Official Languages Committee on Nov. 25th, 2025

[Louis Béland]

In my opinion, it's simply about recognizing everyone's role in this model. The francophonie is the pure and clear identity of our community radio stations. We reach these communities; we talk to them. In my opinion, it's just about recognizing everyone's role.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

I now give the floor to Ms. Mingarelli for six minutes.

[Giovanna Mingarelli, Liberal, Prescott—Russell—Cumberland, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I welcome the witnesses and thank them for being here.

Mr. Béland, I'm proud to say that you're a resident of my constituency, Prescott—Russell—Cumberland. I'm glad to see you again.

Minority community radio stations often have limited resources. What are the main operational constraints today that prevent your members from meeting the current quotas? How would your proposals help maintain service quality while reducing the regulatory burden?

[Louis Béland]

That's an excellent question. Thank you.

Basically, it's really about the number of hours worked. The regulations, the quotas, all the necessary reports impose a fairly high administrative burden on our radio stations. They do not have an associated budget to manage these hours and support this work.

I could provide several examples of initiatives, including updates to emergency systems, codecs, and so on. They were imposed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and they represent hours of work. There are no mechanisms to fund this, other than the self-generated revenues of our radio stations, which are often limited depending on the region.

[Giovanna Mingarelli, Liberal, Prescott—Russell—Cumberland, ON]

Thank you.

As you know, community radio stations play a key role in the vitality of minority francophone communities. How would the measures you propose not only lighten their obligations but also strengthen that vitality?

[Louis Béland]

I have a feeling it will be the same answer.

I'm going back to something really simple. It's about recognizing the role that everyone plays in the ecosystem in terms of the francophonie. Once that recognition is in place, we can implement the tools to properly structure and support those roles. As non-profit organizations, community radio stations play a key role in advocating for the francophonie and democracy, and they are essential in allowing all stakeholders to connect with communities in a very direct way. Community radio is often the direct link for communication between the public and its own community.

[Giovanna Mingarelli, Liberal, Prescott—Russell—Cumberland, ON]

Thank you.

You propose to redefine the concept of local oral creations, and even to expand it to Canadian or sectoral creations. Can you specify what type of content should be included in this new definition, in your opinion, and what consequences that would have on the daily obligations of small community stations?

[Louis Béland]

I can give a very concrete example: a hunting and fishing show produced by one of our radio stations in Northern Ontario is very relevant content for our station in Penetanguishene. However, the current rules do not allow that content to be recognized as local content. If I were to extend that to a definition of Canadian content, it would allow for a concrete exchange of content between our radio stations, which can reach the relevant communities. Through that sharing, we would concretely reduce the administrative burden, production costs and all costs related to the creation and production of a show.

[Giovanna Mingarelli, Liberal, Prescott—Russell—Cumberland, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Béland.

Mr. Brousseau, thank you for being with us today.

You mention that your goal is to produce unique programming for communities whose voices are under-represented. What are the main obstacles today that prevent your stations from fully fulfilling that mission?

[Pier-Luc Brousseau]

It goes back somewhat to what I was saying at the start: it's often a question of human resources, but also of limits imposed on the type of content recognized during our listening hours and when we have to report to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. We must therefore ensure that we comply with the various quotas for music or spoken content. We also cannot share certain shows created in Saint John, Moncton or in Edmundston at Mr. Monette's station, for example, on the network. We still can't do it, even though it includes news content.

It's a hindrance because, at a small station with three employees, one person will often handle general management, coordination, accounting and morning hosting. In addition, that person will probably take on the musical direction, because there's no one else. Another person, probably part-time, will host the drive-home show, or something in the evening or on the weekend.

As you can see, we're running out of possibilities to be able to have hosting in the morning, at noon, later in the day or even on weekends, and this is the case at most of our stations.

[Giovanna Mingarelli, Liberal, Prescott—Russell—Cumberland, ON]

Your 10 stations reach 75% of Acadian Canadian listeners in the province. What specific needs of these audiences are not met by mainstream media? How do your radio stations respond in a distinctive way?

[Pier-Luc Brousseau]

We don't hear enough about Ms. Tremblay's stories and the very important matters for her or her family that happen at home. We tell them more and more, but we cannot report these little stories that our major networks will never cover, because they're not of national importance.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Beaulieu, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My question is directed at both organizations. How do you explain that Cogeco or private stations are asking for a reduction in the quotas for French-language music?

[Louis Béland]

In my opinion, it’s a matter of repatriating resources and reducing expenses as much as possible. If the quotas are reduced, stations can play what attracts the most listeners and the most advertising revenue.

There is really a direct link between—

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

It may reflect the decline of French in Quebec. It’s a vicious cycle. The less we hear French music, the less we get used to it, the less we want it.

[Louis Béland]

There are also digital services that stream only music.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

I think the digital giants are the source of the problem because of their broadcasting and the fact that they don’t pay taxes and we don’t derive any revenue from them. The solution probably lies there. If we lower French-language quotas, we get into a vicious cycle. As you said, it would certainly have repercussions on your community radio stations.

Have you heard that outside Quebec? Are there many private commercial French‑language radio stations outside Quebec?

[Louis Béland]

There aren’t many. We’re also having these discussions right now. There are a few, but being French‑language radio stations in a minority setting, they have that community connotation. They play a role that they take seriously. I tip my hat to private minority French-language stations. I think they play an important role.

It comes down to recognizing everyone’s role, as I mentioned earlier, and supporting it.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Earlier, you mentioned that you were considering two solutions. One was to maintain French‑language quotas. You had started talking about the other one, but you ran out of time. Can you tell us a little more about that?

[Louis Béland]

The creation of Canadian content is already an established mechanism. The Radiometre projects that Mr. Brousseau mentioned are funded by that envelope. They are more or less taxed funds from the big players to support the small players, but it’s not enough to ensure the sustainability of media.

Right now, we’re facing challenges. There is certainly some money coming in, but it’s project‑based, which doesn’t address operational needs or support the structure.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

In your opinion, do digital giants such as Spotify and others cause you significant harm?

[Pier-Luc Brousseau]

They exist, so it’s a necessary evil, as some youth consult the news and use the services of those companies.

So we started using them as distribution platforms. If a podcast is recorded, produced and broadcast at the station, it’s then available on the platforms. In our ecosystem, it’s not the number one tool we rely on, but thanks to the various management and broadcasting systems, it allows us to know that a show is interesting, like our news show today.

So we use it as a distribution platform because we need to track the ratings. We need to know if the public has discovered us through these platforms, and if they tune into our signal when they go to the office, to work, to school or anywhere else. We will have at least done our promotional part by using the major platforms.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

The French‑language music quotas do not affect you. You go beyond that because your mission is to promote. You may be playing a bit of music in English, but you mostly play music in French.

Earlier, we talked about the financial set-up and your sources of funding. They are mainly public, but do you have the right to have advertising revenue? About what proportion of your income comes from private advertising?

[Louis Béland]

We have a lot of grants. Our stations sell advertising locally.

On the other hand, one of our demands that I will mention is federal advertising, which has declined incredibly. There was talk of an average of $100,000 to $120,000 in federal advertising per station, with independent and unrestricted revenues. Now, the average is about $1,000 per year, so it’s almost nothing.

Federal advertisements have gone to the digital giants and other platforms, which is normal, since we spend where we think people see the ads. However, the effect on our stations has been incredible. To support the structure and ecosystem, we advocate simply redistributing purchases. We’re not talking about an increase in the budget from the federal government, but just a directive that will allocate a certain volume of purchases to community media. It could practically resolve the situation overnight.