Okay.
Local media are in a very precarious position, which presents an obstacle to their ability to fully play their role. The federal government's strategy in placing advertising over the last decade has undermined the network. Local media are in a financial crisis; reinvestment is required and it cannot come too soon. We have seen some closures and others are likely in the short and medium term; others are barely holding on.
It is critical to focus our efforts on a coherent short-term investment strategy, with the goal of stabilizing our asset base in local media, media with no access to stable and ongoing financing.
In presenting our brief jointly with the APF and the AJRQ, the FCCF supports the measures proposed by the Alliance des radios communautaires.
The community media network, our vital communication tool at local level, is struggling. Large numbers and commercial interests win the day, to the detriment of the essential contribution those media make. Radio-Canada, our only national French-language broadcaster, is less and less able to serve our regions and to have them part of the development of their own content.
The abilities of those who develop our French-language content must be preserved. That is the vision that the government invited us to share last fall when it announced “Creative Canada – A Vision for Canada’s Creative Industries”. “This is the time for Canada to step confidently forward, to set a new standard”. Those were the words spoken by the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Using them, the FCCF is positioning itself as a catalyst that is ready to rally the sector's driving forces and steer them in the same direction.
We urge the Government of Canada to commit itself to innovation and to undertake the tough task of designing solutions with local media and appropriate national organizations. Community media must be given the means to fully play their roles, to see their contribution valued, and to be able to see the beneficial effects of their actions multiplied.
We are putting our faith in the scope of your work and we would be happy to work with you.
Thank you for the time you have given us.