Speeches and Interviews

December 8, 1998

Building on the CBC's Commitment to Canadians

To the Canadian Club of Winnipeg — Guylaine Saucier

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very happy to be here with you today and I thank Diana Swain for the kind introduction.

I have a mission today. I won't beat around the bush. Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC, is at a crossroad, and needs your continuing support. I would like to talk to you about the 'new' CBC, and how we intend to accomplish our mission: to provide you with relevant news of the highest quality, to tell Canadian stories, and to build bridges between cultures and amongst regions.

But let me first tell you why a strong public broadcaster is crucial to a country like ours, and why the CBC must change to meet new challenges.

First, as multinationals get bigger and integrate in ways never imagined before — think of Disney, VIACOM or Turner — there is an increasing risk of cultural homogenization. If we are not careful, we will face a world where cultural sameness will prevail, a world which will favour the loudest voice. To offset this, we need the means to convey our own diversity, our values and our concerns. That is the role of the CBC.

Second, as fast as multinationals are integrating, technologies are converging and the lines between information and entertainment blur. Your children probably don't care if they spend a few hours in front of the TV or the computer — or even notice the difference. A screen is a screen. And new technologies have been free, so far, from the regulations that govern radio and television. These are regulations that ensure Canadian content is available, and that the values we share as Canadians are respected and given precedence throughout the schedules of the public broadcaster. That is the role of the CBC.

Third, in the multi-channel universe, not surprisingly, audiences are fragmenting. Where in the past conventional broadcasters could count on large audience shares, today's reality is very different. All conventional broadcasters from NBC to CTV to CBC are losing share to specialty channels. Canadians, like people around the world, are consuming media differently. A public broadcaster must be available wherever audiences are, whenever they wish to be served, and in the manner most suitable to them. This too is the role of the CBC.

The task at hand is to define how we will meet this role in the future. As a public broadcaster we are on the threshold of a very exciting period. Like many industries, we are faced with a vigilant regulator who is engaged with the challenges I outlined earlier. Having examined Canadian content on television, the CRTC is now tackling the conundrum of new media, and yesterday began hearing applications for new French specialty channels. This Spring, the CBC will be before the CRTC for its network licence renewals — radio, television, Newsworld and RDI. This unprecedented examination of the full breadth of Canada's public broadcaster will have a determining impact on how the CBC can more fully play its role in the future.

And, no surprise, I have a few ideas for the future of your public broadcaster.

But before we look to the future we must acknowledge the past. Like many Canadian corporations and agencies the CBC has faced massive cuts. We cut by 30%, which represents 400 million dollars. Unlike others, we did so in a very public fashion. In three short years we implemented unprecedented budget cuts. We looked at doing things in ways that are more responsive and less costly. Yes, we reduced staffing levels. We shifted some schedules and introduced less costly ways of producing programs. We cut the head office staff by two thirds and sold the headquarters building. We reduced corporate management costs to the point where they are now just over one cent on the dollar.

But we did not only make changes just to trim budgets. In fact most of the changes we made addressed the future of the CBC. We Canadianized schedules so that virtually all we present on television is now distinctively Canadian. In response to vocal and committed concerns we readjusted how we serve minority language communities across Canada. We introduced regional news on the half-hour on radio. We made and met a commitment to open a new station in Victoria, the only capital without a CBC radio station. This September, I had the privilege of meeting hundreds of people who visited the new station on Day One.

The CBC — a billion-dollar corporation with a workforce of close to 10,000 — is still transforming itself. The fundamental changes we have made will guide us in the future. We have progressively reduced our dependency on Government appropriations. Public funding now accounts for 67% of our total budget. We now work with more independent producers, from all parts of Canada than ever before. This year, our productions and co-productions won 88 Gemini's and Gémaux combined. How is that for quality Canadian content? But given what's
before us, the CBC is still a work in progress.

In preparing for the licence renewals next Spring, we must demonstrate to the CRTC and to our shareholders how we will continue to respond to Canadians' changing needs, while at the same time providing them with the best Canadian content.

The CBC we will present to the CRTC will be based on five commitments to Canadians.

To be relevant: To reach the widest number of Canadians, we must ensure that the news and information we offer on a daily basis on television, radio and on the internet are credible and relevant. Today, our news is recognized by Canadians as being the most credible source of information. We work hard at earning your trust, by maintaining high journalistic standards, by making journalistic excellence one of the twin goals in our mission. Journalistic excellence is one of the hallmarks of the CBC brand: we must continue to give Canadians what they have a right to expect — fair, factual and balanced reporting.

To be accountable: The CBC exists to serve Canadians. It belongs to all of us, and it belongs to our children. You have a right to know how your tax dollar is spent, and that it is spent on creating programs and content that is relevant to you, as a Canadian. You also have a right to be heard when you think that something is not fair, or balanced or factual. That is why we have Ombudsmen to look into your inquiries in a fair, neutral and objective manner. We also gave a new tool to the Ombudsmen. From time to time, the Ombudsmen call on Canadians to serve on citizens' panels bringing a fresh and unengaged perspective to examine specific issues, programs or to review coverage of an event such as an election. I am pleased to report that we have generally fared well under this examination. Last year three separate panels looked at The National on CBC television, The World at Six on radio, and Politics on Newsworld. While they had a few criticisms, they generally found the performance of these programs on the whole to be fair, balanced and impartial.

To play a critical role in nurturing Canadian culture: The CBC plays an important role in this country as an incubator of new talent, as a risk taker for the development of new ideas. The CBC is not mandated to return a profit to its shareholder, but it must return value. Acting as an incubator of emerging talent, providing a showcase for new talent, and allowing the untried and the untested to work alongside seasoned professionals is a role that is unique to the CBC and, one that we will pursue with vigour.

To constantly evolve: The CBC has changed radically and rapidly over the past three years. But because the world around us is in constant evolution, we must continue to adapt — or preferably anticipate Canadians' needs, otherwise we will be relegated to a corner of history. The CBC needs the flexibility to serve Canadians in the way that they will be using media for information or entertainment purposes. Wherever they are, and whenever they want it, Canadians must be given access to abundant high quality Canadian content. As Canada's public broadcaster we must ensure that Canadians have a home page on the Internet they can really call home. We have a duty to provide a gateway to a vast living resource of francophone content. The CBC must serve as a beacon of all things Canadian on the internet, and across the dial.

To connect Canadians: Canadians must be given the opportunity to see themselves as they are, whether on television screens or computer monitors. It is our job to build bridges between our cultures, and amongst our communities. To do so we need to have a meaningful presence in all regions of Canada, and the critical mass to be able to share with other parts of the country. The CBC has an important role to play in capturing special moments of our lives — of shared joy, as in the Olympics and moments of sadness, as in the Swiss Air Crash. The CBC must remain a defining element of what it means to be Canadian.

The CBC is the only broadcaster with a presence, both in terms of production and distribution, throughout the country, in both French and in English. We also provide services to Canada's North in eight Aboriginal languages. We are currently looking at ways to transcend barriers of geography, age and language. The CBC must serve all Canadians. Young people, just as those living in more remote locations, have a right to the services of their public broadcaster. It is incumbent upon us to reach out to them.

I am proud of the many steps we have taken thus far to bridge our two solitudes. We have developed programs like Radio One's C'est la Vie which provides insights into francophone life across Canada to English-speaking audiences. We now show some of the same award-winning children's programming on both our French and English television networks — a true reflection of our desire to play an important role in nation building. Popular English and French television series such as North of 60 and Omertà are shown on the other network in the other language. And more is coming — watch Newsworld and RDI in January to view an interesting new concept — the same show, stories about Canadian culture, shown on both networks, in French and in English.

The pressure to have a strong and clear means to convey our culture will only grow with the pressures of globalization. In the years to come, when deregulation will be a matter of course, when the multinational media giants will have all the bandwidth they need, when the multi-channel universe will have increased exponentially, the CBC will remain the bastion of Canadian culture, the premiere source for relevant Canadian news and information and Canadian stories.

I hope that I have been able to convince you today the CBC/Radio-Canada can and will rise to challenges it faces, and give you a sense of why a strong CBC really is essential to this country. Make no mistake — the CBC is absolutely committed to playing a lead role in promoting Canadian culture, today and tomorrow, and we are counting on your support!