Information & Ethics committee  In fairness to the current government, its predecessors—going back to the beginning when I was following this subject, which would be about the beginning of the Mulroney years—have all appeared to be persuaded by the Department of Finance's view that it's very important to mainta

Information & Ethics committee  As I understand it, there are twelve members of the board—and this is under the statute—of which two are the president and CEO, and the chair.

Information & Ethics committee  They are all Harper government appointees because of the longevity of the government, of course. None of the appointments exceed five years.

Information & Ethics committee  Thanks, Madam Chair. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for inviting me to appear before you today. Friends of Canadian Broadcasting is an independent watchdog for Canadian programming on radio, television, and new media. We are supported by 150,000 Canadians, and w

Canadian Heritage committee  An affiliate.

Canadian Heritage committee  It was the man who had trouble understanding your question.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, Mr. Maavara from Corus, who was here on November 23, but I imagine you're aware of that as well.

Canadian Heritage committee  That's right.

Canadian Heritage committee  You have criticized me, but I praise you because I think what you're doing is very valuable in pushing the CBC to extend those affiliate agreements. However, I would also say to you that Peterborough and the surrounding Kawarthas area, which is larger than your constituency—

Canadian Heritage committee  The footprint of that channel is quite substantial. It goes up to Haliburton and down almost to Lake Ontario. It is the only local television available to people in your area. We could say the same thing about CKVR in Barrie, for the whole Barrie-Huronia area, one-quarter of a mi

Canadian Heritage committee  Okay. In fact, we commissioned research on this topic from Canadian Media Research Inc. What I would say to you is that when Canadians are asked if they could only receive one channel, what would that channel be and what would they be watching, they say local news is their very

Canadian Heritage committee  Could I say one thing, sir, for 10 seconds?

Canadian Heritage committee  I just want to tell you that I do not agree with Mr. Del Mastro--

Canadian Heritage committee  --and we did not misquote him.

Canadian Heritage committee  Mr. Chair, Mr. Pomerleau said to me, informally before the meeting, where do you come from? And I said, I'm a little guy from Toronto. My role is that of spokesperson. Your question is really a question about the governance of the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. There is a