Mr. Speaker, I want to express my concern about the future of the CBC's news services. The Chairman of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, Mr. Keith Spicer, asked the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to broadcast news bulletins on both networks using simultaneous translation. Such a service will cost more than $15 million a year.
This new demand is being made in a context of cutbacks. Obviously, Mr. Spicer and the CRTC want to sacrifice the quality of the CBC's news on the altar of national unity.
Need I remind the commissioners of the CRTC and the Liberal government that there is still no all-news service in French? Need I recall that the CBC's French service can no longer afford to pay its correspondents abroad?
Mr. Speaker, we members of the Bloc Quebecois are opposed to any political interference in the internal affairs of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.