Industry committee  I would be unwise to say in the presence of the member of Parliament for Kitchener—Waterloo, where half of it is all happening, that I had specific concerns about the ability of Canadian technology companies to compete. They do a very good job of competing on a world scale. But

Industry committee  In the field of television, for example, one of the regulations is that over the course of a broadcasting year, 60% of the programs that are aired have to be Canadian. Under the policy the CRTC put out last week, that is proposed to change to 55%. There has been debate within the

Industry committee  I understand the need to be quick here, so I'll speak in bullets if I may. First, I think we have moved over a period of two or three decades from monopoly situations to duopolies and then to more of a market situation. There's an evolution. We are a country of 34 million peopl

Industry committee  Mr. Chair, members of the committee, thank you for inviting us to appear before you today. Friends of Canadian Broadcasting is a watchdog for Canadian programming on radio, television, and new media. We're supported by 100,000 Canadians. Our most recent appearance before this co

Canadian Heritage committee  The English and the French audiovisual systems are very different. As you know, the popularity of programs in the French language, and particularly inside Quebec, is immense. It's quite possible to get a substantial portion of the population of Quebec watching one signal at one t

Canadian Heritage committee  Are you referring to what they call FreeSat?

Canadian Heritage committee  The CRTC asked me to comment on that just five days ago. I've sent them a four-page letter and I'll be happy to send it to you. I'll make a few points. It's not free. It would cost, in our judgment, something in the order of $500 up front to get access to it. Their business mode

Canadian Heritage committee  Go for Manitoba.

Canadian Heritage committee  It is the latter, and the survey by Canadian Media Research was based on a sample of 1,500 Canadians drawn from those who did not have satellite or cable service. As you may know, Mr. Del Mastro, those people constitute about 9% to 10% of the population.

Canadian Heritage committee  Of course the management of the CBC needs to be at arm's length from government decision-making; otherwise it would be a state broadcaster. But that doesn't mean we cannot criticize some of their decisions, and faced with the regrettable situation of the cuts that were made a mon

Canadian Heritage committee  A very brief answer would be yes.

Canadian Heritage committee  Our organization is non-partisan, and sometimes that is difficult. In the years that I have been doing my job, I've had reason to criticize this government, the Liberal government, and what was then known as the Progressive Conservative government. I will be very candid with yo

Canadian Heritage committee  There's a colloquial expression in English about hitting someone when they're down, if you know that expression. It would seem to be an inappropriate time, if the government had any discretion, to impose such an exercise on the national public broadcaster when it is in a crisis.

Canadian Heritage committee  Here I'm actually borrowing an idea from Prime Minister Harper when he was the leader of the opposition. He made a speech to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. I have it here, and I mention this in my remarks. He said that he thought CBC Television should withdraw from the

Canadian Heritage committee  With your permission, I'll speak in the official language that I better understand.