CHPC Committee Report

Context

CBC/Radio-Canada has played a major role in the development of the broadcasting system in Canada. It is at the centre of cultural, political, social and economic life in Canada. It brings Canadians closer together and allows them to share their unique experience in North America. This is a huge task for CBC/Radio-Canada, as it has to operate over a very large geographic area while reaching out to a linguistically and culturally diverse audience. The development of new communications technologies in the last 20 years has made the Corporation's work more complex.

During our public consultations, we met a number of times with CBC/Radio-Canada executives. They stressed that CBC/Radio-Canada is an instrument of democracy and culture for fostering the coexistence of cultures. The Committee shares these values and sees access to quality information that is free of commercial or political influence as essential to a strong democracy. CBC/Radio-Canada must have a direct impact on the quality of life and the health of communities and the country, in the spirit of participatory democracy.

With a view to maintaining and strengthening its presence, parliamentarians and outside study groups have paid special attention to CBC/Radio-Canada in recent years. In its June 2003 report on the second century of Canadian broadcasting, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage identified no fewer than 30 or so studies pertaining in whole or in part to CBC/Radio-Canada.[1] In that same report, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage devoted an entire chapter to the national public broadcaster. A few years earlier, in June 1995, the Committee tabled a report in the House on the future of the CBC in the multi-channel universe.[2]

Purpose of This Study

On September 27, 2006, the CBC/Radio-Canada senior executive appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Crown corporation, Robert Rabinovitch, spoke in his opening remarks about the need to review the mandate of CBC/Radio-Canada.[3]

This report is based on the original motion adopted by the Committee in November 2006. The report addresses six main themes:

• the mandate of CBC/Radio-Canada;
• the impact of the new media;
• programming;
• the Corporation's financial status;
• governance;
• accountability.

The Committee began its study on March 1, 2007, with a view to presenting recommendations to the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Forty-five meetings have been held to date. Witnesses were invited to respond to a series of questions from the Committee, which were posted on its Web site on February 2, 2007.[4] The terms of reference for the study are provided in Appendix A.

The Committee heard from a range of witnesses from various walks of life and received some 50 written submissions for consideration in its study. The witnesses included members of the public, representatives of unions, guilds, commercial broadcasters and the independent production industry, and other parties interested in the future of the national public broadcaster. The Committee travelled to Yellowknife, Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg, St. John's and Montreal to hold public hearings and sound out members of the public on their own ground. In addition, hundreds of witnesses expressed their expectations and concerns, either in writing or orally, about the future of the national public broadcaster. A summary of this evidence is provided in Appendix B.

While travelling, the Committee took the opportunity to visit some CBC/Radio-Canada facilities in order to gain a better understanding of the operations of our national public broadcaster and of the unique dynamic of its regional stations. We want to thank the managers and employees of the Yellowknife, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal stations for taking the time to meet with us and answer questions.

The Committee also wants to thank the witnesses who kindly took part in our panel on May 31, 2007. The purpose of this exercise was to confirm or disprove our perceptions about CBC/Radio-Canada. A number of specialists also shared their knowledge of public broadcasting and explained the challenges CBC/Radio-Canada is facing at the dawn of the 21st century. We are very grateful as well to the British Broadcasting Corporation's chief policy advisor, Mr Wilf White, and deputy advisor Mr Daniel Wilson, who generously agreed to take part in a videoconference to discuss the operations of Britain's public broadcaster and the challenges it faces. CBC/Radio-Canada executives appeared on March 22, 2007, and November 27, 2007.

The Committee regards CBC/Radio-Canada as an essential public institution that plays a crucial role in bringing Canadians closer together. A very small number of the briefs received were in favour of the abolition of our national public broadcaster. Rather, the vast majority of the evidence stressed the distinctiveness of CBC/Radio-Canada, reflected in the quality, originality and creativity of its programming. Being distinctive should not however mean being inaccessible. Its services must be accessible to the various elements of the Canadian public.

There is no question that the Canadian broadcasting system is facing tremendous changes that will continue to have unpredictable effects in the future. The multiplication of digital platforms, the increasing number of specialty channels and the transition to digital/HD television will all affect the future of CBC/Radio-Canada. The Committee gave special consideration to the impact of emerging technologies on the Corporation's mandate.

CBC/Radio-Canada has been a strong innovator in the last 10 years. It must constantly keep up with new technologies and reach out to audiences where they are, including young people who seek content on the Internet.

It should be noted that the Corporation is facing significant challenges, especially the CBC's English television network. With the omnipresent American television networks and changing viewing habits, the English network is constantly forced to prove itself. Radio-Canada's French television network is also facing challenges of its own: audience fragmentation and funding for non-specialty television in Quebec are just two of them.

The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage does not claim to have answers for the challenges facing our national public broadcaster. This report does however suggest some possible solutions that might merit further consideration.