Minister Dupuy names the members of mandate review of CBC, NFB and Telefilm Canada
OTTAWA, May 2, 1995 - The Honourable Michel Dupuy, Minister of Canadian Heritage, today announced the appointment of Pierre Juneau as Chairman of the Mandate Review Committee of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board (NFB) and Telefilm Canada, and provided the Terms of Reference on the review process. The other members of the Committee will be Catherine Murray and Peter Herrndorf.In the February 27 Federal Budget, the Government said it would conduct "a fundamental review of its support to, and the mandates of, the CBC, NFB and Telefilm Canada."
Mr. Dupuy emphasized that the role of the Mandate Review Committee is to strengthen the capacity of key federal institutions to operate in a new environment. "We remain committed to the production and dissemination of Canadian content. The Mandate Review Committee will identify how these institutions can best achieve that objective at a time of great financial and technological challenge."
The Committee members, chosen in consultation with the Prime Minister, will work closely with the three agencies. The agencies will be asked to bring forward their ideas and proposals for mandate adjustments and priority setting in the current fiscal climate. The Committee will examine these proposals in light of its mandate.
The Committee will take into account the recommendations of the Standing Committee of the House on Canadian Heritage on the Role of the CBC in the Multi-channel Universe, the Working Group on Canadian Programming and Private Television, the Group of Experts on Alternative Programming Services, and other studies and reports previously submitted to the Government.
Their report will be delivered to the Minister of Canadian Heritage by September 1, 1995.
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Terms of reference and biographies are attached.
Information:
Neil Wilson
Press Secretary
Minister's Office
(819) 997-7788
MANDATE REVIEW OF CBC, NFB AND TELEFILM CANADA
CONTEXT
As stated in the Budget Plan of February 27, 1995, "the Government will undertake a fundamental review of its support to, and the mandates of, the CBC, NFB and Telefilm Canada".
The Government intends to design in 1995 the policies and directives which will guide the development of the Information Highway. The creation of Canadian content sound and image products of high quality will be key to vigorous Canadian content, in all its many forms, on the Highway.
The CBC, NFB and Telefilm Canada have been instrumental in the development of Canada's film, video and broadcasting sectors. In addition, Canada is developing an internationally competitive private production industry which has achieved world recognition for excellence in a rapidly changing media environment.
Industry is restructuring and redefining itself in order to respond to this new environment. So, too, must public institutions established by Parliament form new relationships, consider new structures and develop new strategies to meet priorities.
The Federal Government's overriding cultural objective for the audio-visual sector remains clear: ensuring production and availability of, and access to, Canadian content. The goal of this mandate review is to identify how this objective and the objectives of the legislation which pertain to the CBC, NFB and Telefilm can best be met and thus respond to the challenges of the multi-channel universe and fiscal framework constraints.
The mandate review will also bear in mind the need to reflect Canada's linguistic duality.
The mandate review process will respect the traditional arms-length principle as there is no intention to provide day to day guidance on the management of these agencies.
MANDATE
The Mandate Review Committee will advise the Minister on changes to the mandates and, if advisable, legislation and the future positioning of the CBC, NFB and Telefilm Canada, taking into account budgetary constraints and new technology. The Committee will also take into account the requirement to support the CBC as a strong public broadcaster which reflects Canada's diverse regions and the possibility of alternative sources of revenue.
Without limiting the scope of its counsel, the Committee will analyze and provide advice to the Minister on the following traditional areas of activity, as related to the mandates, such as research and development, technical innovation, training, production, distribution and broadcasting.
The mandate review will result in advice on options for changes in priorities for the three organizations, possible changes to their mandates and legislation and possible changes in structures to increase effectiveness and synergies.
OPERATIONS
The Committee will consult closely with the CBC, NFB and Telefilm Canada. The Committee may seek the technical and administrative support and assistance of staff from the Department of Canadian Heritage and the three agencies.
In conducting the review, the Committee will make use of the findings and recommendations of the Standing Committee of the House on Canadian Heritage on the role of the CBC in the multi-channel universe, the Working Group on Canadian Programming and Private Television and the Group of Experts on Alternative Programming Services.
In addition, the Committee will draw on past studies and reports previously submitted to the Government. It will also draw upon submissions previously made by the public, experts and private sector representatives to recent public processes. It is not expected to initiate new comprehensive studies.
The Mandate Review Committee will be comprised of three members:
Catherine Murray, Peter Herrndorf, and Pierre Juneau, as chairman. The Committee will report directly to the Minister of Canadian Heritage as soon as possible, and no later than September 1, 1995.
The Honourable Pierre Juneau, O.C.
Mr. Juneau had a long association with the National Film Board which began in 1949. He served in a variety of positions, including Assistant Director for the Province of Quebec; Secretary to the Board and Assistant to the Commissioner; Executive Director of the Board; and later, Senior Assistant to the Commissioner and Director of French Language Production, a position he held until 1966.
In 1966, Mr. Juneau was appointed a full-time member and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Broadcast Governors and, in 1968, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Broadcast Governors, which later became the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. He served in that capacity until 1975, when he became Minister of Communications.
From 1976 until 1978, Mr. Juneau served as Chairman of the National Capital Commission and was subsequently appointed Under-Secretary of State in February 1978. From 1980 until 1982, he was Deputy Minister of Communications and, during this period, he served concurrently as Under-Secretary of State from April 1, 1980 to August 28, 1980. Mr. Juneau was appointed President of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on August 1, 1982, a position he held until July 31, 1989.
Mr. Juneau is now a visiting professor at the Université de Montréal. He is chairman of a voluntary organization called the Canadian Centre for Study and International Cooperation, which is concerned with the developing world. Mr. Juneau is also chairman of the World Radio and Television Council.
Mr. Juneau is a member of the Privy Council. He has honorary degrees from York, Moncton and Trent Universities.
Peter Herrndorf, O.C.
Peter Herrndorf is currently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TVOntario, a position he has held since March 1992.
Mr. Herrndorf graduated from the University of Manitoba in Political Science and English in 1962 and, in 1965, he received a law degree from Dalhousie University. In 1970, he achieved his Master's Degree in Administration at the Harvard Business School. He received an honourary Doctor of Laws degree from York University in 1989 and from the University of Winnipeg in 1993.
Mr. Herrndorf joined the CBC in 1965 in Winnipeg as a member of the TV news team. Later that year, he moved to CBC Edmonton as a current affairs producer, coming to Toronto in 1967 to be a producer of the network current affairs series "The Way It Is". After returning from Harvard in 1970, he became Special Assistant to the Vice-President and General Manager of the English Network. From 1974 to 1977, he served as Head of TV Current Affairs Programming. In 1977, he became Vice President of Corporate Planning and, in 1979, he returned to Toronto to become Vice President and General Manager of CBC's English Language Radio and Television Networks. Mr. Herrndorf left the CBC in November 1983 to become Publisher of Toronto Life Magazine, a position he held until 1992 when he joined TVOntario.
Mr. Herrndorf is also Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Museum of Civilization and serves as President of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Foundation. In the fall of 1994, he was named President of the Association for Tele-Education in Canada.
Catherine Murray
Catherine Murray is currently Director of the Centre for Policy Research on Science and Technology at Simon Fraser University, a position she has held since April 1993. Since January 1992, she has also been serving as Associate Professor, School of Communications at Simon Fraser University, where she has taught such courses as Broadcasting Policy, Telecommunications Policy and Political Economy of Communications. She has, for a number of years, written and spoken widely on the subject of broadcasting and telecommunications.
Ms. Murray obtained her B.A. (Honours) and M.A. in Political Science from the University of Waterloo
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