Official Languages Committee on Feb. 5th, 2018

[Pierre-Paul Noreau]

Solely journalistic.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Tell us what your wish is.

What would you do if you were able?

[Pierre-Paul Noreau]

Currently, we have a program called the Canada periodical fund. News Media Canada, a nation-wide media advocate, is recommending an increase to the fund. We produce original news in Canada because it is crucial to our democracy and communities. If all our news came from outside the country, we would hear about Donald Trump all day long and nothing else. I, for one, think we already hear enough about him these days.

The tax credit, which applies solely to news and excludes entertainment, operates at a rate of about 30%. We have 25 journalists in our newsroom. They make up a third of our 78-member staff. That said, they are paid the most. Staff members in other sections usually earn less. That provides some relief. The government places value on the production of news. Otherwise, it would be anything goes, as Mr. Généreux mentioned. We should not support a situation where anything goes.

I am not saying our advertising representatives should receive government support. All they have to do is roll up their sleeves. They already squabble enough and do a great job, but the conditions are very challenging. Be that as it may, the tax credit is effective in that context.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Very well. Could it be improved?

[Pierre-Paul Noreau]

Oh yes, it could be expanded.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

I see.

You mentioned another solution, partial reimbursements for digital investments. Given what you said, it really seems that you've done everything you can, both in terms of mobile and tablet applications.

[Pierre-Paul Noreau]

The answer is no, even though Sophie is saying yes. We've done a lot, but there are still digital opportunities we could build on.

[Sophie Gaulin]

It takes resources.

[Pierre-Paul Noreau]

Yes, we need resources. Few newspapers have chosen not to make the digital shift, even at the community level. Almost all of us made the transition a while ago. We have an application and a website, we post videos, and so forth. Regardless, we could do a lot more to support our business model when it comes to digital platforms.

For instance, Groupe capitales médias is currently working on an e-commerce project. It's a digital investment that will support our platform. The digital world still holds a myriad of possibilities. We could do a much better job of reaching people if performance support were available.

Le Droit's digital application is available through the App Store and Google Play. We make improvements to the application every three months. Simply integrating sudoku into such a platform costs half a million dollars. Every investment is—

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

I have one last thing to say.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

We have to—

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Ms. Gaulin, if you extended an invitation to the Minister minister, I have no doubt she would go out to see you.

[Sophie Gaulin]

We have written letters.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

I just meant your comment that she should pay your newspaper a visit.

[Sophie Gaulin]

Yes. It is true, though, that we have written a number of letters, including open letters in the paper, but we have never received a response. Be that as it may, I will extend the invitation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Ms. Lapointe.

Now over to you, Mr. Choquette.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you both for being here.

I've been hearing a lot on this subject for some time now. Unfortunately, the situation has become more serious from one month to the next.

In June 2017, the Acting Commissioner of Official Languages published his final report, which included three recommendations for minority media. The Department of Canadian Heritage and Public Services and Procurement Canada were tasked with performing an impact analysis on community media, motivated by the Government of Canada's decision to move its advertising online. Furthermore, these two departments were to adopt positive measures related to the effects observed after the impact analysis.

Do you know where the government is at on these two recommendations? Has it started this analysis? To your knowledge, have these departments started using positive measures to address these effects?

[Sophie Gaulin]

Many things came out in this report.

Initially, we experienced radio silence for some time.

Then, in December 2017, we received a report from what was Public Works and Government Services Canada at the time. It contained a report from EKOS Research that showed Canadians' media habits. In my opinion, this survey was completely rigged. It was a catastrophe.

Hold on to your hats: The methodology involved asking questions to more than 2,000 Canadians aged 18 or older. There's quite a large age bracket between 18 and 70. How many of those surveyed were 18 years old, how many were 40 years old, or 60 years old? This methodology was rather dodgy.

We have written to the Director, Marc Saint-Pierre, about this issue. We were heard, but we're still waiting for an honest answer.

By the way, I know that Mr. Raymond Théberge, the new Commissioner of Official Languages, started on January 29, and that the Association de la presse francophone asked to meet with him as soon as possible to follow up on this report.

I think it is essential to understand the main issue here: Will Canadians still be reading French newspapers coast to coast in 10 years? That is the real question.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

You also mentioned that it is important to understand that official language minority media are part of the vitality of these communities. Whether we are talking about Ontario, Winnipeg or Manitoba, they are crucial to community vitality.

On this note, you talked about two things that could help you, advertising aside, because we don't really know what's going to happen on that front. There is the tax credit for the production of Canadian content, but there's also the Canada periodical fund which, as you mentioned, is continually having its funding cut.

Can you explain why the Canadian periodical fund is important?

[Sophie Gaulin]

In 2010, the Canadian periodical fund gave financial assistance to newspapers and magazines that were delivered by mail. Part of the $75 million was given to newspaper and magazine owners who used the mail. It worked well. This money didn't go into our pockets; it went directly to Canada Post. This represented a 50% decrease in mailing costs.

Later in 2010, the government decided to call this the Canadian periodical fund, and decided that all periodicals would be eligible for funding, no matter how they were sent to readers. Instead of giving money directly to Canada Post, it decided to give it to newspapers and magazines.

It goes without saying that the lion's share of the $75 million, which stayed the same, was significantly lower for those who used the mail. We were left to compete with Chinese newspapers in Vancouver, for instance, that have absolutely no problem distributing their newspapers with carriers. We're talking about a city with a high population density, and they have no problems getting carriers to deliver newspapers to their readers' doors. That being said, my readers are scattered across Manitoba. Maybe one day polar bears will be able to deliver our papers, but for now we have to rely on the mail.

This sum of $75 million was shared between many papers that compete with mine, but do not face the same challenges as mine. The amount was never reviewed. We can say that $75 million isn't bad, but the worst part is that, for years now, only $7 million has been allocated to newspapers in official language minority communities.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Out of the $75 million?

[Sophie Gaulin]

Yes. The rest went to the following publications. The Hockey News, which is very important for our democracy, got $1.3 million; TV Hebdo, equally important to our democracy, got $1.5 million. Last year, TV Week, also a true staple, got $1 million. Allô Vedettes, which publishes feature articles on Céline Dion, got $218,000. Good Times, a magazine for retirees, got $588,000. Flare magazine got $408,000, and Châtelaine got $1.5 million.

Can we all agree on the fact that, at some point, it would be important to allocate funding to general information newspapers? When Bell Media, which owns television stations, produces TV listings and gets $1.5 million in funding, I honestly find the world a little less fair when I fall asleep at night.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Ms. Gaulin.

Mr. Vandal, the floor is yours.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Thank you Ms. Gaulin and Mr. Noreau for your presentations. I also thank you for coming by my office for a meeting after Christmas.

Going digital is far too often presented as the answer to everything. The point you're making about the digital shift for newspapers in official language minority communities is so important that I would like you to state it again.

What particular challenges do these communities face when it comes to going digital?