Canadian Heritage committee  Sure. That's a very good question, and there's some very positive...and I guess maybe not as much progress. You won't be surprised. In a general newsroom—I'll give the CBC as an example because I worked there for many years and because, as a crown corporation, it tracks gender p

Canadian Heritage committee  It's a job where it doesn't matter. Gender isn't an issue. But I will say—and maybe, Seamus, you could weigh in—at the very senior levels it's still overwhelmingly male. Once you get to the VPs, the directors, the presidents, and the money people at the top, it's still unusual to

Canadian Heritage committee  No, it's worse. Many years ago, maybe in the 2008 heritage committee, concentration of media was flagged as a problem. It's a huge problem. Do you want just one person's opinion in the newspapers in a whole province? I mean, there is something to be said for having a more left, a

Canadian Heritage committee  Can I add to that? Regina is not that small a city. Let's be honest. As I look around, you are all from different provinces with cities of varying sizes often significantly smaller than Regina. If that's happening in Regina it's going to happen where you're from. It's going to ha

Canadian Heritage committee  —and it won't cost as much as television, let's go there; but that's not really the problem. There's incredible information online. But if you don't like what the press writes about you now, how are you going to like it when they're getting that information from bloggers, for exa

Canadian Heritage committee  It doesn't matter if you're watching it on television. People will say that no one's watching television, but that's not the point. You have to pay to have quality news that you can trust and rely on.

Canadian Heritage committee  That's right.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, that is exactly it.

Canadian Heritage committee  In your discussions, give a thought to how difficult it is for young journalists trying to get a job. They're in school, they're finished, and their prospect of getting a decent-paying job with permanent conditions or hours is very low. The work tends to be precarious and low-pai

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, that was very nice of you. Now on funding, and Mr. La Rose referred to it earlier, there had previously been a fund—the local program improvement fund—that provided money for original Canadian productions, and that fund worked very well. It's been discontinued for va

Canadian Heritage committee  It's also important to remember that news gathering at the local level can often uncover stories that take on national significance, and I would say this happens frequently. In my own personal example, as a young reporter in Saskatchewan I was doing a story with young hemophiliac

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you. Madam Chair, vice-chairs, members of the committee, thank you for giving us the opportunity to appear. We appreciate your interest in this very important subject. I would just like to take a minute to recognize International Women's Day, and to say how nice it is to