Canadian Heritage committee  Yes. We've worked on a few projects with CBC Manitoba as an experiment, and they're seeing the light. When we did this game show, we had 200 people show up at the friendship centre. They were thrilled. That's something they don't have. There is a distance between CBC and a direct connection to the aboriginal community.

Canadian Heritage committee  First of all, when you look at the aboriginal broadcasting industry, it's a very young industry. It's about 20 years old. When you think about what's been accomplished over that short period, it's incredible. I think what we have, as aboriginal broadcasters, is a real special connection to our listeners.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, that's been a real loss, I think, for the north, where CBC did play a role with Sylvia Grier. She did a Cree program in the morning and during the lunch hour, and it was well received in the north and it put a stamp of “CBC cares about the reality of the people in the north”.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Honourable members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to make a presentation before you today. My name is David McLeod. I am the executive director of Native Communications Incorporated, also known as NCI-FM. We operate a province-wide radio network that reaches 97% of Manitoba with 57 radio transmitters located from Winnipeg all the way to Churchill.