Canadian Heritage committee  I haven't yet taken up my position, but, like you, I read the newspapers in June when RDS reached an agreement with the NHL to rebroadcast its games. From what I read in the papers, that agreement will last five years. I assume there was a proper competition and that RDS won it.

Canadian Heritage committee  Let me tell you that when I started getting involved in the broadcasting business at Télémédia, we had a radio company. The only issue we had was trying to get market share from somebody else in the country. We didn't have to fight the Internet. We didn't have to fight people downloading stuff at different times.

Canadian Heritage committee  Actually, I'm very happy to answer this question. I just want to tell you that I didn't take this job to privatize services. I took this job because it's a company that has to deliver all sorts of programming on a whole bunch of platforms. So we're not going to do this. That's not the purpose of the job I took.

Canadian Heritage committee  New sources of revenue, for me, involve any strategic alliance—and that is why these words are in the same sentence, or just about—that allow CBC, through a partnership or a different way of doing things, to maximize the quality of its assets and the alliances it has, thereby making sure it increases its cashflow to be ploughed back into programming.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think flexibility starts with being able to see funding stabilized over more than 12-month periods. I think if you do any kind of strategic planning, it has to sit on a strong financial base. I think that's where it starts. From there, creativity flows. Obviously, creativity is at the centre of what this company does every day.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'm very well aware of Mr. Rabinovitch and his team's numerous presentations here, and most recently again, to try to help certain aspects of its mandate--for instance, the envelopes that have been requested on extending the regionalization issues. I think that is very important in what CBC/Radio-Canada is trying to do.

Canadian Heritage committee  As I told you in my opening remarks, sir, in the different positions that I have held, I've actually worked with a lot of great teams, I have built teams, and I have focused my efforts on trying to help these companies strategically plan, take care of their employees, and get the financing they need to be able to meet the goals they've set.

Canadian Heritage committee  In what regard do you mean?

Canadian Heritage committee  Oh, yes. I was involved in basketball for a long time, and as a basketball person, I was asked to be the colour commentator. I went to three Olympic games for the CBC as a radio commentator in 1984, 1988, and 1996. I worked for the French radio network and then for the French radio and TV networks over that time.

Canadian Heritage committee  What's absolutely amazing about this position is that everybody has an opinion on CBC/Radio-Canada--everyone. I think I've received 600 or 700 e-mails from all sorts of friends and people. They always say, “Congratulations”, and then, “You know what, here's what I think of this.”

Canadian Heritage committee  People care. They really care about CBC/Radio-Canada. They also understand that a person with a business background.... Grâce à Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien, I was involved, as you know, at Télémédia. I really found the industry fascinating. Because of it, I now have the opportunity to end up in the position that I'll be starting on January 2, which is absolutely awesome.

Canadian Heritage committee  I tell them that I respect those views. It is very polarized. People have very strong views about CBC/Radio-Canada. There's no grey about this. They either love the corporation and what it does or they have issues with funding, or they have issues with the role it plays. I'm a convinced person: I am fan of CBC/Radio-Canada.

Canadian Heritage committee  Employees should definitely be the businesses's main priority because it relies on the creativity and quality of its programming, which is its main product and spearhead.

Canadian Heritage committee  I see harmonious labour relations, an attempt to take a closer look at everyone's concerns. People have to be happy to get up in the morning and go to work at the Corporation. I consider with a great deal of pleasure any attempt that we make together to provide our employees with a creative work environment every day.

Canadian Heritage committee  I did not apply for this job; I got a call from a headhunter and I was asked whether I was interested. It was the second time this headhunter had actually called me to seek out any interest I might have for this position, and that was about in June of 2007. This headhunter came back to me a couple of times and said, “Are you sure?