Mr. Speaker, the father of Canadian broadcasting, Graham Spry, once said that only the state or the United States could provide Canadians with radio and television programming. Today, however, this is no longer true.
The advent of the 500 channel universe means that Canadians have a wide range of options open to them, but this has not lessened the need for the CBC. Only the CBC provides programming from a uniquely Canadian perspective. In recent years the CBC has had to adapt to audience fragmentation and changing fiscal realities.
It pleases me to note that despite this, the CBC has become more efficient and more Canadian in character. Since Canadianizing its prime time schedule, for example, CBC English television has gained more viewers than it had only a few years ago.
I would like to commend the corporation for its efforts to reflect Canada to Canadians. It is my belief that only the CBC can be to Canada in the 21st century what the CPR was in the 19th, a link that joins the country.