, I am not surprised that the Liberals don't want to work over the summer.