Sheila Copps

[Canadian Heritage, May 16th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that, although I have never been personally lobbied by the Prime Minister on this particular subject, I have in fact been lobbied—

[Cbc Regional News, May 15th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his support. These two programs in their own areas are actually the most popular programs in the country, not just in the region.

I am sure he would not want me personally to start picking and choosing the shows on CBC. I do believe that he and I together and this House of Commons are going to work to make sure that Canada's law on broadcasting is respected and that the regions are reflected in the way that will do dignity to the CBC and to the country.

[Cbc Regional News, May 15th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank the member for West Nova for his support for compliance with the Broadcasting Act.

If the Broadcasting Act is to be complied with, the regions must indeed be represented on television. I hope that this is one of the questions he will ask tomorrow morning when the CBC's president appears before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

[Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Persons, May 15th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, one very important tool that Canadians have for communication is the CBC.

I myself raised this issue with the CBC's president, with the goal of having subtitles available in all the corporation's French and English programming.

[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, May 15th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member's comments and views are shared by all members of the House, including members of the Canadian Alliance. I fully expect that the CBC will continue to meets is mandate under the Broadcasting Act.

[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, May 15th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, subsection 3(1) of the Broadcasting Act makes it very clear that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has the responsibility to reflect Canada and its regions to the national and regional audiences while serving the special needs of those regions. I fully expect that mandate will be respected.

[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, May 3rd, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, first I want to underscore that over the past five years the Government of Canada has given $4.682 billion directly to the CBC. I think that is a significant indication of the commitment that it has for the organization.

I will also underscore the comments that were made by the president of the CBC, to which I expect he will adhere, when he appeared before the standing committee earlier this month. He spoke about the Broadcasting Act in terms of our responsibility to work on introducing and explaining one region to the other. I know we will honour that. We believe it is very important.

[Council On Canadian Unity, May 3rd, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to stress the work done by the Council on Canadian Unity. I have with me a letter dated October 11, 1988, which refers to a new program.

Mr. Michael Meighen also wrote to me about the council's work in this area, as well as your new national program to raise public awareness of our identity as a nation.

I appreciate the council's support for a strong national vision and look forward to hearing more about your plans.

Yours sincerely,

Lucien Bouchard

[Council On Canadian Unity, May 3rd, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, programs are audited every year. I have with me a copy of an audit of the Council on Canadian Unity made by Ernst & Young this year, and the same was done last year, the year before and so on. These audits go back to 1988, when Lucien Bouchard was the minister. Nothing has changed.

[Publishing Industry, May 2nd, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I would never allow foreign control of newspapers.