Madam Speaker, while the government bill proposes to amend the rules pertaining to unemployment insurance, Canada Assistance Plan and collective bargaining by imposing a salary freeze upon its employees, while the government is making cutbacks everywhere and taking money in the taxpayers' purse, it is still granting the CBC a borrowing authority of $25 million which could be increased under an appropriation act.
First of all I would like to denounce the omnibus bill which in the hands of the government becomes a way to disguise important policy changes. This bill is a soup containing to many ingredients and too spicy to the taste of the poorest.
That being said, I would like to emphasize the borrowing authority that the government intends to give the CBC. According to the rule book, a line of credit is generally granted to individuals and to financial institutions that know how to add up figures, how to administer their business, that have expansion plans based on market research studies or who know how to balance their books. In other words, individuals and institutions that have a financial reputation that can justify their request.
Yet, this is far from being the case with the CBC. Let us have a closer look at the facts. Based on data prepared by senior officials of the Department of Canadian Heritage, the CBC will see its deficit grow from $41 million this year to $78 million next year and this does not take into account the budgetary cuts of April 1993. You must add to those projections an amount of at least $100 million that the Minister of Canadian Heritage intends to recover from the CBC over the next five years.
The minister also stated that he would like to see the CBC less dependent on advertising revenues. Those revenues will account for 26.3 per cent of the total revenues of the CBC in 1994, that is almost $400 million on a total budget of $1.5 billion.
Up until now, several drastic measures have been taken by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to redress its structural deficit. With a document published by professor Lauzon, I want to remind you of some of those measures which in the end did not solve anything and, above all, did not allow the corporation to balance its books. Yet, we still suffer from some of those measures. There have been 2,800 jobs lost since 1984, including some lay-offs, French and English television services have been restructured, three local television stations have been converted to satellite stations, and all regional programs have been cancelled except for news bulletins. That measure should bring about an economy of $46 million.
Incidently, it is impossible for me, as a citizen, to find out how much it costs to operate the French CBC station in Quebec City. People in Eastern Quebec have the vivid impression that that station profited from the savings that were to result from the closing of the Rimouski, Matane and Sept-Îles stations. But when we ask for information in Quebec City, the answer is: "Sorry, we have competitors, we cannot give you that information".
Let me go on with the list of cuts the CBC made in order to reduce its deficit: $12 million in expenditures for the television network. Another apparent cut affects precisely the office of the Speaker of this House; the parliamentary channel has been transferred to the budget of his office. Such a measure seems to result in an economy of $5 million but in reality the service still costs taxpayers $5 million; it has simply changed envelopes.
Another cut was the reduction of Radio Canada International services abroad and the transfer of its financing to Foreign Affairs. This might look like a $20 million saving for the corporation, but it is costing $20 million to Foreign Affairs. Such measures are deceitful for the public; they are a real disgrace.
But not all services have been cut, not all services have borne their share of budget cuts. The amounts withheld from the regions have simply been transferred to the networks.
According to a study conducted by the Syndicat des journalistes de Radio-Canada, contrary to what they would have people believe, the closing of stations in the regions in 1991 has not reduced the costs of television programming. It has led to a transfer of funds to the networks. If you compare the costs of television programming for 1991 with those for 1992, you realize that they have decreased by $40 million in the regions and that the costs of the regions' contributions to the network have also decreased by $7.1 million. One regionally produced program we all know very well is "SRC Bonjour" which originates right here in Ottawa.
Therefore, you will say, there was in fact a cut of some $47 million. Quite the opposite; if you look at the figures, the network costs have increased by $60.7 million. There you have another example of the kind of cover-up this government and that corporation are carrying out. The final cost was $13 million higher than the anticipated cuts. Therefore, the network benefited from the closing of our regional TV stations and it hurts even more. We are still reeling from it.
I would like to mention something that was promptly dismissed by the president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and by the Minister of Canadian Heritage, namely the funding discrepancies between Radio-Canada and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
On April 5 last, the Coalition pour la défense des services Français de Radio-Canada, which, I will remind the House, is made up of technicians, journalists, musicians, researchers, and in-house artists, published a report showing that the funding discrepancy between the two networks now totals $76.4 million. SRC gets $69 million, whereas CBC receives $146.1 million.
One hour of TV programming costs on average $37,400 on CBC, and $18,390 on SRC. Producing the news on the French network costs on average $7,000 an hour, whereas the same thing on the English network costs $18,000. And yet, news are news, no matter the language.
Comparing average drama production costs is just as shocking: $68,000 on the French network against $99,000 on its English counterpart. In spite of such disproportionate funding, which can only be due to cultural racism, CBC and the Société Radio-Canada have comparable audiences. With a BBM audience rating of 13.6 per cent, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reaches approximately 2.8 million viewers whereas the Société Radio-Canada, with a rating of 33 per cent, reaches an audience of 2.2 million. Therefore, such funding discrepancies between the two networks cannot be justified.
Recently, the CBC bought the broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games in Atlanta for $28 million. Its competitors were offering $10 million. The corporation believes that it can sell $35 million worth of advertising, which experts in this area tend to doubt. Does the corporation intend to use its new line of credit to make up for any revenue shortfall? It is a question every citizen is wondering about.
In view of such financial mismanagement, the Bloc Quebecois, on behalf of Canadian and Quebec taxpayers, wants the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to be accountable to Parliament for the use of its line of credit. That is the reason why we proposed an amendment which would make it compulsory for the corporation to explain to Parliament the purposes for which it plans to borrow money and its plans to repay the borrowed money. What sense is there in giving the corporation borrowing authority if it is unable to manage its affairs?