Speeches and Interviews

October 22, 2003

Public Broadcasting: Why Bother?

Talking points by Carole Taylor, Chair, CBC/Radio-Canada, CBC/Radio-Canada to the the Canadian Club Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario

INTRODUCTION

Thank you. I am delighted to be here today and to have this opportunity to address such a distinguished audience.

It is also a great pleasure for me to be back here in Ottawa with all of you. I recognize so many friends and colleagues with whom I've had the chance to work over the years.

I can't think of a better forum for my remarks today than the Canadian Club, since most of my comments relate to this wonderful country of ours… and CBC/Radio-Canada's role as the national public broadcaster.

It is our mandate to
… provide a public space for Canadians to learn about and discuss the issues that face our country.

… a connecting space where Canadians of every ethnic, religious and linguistic background can experience and celebrate their nation's diversity.

… a Canadian space where citizens from every region can see themselves reflected.

But first before I elaborate, may I begin by introducing Robert Rabinovitch, CBC/Radio-Canada's President and CEO and I'm certainly pleased that Don Newman, Senior Parliamentary Editor, CBC National Television News and Host, Politics; Susan Murray, Senior Parliamentary Reporter, CBC Radio; Carl Bernier, Host, Tous les matins du monde, French Radio and Odette Gough, Host, Ce Soir Ontario, French Television are here with me today, some of the faces and voices of CBC/Radio-Canada in Canada's National Capital.

One more thing…many of you have already heard about our plans to move into a new broadcast facility in 2004.

Essentially, the new building will house all our media lines… currently spread out over five locations across the National Capital Region.

For the first time ever, our English, French, Radio, Television and New Media people will all be under one roof in the heart of downtown Ottawa… less than a block from here actually.

This move will enable greater collaboration across the media lines—better sharing of ideas, resources and technology—to serve audiences in the National Capital better than ever.

We're very excited about how this move will enable us to forge even better connections between the people of Ottawa and the larger Canadian family… Just as a public broadcaster should.

But now, let me ask:

…Why do we need public broadcasting, anyway, in this 500-channel universe? Who cares? What value do we add to people's lives that is not already satisfied by American channels or private Canadian networks?

Well, most importantly, I would say we are a platform for Canadian voices. Some of those voices sing, some act, some debate, some inform… but they are CANADIAN voices… Voices that should be heard and celebrated, not only here at home, but around the world.

I am driven by the belief that Canada has something important to offer the world at this particular moment in history: our values, our ideas, our talent …our experience as a compassionate, bilingual, multicultural country.

I see, as you do, the North American harmonization of borders, security, policy initiatives. But my line in the sand is cultural policy. You can't be an independent strong nation in any meaningful way without a vibrant, beating sense of who we are, what our stories are, what our values are, what our history is.

And therein lies the role of public broadcasting.

Canada is not alone in this thinking. Around the world, public broadcasting is increasingly recognized as essential.

England sees a strong need for the BBC… Australia, France, Belgium, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, even the United States…ALL view public broadcasting as essential for maintaining national identity and social cohesion.

Now, many of these are countries much older than Canada. In some cases, they are geographically compact… in others, they are demographically homogenous. And, none of them are as closely integrated with the culturally dominant U.S.

In other words… what I am trying to say is that NONE of them have the challenges we do as a country in trying to have our own voices heard.

None of them has as much need as we do for a public broadcaster.

So let me talk a little bit about how I see the role of CBC/Radio-Canada at this beginning of a new century.

For almost 70 years on radio, 50 years on television and almost a decade on the Internet, CBC/Radio-Canada has been helping Canadians to recognize one another in both the Canadian and global context.

We offer service in English, French and eight Aboriginal languages, radio and television, on eight networks, three specialty channels, a 45-channel digital pay audio service, a short-wave radio service broadcasting internationally in seven languages, and the Internet. When you look at our organization as a whole, we are a large, complicated broadcasting company.

…and we do all this at a cost of approximately $29 per Canadian per year…. Less, much less than the cost of a pair of tickets to an Ottawa Senators' hockey game.

So, in offering this comprehensive service, we must ensure that our programming reflects Canada in all its geographic and cultural diversity and complexity.

To do this, I believe first and foremost we must build back our regional production, we must build up our regional voices and we must heal our bruised regional relationships.

We must also work to reflect the cultural diversity of Canada today, not only on air, but also in our production units, decision-making offices and on our Board.

But I have to be honest with you …almost 15 years of cuts have taken their toll, especially in regions… Since 1990, despite increased broadcasting responsibilities, our parliamentary operating appropriation, in constant dollars, has decreased by $319 million.

And the cuts haven't stopped… It is one of the major disappointments and surprises of my time as Chair that our budget continues to be hit in this way… I really thought all of that was behind us….

…but in the spring, $50 million over two years was cut from the Canadian Television Fund, one week before CBC finalized its budget for the year.

Last month, mid-year, an additional $10 million cut to CBC/Radio-Canada was confirmed.

This death by a thousand cuts cannot continue… not if we are to do the job you want us to do.

The irony is that all of this is happening at a time when the Heritage Committee of Parliament has issued a report supporting CBC/Radio-Canada… saying basically that we provide a valuable service, and that we should receive adequate and stable funding…and by the way we should expand our regional and international presence.

I agree… So let me tell you some of the things we are doing.

In fact, over the past three years, the Corporation has been dramatically reshaping itself to bring Canadians greater value for their investment.

We have strengthened our traditional excellence in journalism, children's programming, sports, arts, drama and entertainment.

We are getting back to the basics of what it means to be a public broadcaster. We are also finding new ways of doing business. Through merchandising, real estate and sharing of programming resources across media lines, we have achieved efficiencies for re-investment in even more top-quality programming.

By renting surplus real estate in Toronto and Regina, for example, we achieved $5 million additional annual revenues for re-investment in programming.

In the meantime, we continue to deliver such programming successes as:

• Trudeau
• Canada: A People's History (Le Canada : Une histoire populaire),
• À hauteur d'homme and
• The Trial of Louis Riel.

All have proven to be enormously popular with Canadians eager to know more about their Canada.

This is our history. These are our stories. They won't be told by anyone else.

In children's programming,
For families seeking a safe, commercial-free and educational environment for their kids, we have expanded our children's schedule and taken the advertising out. Again, not something the Private Networks would do, but something I feel is part of our mandate.

In sports,
Our programming, including our Olympics coverage, offers more opportunities than any other Canadian mainstream broadcaster for Canadians to cheer our best athletes, especially our young, talented amateurs.

In the arts,
We also remain Canada's most important vehicle for developing and showcasing Canadian arts and culture.

We connect Canadians to their orchestras, composers and performers… to their theatre, comedy and literature, and dance companies in a way that no other media organization does … both nationally and regionally.

We are there… with over $120 million in direct payments to artists and independent Canadian producers for the commissioning, production and broadcast of original works by Canadian artists… this Corporation is completely interwoven into the cultural organizations of this country.

We have put the public back in public broadcasting.

But, I suspect that nowhere is our contribution more obvious than in news and current affairs.

CBC/Radio-Canada is the only news organization in Canada with a presence across the entire country in both official languages.

…English Radio has reporters in 48 communities including 6 in the North.

…English Television has reporters in 33 communities.

…French Radio has reporters in 33 communities.

…and French Television has reporters in 40 communities.

No other Canadian broadcaster has so many news bureaus and journalists outside major cities…

…in Kelowna, so recently devastated by major forest fires

…in Saguenay, where one of Canada's leading employers Alcan is making a major investment

…in Brandon, where continuing drought is threatening people's livelihoods

…and in Goose Bay, where we brought national awareness to the plight of native communities struggling with drug problems.

We also bring the world to Canada through Canadian eyes.

Again we are back to this idea of Canadian eyes on the world. It is absolutely imperative for me that we have Canadian reporters telling us the story, Canadian cameramen showing us the pictures, Canadian analysts assessing the impact and Canadian politicians responding.

An independent voice.

From Bagdad and Tel Aviv, to Washington and New York, seasoned professionals like Patrick Brown, Neil MacDonald, Don Murray, David Halton, Paul Workman, Adrienne Arsenault, Michel Cormier and until recently, Céline Galipeau, gather, verify and present the facts… as accurately and as fairly as possible… so that Canadians can make their own judgments, as they have done for so many years…

…during the Hungarian Uprising and Suez Canal Crises in the 50's … Vietnam in the 60s and 70s …in the hours and days following the events of September 11th, 2001.

The National… Le Téléjournal… CBC News: Disclosure… Canada Now… Matin Express… counterSpin… The Current… Tous les matins du monde.

These award-winning programs deliver the insights and analysis that Canadians need to understand what's happening in our communities, regions and country… and, in turn, our place in the world.

At home, the future of health care, the ramifications of the Kyoto Accord… the fall out from the war on Iraq… On all these important social debates, our society needs a place for discussion and analysis… a sharing of ideas and positions about options and solutions.

In my opinion:
It MUST be public broadcasting.
It MUST be an independent voice, with no other political or financial or personal agenda.

Trusted. Connected. Canadian. That's CBC/Radio-Canada.

In recent years, Canada's media industries have been going through a rapid transformation. Today the media industry is clearly dominated by fewer, but larger conglomerates.

How can we help but be concerned?

Without choice, people lose trust in what they are told… citizens lose faith in their institutions.

Only with access to the widest range of stories and issues, covered from different points of view, will Canadians be in a position to judge for themselves what is important to them and what they think about the issues that affect their lives.

Choice also helps keep journalism honest. It ensures news organizations do everything they can to obtain the most up-to-date and accurate account of the day's news.

In CBC/Radio-Canada, Canadians have a news and information source that is accountable to them… through Parliament, a Board of Directors and the CBC/Radio-Canada Ombudsmen.

In us, Canadians have a choice for news that is free of commercial and ownership pressures and remains arms-length from the government.

Tomorrow, I will join Robert Rabinovitch before the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications now studying the state of Canadian media.

Our position is clear:

In today's world, CBC/Radio-Canada remains an essential Canadian cultural institution. It plays a critical role in supporting and sustaining Canadian arts and culture… in preserving a space for Canadian perspectives on news and current affairs… and in providing a forum for Canadian stories and Canadian values.

CBC/Radio-Canada is an essential part of the Canadian family.

By connecting Canadians to one another and to the world at large… we are promoting understanding.

By supporting access to the arts, we are building a more vibrant nation.

By nurturing cultural diversity, we are sustaining a Canada of inclusion.

By presenting an independent voice, we are doing our job.

As our nation stands at this important crossroads, my hope is that Canada will be successful in protecting and nurturing that which makes us unique in the world… and the envy of many.

I believe CBC/Radio-Canada has an important role to play on that journey.

Thank you.