Speeches and Interviews

January 23, 1998

Walking the Talk: Social Responsability in Action at the CBC

Address to the Newfoundland Board of Trade — St. John's, Newfoundland — Guylaine Saucier

Thank you for your kind introduction, and I would like to thank the Newfoundland Board of Trade for inviting me to speak to you today.

Today I would like to consider the issue of stewardship, and how it applies to both the CBC and the CA profession.

The dictionary defines stewardship as "the individual's responsability to manage his or her life and property with proper regard to the rights of others."

Regarding the rights of others is one concept that is taking on a new meaning these days. We see in many enterprises and in corporate boardrooms across the nation a growing awareness of social responsibility and accountability, on the part of both individuals and institutions.

Indeed, the decade has been referred to as "decade of responsible individualism"… bringing with it new demands on all of us, in both our personal and professional lives. By this I mean that, no matter what our position or area of interest, we know that we must answer to the concerns of many more constituents than even 15 years ago. This is true of the CBC, and it is also true of the accounting profession.

Both hold stewardship responsibilities, albeit in different forums. What I would like to do this afternoon is explore this notion further by talking first about the role of the CICA in creating greater awareness about the importance of good corporate governance and then about the CBC as a demonstration of social responsibilty and accountability in Canada.

About five years ago, as telecommunications continued to transform institutions in our society and change the way they do business, CICA began to apply its standard-setting experience to governance issues. Governance is another way of saying stewardship, and what we did was examine the economic and human aspects of what makes organizations run efficiently. As many of you in this audience today are aware, one of the most important contributions of the CA profession has been in standard setting. CICA, on behalf of the profession, sets the reporting standards for both business and government in Canada… a unique responsibility that, to my knowledge, is discharged by no other national accounting organization in the world.

Our concern with control systems and governance processes was timely. It occurred in the wake of several business failures, including BCCI, Maxwell, and Royal Trustco, all of which left shareholders wondering whether there should have been a better system of checks and balances for management and for boards of directors. The reform of governance processes was suddenly a hot topic, and for very good reasons.

Begining with the premise that, "all control starts with self control," we began to explore the essential elements of a sound governance system for Canadian business. And our efforts have paid off. For three years now, both the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Montreal Exchange have required companies to disclose their corporate governance practices.

We have issued two key documents, both of which involve stewardship issues. In these documents, we consider the control systems in all organizations to include a great deal more than just the usual financial controls. We say it includes all the resources… the systems… and the processes of an organization, including its culture and values. And then we look at how these things work together to help people achieve the objectives of the organization.

Our first document is aimed at Boards of Directors, management, owners, investors and lenders. It discusses how an organization can achieve its objectives by giving people the information, the resources, the skills and working environment they need to do their jobs. We focus on the importance of good communication processes in helping them do their jobs better. For example, we talk about the need for a hotline, so that news can travel through an organization, ensuring that it is accountable to its employees and stakeholders.

In a second document aimed specifically at directors, we make the point that individual directors have to be prepared to ask uncomfortable questions; for example, to satisfy themselves about the organization's ethical values. Questions such as: Am I personally comfortable with the organization's strategy? Have I identified and disclosed conflicts of interest? Is the CEO responding in a forthright manner?

Both these documents help to clarify the stewardship issues that can make organizations work better. And they are good examples of how the CICA, on behalf of the accounting profession, is helping to preserve the health of the corporate sector and promote accountability in the corporate boardrooms of Canada.

Now, before I don my CBC hat, allow me to return to my thesis: that responsible stewardship is a common goal of both the CBC and the CA profession. It literally defines what we do.

In the global world, whether we are helping to build nations — as I would define the CBC's mission — or whether we are helping to build successful and socially responsible businesses, as I would define our governance work, the intent is the same. In both, we must take great care in exercising our stewardship responsabilities. By doing this, we can help strengthen our institutions… and our culture, for the benefit of all Canadians.

How does the CBC, as Canada's national broadcaster, deliver on its promise of social responsibility and acountability and is there a future for public broadcasting given the changing environment?

Coming to Newfoundland to talk about the CBC has a certain historical ring to it, considering that Marconi's famous transatlantic signal was first received almost around the corner, on Signal Hill in 1901. Since then, we've seen tremendous advances in communications that have and will continue to transform us, both as a society and as individuals.

To my way of thinking, this sole fact means that the role of the public broadcaster has never been more essential.

I say this because with increasing globalization, which is in large part of being fueled by the advances in communications and information technologies, the cultural identities of the nations of the world are at risk. We are overwhelmed by external influences, and the boundaries between cultures are slipping away. There has never been a greater need for each country to have strong cultural policy to preserve and nurture its own identity, as well as the adequate tools to implement it.

For a politically complex and culturally fragile country like Canada, this is especially true.

At the same time as we deal with the changes in communications, the CBC, like so many other corporations and institutions, had to face massive budget cuts. To ensure that the Corporation would do more than survive, and to be in a position to meet the new fiscal realities, we undertook an examination of our governance pratices, processes and systems.

This examination has led us closer to our original mandate than ever before. It also confirmed that the CBC must change, adapt, and become more accountable if it is to remain the steward of Canadian culture.

Take the Internet. Even in its early form as we know it today, the Internet is a new medium to which public broadcasters must attend. We don't yet know what kind of impact it will have on our society.

However, we do know that the younger generations are growing up as familiar with the point and click environment of the Internet as the older generations were with the telephone, the microwave, and television. And we know that, as the broadband of the information highway increases, the technology will be capable of delivering the products of each of these three older technologies — and much more.

The CBC has moved quickly to establish a presence with new media using the Internet not only to deliver programming, but to create new content in all program categories, such as news, current affairs, children's programming, and so on.

New media is providing itself as a way to maintain and improve our dialogue with Canadians — especially younger audiences. Perhaps most important, it makes us more interactive, and thus improves our national conversation.

Last year, CBC Radio became the world's first public broadcasting network to offer ots programs live on the Internet on all four networks in both languages.

This is one of the key roles emerging for public broadcasting in Canada. And the possibilities seem endless.

So when the question is asked: "Are public broadcasters left with a future?" I must reply with an unequivocal yes. Not only is there a future, but in the case of CBC, we have a whole new raison d'être. One might say that we did not have to work so hard at being resolutely Canadian up to now. Among the broadcast media, only a public institution, with public support, can ensure that all Canadians have access to our common values. While many private broadcasters air some excellent Canadian programming, it is nonetheless incidental to their central role, which is to make profits for their owners and shareholders.

Articulating Canada's distinct cultural identity and thus helping preserve Canada as a nation has always been at the heart of the CBC.

The CBC has an obligation to meet the needs of Canadians, in both official languages. We must maintain an English network in Quebec, and a French network that communicates to every other province and territory. No private sector broadcaster would try to reach such a small market share, spread out over such large territory. As of February 16, francophone Newfoundlanders will finally be able to view the Moncton supper-hour show instead of news from Montreal. They will get to see news bulletins sent in by their own reporter based right here in St.John's. Having this connection, whether here or in Timmins, Ontario, is a lifeline to francophone communities outside Quebec, another reason why Canada needs a public broadcaster more today than ever before.

The CBC also has a responsibility to be accessible to most Canadians in all parts of the country. We reach more Canadians than any other broadcaster. Our programming is virtually 100% Canadian. Yet, we need to do more to ensure a secure future for Canadian content. In the Fall of 1997 the CBC filed with the CRTC six applications for specialty channels. Our motivation? To better serve Canadians, by providing them with quality Canadian programming specifically tailored to their needs. One of the specialty channels we proposed is Land and Sea — specifically targeted to Canadians involved in the agricultural and fishing sectors.

But let us look at the other roles that the public broadcaster plays in Canada. If we want to survive as a culture, we must provide for continuity in the transmittal of culture from one generation to the next — a "succession plan", we might say. Would any other institution have been able to provide the critical mass of resources, the sense of purpose and substained commitment to Canadian content? To new services?

No, our market is too small to justify it under the terms of any sound business plan. Regardless of the medium, Canada's public broadcaster fulfils its responsibility as an incubator of new talent from all walks of life. On the musical front, the CBC-sponsored coast to coast competitions to encourage young composers and performers, while on the comedy front, to the enjoyment of all Canadians, the Newfoundland diaspora continues to thrive — represented by Rick Mercer and Mary Walsh.

On the newsfront, the CBC is considered by many as the gold standard in journalism. We are the largest journalistic organization in Canada, providing a fertile training ground fo young journalists.

Another responsability which is very important to me: the CBC's commitment to take risks on new talent. When performers, producers or directors are well enough known, the private sector broadcasters will invest in their projects. But they need a venue where they can improve their skills and demonstrate their talents. That is a role for the public broadcaster.

Furthermore, the special challenge of the national public broadcaster is at the same time to promote shared values within our two main cultures and to allow both cultures to flourish in their own right.

Radio-Canada has been at the heart of a flowering of Québécois culture that has gone on for generations. Radio-Canada pioneered a form of drama programming, called téléromans which have found a strong and loyal audience in Québec. Now all the private francophone networks create their own drama in the same genre. In fact, Québec drama attracts almost 40% of all prime time drama viewing on French television.

However, it is different in English Canada, where what the Americans have to offer seems to be more interesting.

There are several reasons for this… money, money and money! The American cultural industry produces an excellent range of products, and excels a producing prime time comedy and drama that the rest of the world, including Canada, can't seem to get enough of, and even more to the point, simply can't afford to produce.

It's not surprising, then, that on English television, Canadian drama attracts only about 10% of the total time devoted to watching prime time drama series, films and made-for-TV movies.

If we want to fully play our role, we must reproduce the same enthusiasm and appetite for English Canadian cultural products as we have done for French Canadian products. This is why we are Canadianizing prime time, and we will be Canadianizing the daytime schedule in the next few months.

For more than 60 years, the CBC has been one of the most important and articulate voices maintaining that distinct English Canadian identity. It is one of the very few national institutions in which Canadians from every corner of this vast country communicate with one another — and do it on a regular basis.

This feature of CBC is especially true for radio. And when the discussion comes up about whether there is a future for public broadcasters in Canada, very few people think that CBC should get out of the radio business.

In the 1970s, radio networks in both English and French made a bold experiment by weaning themselves off commercials. They began to treat their listeners first and foremost as citizens. Today we operate four radio networks — two services in each official language; one concentrating on information, the other on music. The result has been very successful. The two services combined reach almost 3.5 million people, or 17% of the anglophone population of Canada. A very commendable percentage when you consider the fragmentation of the radio market in North America.

I'm confident that, over time, not only will we maintain our audiences, but we will increase our share as we continue to develop new ideas and new talent, and give CBC a distinctive brand that will set us apart from anything else available.

So, as part of the decades-old determination to define English Canadian culture, CBC Television will become what CBC radio has been for 60 years: a unique broadcasting system, whose content is uniquely and identifiably Canadian.

In an era of cultural globalization, the CBC remains the conduit for truly Canadian programming, in the traditional media that are radio and television and in the brave new world of new media.

But it is only by keeping focussed on our social responsabilities and balancing the divergent interests of many constituents, and by being fully accountable, that the CBC will continue to be relevant to the everyday lives of Canadians.

I hope that I have been able to show you today that good governance — that is, responsible stewardship — are more than just boardroom rhetoric — that for both the CICA and the CBC social responsibility and acountability are at the heart of all we do.

Thank You.