Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee, good morning. Thank you for the invitation to appear before you today. As the chair said, my name is Ronald Cohen, and I'm the national chair. With me are John MacNab, CBSC's executive director; Teisha Gayl

Canadian Heritage committee  That's an excellent question, Ms. Keeper, and a difficult one to respond to in some respects. Basically, we began as a creature of the private broadcasters in 1986, with the idea that we might go forward in 1988. This began to take some form, and by 1990 we had the shape that w

Canadian Heritage committee  At least one aspect is quite telling. From the time Virginie Larivière presented her petition to Prime Minister Mulroney, when violence on television was a fairly significant concern—and when there were a lot of children's programs containing violent elements, including Mighty Mo

Canadian Heritage committee  No, we have not measured the violence nor any other kind of content on television. We do not have the means to do so. I have not seen any study or survey that clearly indicates what is happening on television. It must also be said that violent content is not necessarily problemat

Canadian Heritage committee  I do not know it in detail, but diversity is very important to us.

Canadian Heritage committee  Our problem, of course, is first and foremost the issue of public television versus private television. I understand you completely. You are here to study public television. Unfortunately, we only represent private radio and television. Furthermore, our mandate does not include d

Canadian Heritage committee  But you mentioned—

Canadian Heritage committee  It perhaps was not the objective, but—

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes.

Canadian Heritage committee  I understand you, but the nature of—

Canadian Heritage committee  The nature of the violence in some video games gives an indication of what needs to be done whenever children are exposed to children. That of course is under the control of the parents.

Canadian Heritage committee  The problem is that television no longer broadcasts that level of violence. If anyone wants to do so, they do it through the means of violent games like those. You say that there is a difference between the complaints and the content. The complaints represent a sort of poll.

Canadian Heritage committee  A survey like this is not official because anyone is free to lodge a complaint.

Canadian Heritage committee  That shows that we are mitigating the problem in this area.

Canadian Heritage committee  First—and believe me, no pun is intended, Mr. Angus—that may be a question of taste, to a considerable extent. I couldn't imagine watching the circumstances that you just described. We have provision in our Broadcasting Act and regulations that deal with simultaneous substituti