Canadian Heritage committee  I just want to make sure that the employees feel very free about the conversation we're going to have. It's going to take different formats. Perhaps sometimes it will be informal and sometimes it will be more formal.

Canadian Heritage committee  It's a very important question, because you've heard many times from my predecessor and the team that's in place, the famous sentence, “one cannot have a public broadcaster without a public”, and I believe that. It is absolutely one of the benchmarks, one of the measurements. You probably saw on Tuesday how well CBC/Radio-Canada, on the radio side, did in all the ratings.

Canadian Heritage committee  Oh yes, we have. Mr. Stursberg is a person with great vision. I really look forward to working with Richard. The act asks the CBC to have a wide range of programs. It says the CBC should take these programs and deliver them in the best, most efficient ways to the greatest number of Canadians.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think it's a very important one. A public broadcaster is not a state broadcaster. The public broadcaster goes out and puts information in different platforms, again, and allows us, Canadians, to understand the issue at hand in the best possible way, the most independent way, so that we can all make up our minds on that particular matter and formulate an opinion.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, sir, I was.

Canadian Heritage committee  The firm? It was Egon Zehnder. They were in charge of the search firm that was in charge of the process.

Canadian Heritage committee  There were two people at Egon Zehnder. If you want the names, I'd be happy to provide them.

Canadian Heritage committee  It's an informal process, but some of these stakeholders I will want to sit down with because they are key to CBC evolving and moving on in the environment that it is in. We will seek them out. I know they are going to seek me out. So we are going to look forward to these dialogues.

Canadian Heritage committee  In terms of business culture? Is that your question?

Canadian Heritage committee  All right. I understand the question. I had the pleasure of meeting Sylvain Lafrance. I have had the pleasure of sitting down so far with Richard Stursberg. We have done it a couple of times, a couple of debriefs. We're starting that. Remember, I'm kind of cheating because right now I'm still doing, or supposed to be doing, what I'm doing as a person, not a CBC person yet.

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely. I know that CBC and Radio-Canada and its management team have been looking at best practices. This is what we do in private practice and this is what we do in private companies. We look at best practices. We compare. We benchmark with other companies. I know they've looked at the BBC.

Canadian Heritage committee  The only answer I can give you to this very important question is, as quickly as possible.

Canadian Heritage committee  As we do in any other private company situation, when there are stakeholders who have a lot to say and who are impacted by the activities of a company, we sit down with them, we share views, we listen to what they say. And obviously in an environment that is as important and is as fishbowl an environment as CBC/Radio-Canada, where there are a number of players interested and impacted by CBC/Radio-Canada, this is something we have to do.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'll look at that, sir, when I come into the position. I'll see how best I can tap the resources around us and make sure we understand, or I understand also, the environment in which I play.

Canadian Heritage committee  I hope I've got them all down. If I don't, please come back to me. I've done business transactions all my life. Yes, two people will not work together unless there's something in both parties' wishes to do a deal. I can't see why these transactions cannot benefit CBC/Radio-Canada in the way they are structured, and I can't see why they would attack the autonomy of the public broadcaster.