Canadian Heritage committee  Precisely.

Canadian Heritage committee  In the current context, Radio-Canada's choice is to distinguish itself from its competition, and therefore, to not copy what is done by the private sector. The way in which it distinguishes itself is to highlight Canadian culture. It is because of that role, which is more demanding, that the government invests in the CBC.

Canadian Heritage committee  I will ask my colleague who takes care of partnerships, Mr. Goldsmith, to answer your question.

Canadian Heritage committee  It is an ever present threat that we have been facing since the beginning of Canadian history. Radio-Canada/CBC, like the Canada Council for the Arts, was created precisely to meet that challenge, namely of being a country with a small population covering a vast territory. We have been doing it for 50 years.

Canadian Heritage committee  Our relationship right now with private broadcasters such as Bravo and ARTV, the similar French broadcaster, has been more on exchanging information or promoting artists. For example, in the art breaks they sometimes have to fill three or four minutes, so they'll produce excerpts of work.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'll give you an example of partnerships. A number of concerts on Radio Two, or Espace musique, are broadcast every night. These concerts come from artists and orchestras throughout Canada that we support through operating grants. So this is a great opportunity for us to have this music available throughout Canada.

Canadian Heritage committee  As I said earlier, I will not make any judgments on the way in which the CBC uses its funds. However, we can recognize that the number of high-production-value series has diminished over the years. These kinds of series, which are documentaries or major dramatic series, give our artists the opportunity to fully express their imagination.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, we also have very good relations with the private broadcasters. Obviously we do not have the same degree of convergence there as we do with Radio-Canada/CBC. The network's broadcast of the Governor General's Awards and our partnership with the corporation give it a national profile.

Canadian Heritage committee  We have excellent working relationships with private television and radio broadcasters. Every year we hand out numerous prizes. We have quite significant support. Thanks to the awarding of the Governor General's Prizes or other opportunities, we can showcase the talent of Canadian artists.

Canadian Heritage committee  It is not our role to tell the CBC how to do its job. But the cutbacks or budgetary constraints have hampered the corporation in terms of regional coverage, including regional coverage of artists and artistic organizations. We see very few francophone artists outside of Montreal, for example, on the corporation's airwaves.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would first of all like to apologize for the absence of our Director, Robert Sirman, he is unfortunately suffering from the flu that is currently going around. He will therefore not attend this morning's meeting. I would like to introduce John Goldsmith, Director of Partnership, Networking and Arts Promotion at the Canada Council for the Arts.