Speeches and Interviews
November 15, 2004
Speaking Notes for Robert Rabinovitch to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage
Speaking Notes for Robert Rabinovitch, President and Chief Executive Officer, CBC/Radio-Canada, to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Ottawa
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Madame Chair, Honourable Members, I am pleased to meet with you here today and respond to any questions you may have about the Government's proposal to reappoint me to a second term as President and CEO of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. This is, in fact, my fifth appearance before the Committee.
I am proud of what we have been doing at CBC/Radio-Canada. I am also grateful to Committee members for their keen interest in our work and their unconditional support for public broadcasting.
It was this Committee that, after its comprehensive review of Canadian broadcasting chaired by Clifford Lincoln, recognized the importance of CBC/Radio-Canada to Canadian culture. You recommended that the Government give us increased and stable multi-year funding. You also recommended that we give greater prominence to the regions in our programming. I am encouraged that this Committee has already taken steps to ensure that the Report's recommendations are not forgotten.
Today I am here to talk to you about my nomination. Since many of you are new to this Committee, I would like to take a few moments to review my qualifications, the work I have done at CBC/Radio-Canada over the past five years, where I would like to take the Corporation in the future, and where I hope I can count on your continued support.
As you will see from the curriculum vitae that has been circulated to you, I have an MA and Ph.D. in Applied Economics. I have worked both in Government and in the private sector. Before joining CBC/Radio-Canada in November 1999 I was Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer at Claridge Inc. I have served as Under Secretary of State and as Deputy Minister of Communications. In the 1970s I served in the Privy Council Office, becoming Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet in 1981. I believe this combination of public service and experience in the private sector has been invaluable in addressing the challenges facing Canada's public broadcaster.
In my career I have served on more than 25 Corporate and not-for-profit Boards and Committees, including media companies like RDS, TSN and MaxLink. I am currently the Chair of the Board of Governors of McGill University — rated among the best universities in the world.
I am also a member of the Advisory Board of the Sauvé Scholars Foundation, and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee of Nunavut Trust.
I am very proud of my tenure at CBC/Radio-Canada. When I joined the Corporation in 1999, we were facing increased competition, escalating costs and a significant decrease in our Government funding. We needed a fundamentally new approach to ensure that CBC/Radio-Canada would survive and thrive.
We developed some key strategic objectives for the Corporation, going back to our public broadcasting roots and focusing on the services that others cannot or do not provide.
We focused on service, not ratings...on treating our audiences as citizens, not consumers.
We sought to solidify our place as Canadians' source for News about the world and their own country, offering a public space for the exchange of Canadian ideas and perspectives.
We added more regional content to reflect the uniqueness of this country — and we offered that content on a national stage, so that Canadians have a place where they can learn about, and hear from, each other.
We have provided more multicultural content to better reflect the changing face of Canada.
More commercial-free educational programming designed especially for children and youth.
More cultural arts programming to showcase Canadian talent, including Opening Night, the only program dedicated to the arts in prime time.
More high-performance amateur sports to celebrate and promote Canada's rising athletes, so that when they get to the Olympics, Canadians already know them and have had the opportunity to share in their triumphs.
Today I can say that we have repositioned each of our core services in Radio and Television to be a distinctive Canadian alternative that complements the private sector.
And Canadians have responded.
CBC Radio and Radio de Radio-Canada have both the highest ratings on record. Our Television ratings have also improved significantly despite a marketplace of multiple channels and audience fragmentation. Proof that even though ratings are not the primary objective, distinctive Canadian programming does attract audiences.
We have also been expanding our services...adding innovative new platforms often in conjunction with new partners. We have launched 20 new transmitters for our Radio service Espace musique, so that we now reach more than 90 per cent of Francophones across the country. This has made Espace musique a truly national network.
New services like CBC.ca, Radio-Canada.ca, Radio Three, bandeapart.fm, Galaxie, The Documentary Channel, Country Canada and ARTV, and CBC on ExpressVu and Star Choice are all proving themselves to be worthy additions. And we are now applying with private partners to bring satellite radio to Canadians.
We now have 18 different Radio, Television and New Media platforms. That helps us ensure that we remain relevant to Canadians, that we can reach them where, when and how they want.
We've been able to do all this, because of fundamental changes to the way we manage our business. I strongly believe that good management and excellent programming are not mutually exclusive — that one supports the other.
When I came to CBC/Radio-Canada, I realized that if we were going to support Canadian programming — our highest priority — then we had to come up with the resources ourselves, starting with managing what we had more efficiently.
We've been looking at every aspect of this Corporation, lowering costs, improving our flexibility and finding the kinds of savings and new revenues we need to support our programming.
We have undertaken a series of initiatives that will generate 65 million dollars a year in savings and additional revenue. That's in addition to one-time savings of 102 million dollars.
These exercises have allowed us to increase the value of what we provide to Canadians. But more work remains to be done. Many of the changes we are adopting will require another three or four years before they will be fully implemented and generating savings and revenue. I would like to complete the work we have started.
The Government recognized the value of what we have done, and the important role CBC/Radio-Canada plays in promoting Canadian culture. It has provided the Corporation with an additional 60 million dollars in each of the past four years — money that has gone directly into improving the quality and quantity of our Canadian programming.
But while our efficiency efforts and the $60 million have allowed us to strengthen our Canadian programming, I must point out that we have still not recovered from the severe cuts of the 1990s. Our Parliamentary Appropriation — in constant dollars and including the $60 million in additional funding — is still 415 million dollars less today than it was in 1990, and we are expected and want to do more.
At $30 per person, CBC/Radio-Canada's funding is modest by international standard. Of the 26 OECD countries, Canada ranks 22nd in terms of public funding for public broadcasting, as a percentage of GDP.
Even the status of the 60 million remains in doubt each year. In fact, in each of the past two years, the 60 million has been reduced by
10 million dollars — and that 10 million is now a permanent and annual cut. This unstable funding situation makes it very difficult for us to secure the resources needed to produce quality Canadian programming, since the production cycle is spread out over several years. We simply cannot absorb cuts of this magnitude without it hurting the services we are trying to provide to Canadians.
In addition, this year, CBC/Radio Canada is contending with an array of additional funding pressures: market forces continue to push up production costs. Every year, we need to find approximately
12 million dollars just to cover inflation, health care costs and other commitments. Flat funding means, therefore, Madame Chair, decreased funds available for programming.
Those are some of the pressures we are facing. But because of what we have done over the past four years, I believe CBC/Radio-Canada — with support from Government and this Committee — is well positioned to ensure Canadians get the best in Canadian programming.
Let me tell you about our plans for the future.
We are incorporating new technologies including digital and High Definition Television. This will give us more flexibility and will contribute to local and regional programming.
Our journalists remain among the best anywhere, filing in English and French, for Radio and Television. I am committed to ensuring they have the resources they need to remain the best.
We intend to continue to expand our regional services. It was this Committee that recommended that we develop a costed strategic plan for delivering a greater level of local and regional programming consistent with our mandate. We have been working to develop an overall plan that would enhance the reach of our Radio and Television services, enhance the level of service to Francophones across the country, and better reflect the cultural vitality and diversity of our regions. I am encouraged that the Minister of Canadian Heritage has indicated that she would support our efforts in this area.
The public broadcaster must listen and be responsive to Canadians. We have and will continue to expand our relationship with our audiences across the country. We have a contract with Canadians. It must be regularly renewed through increased accountability and transparency. We also have responsibility to inform Canadians of the costs of these commitments.
We are going to continue to offer Canadians more distinctive, Canadian programming especially high-quality dramas like H20 and Temps dur. Our Radio, Television, and New Media — both French and English — will work more closely together to produce excellent, cross-cultural, and cross-media programming like Trudeau and Le Dernier chapitre. We will remain the place for Canadian programming.
We will keep looking for ways to save money and modernize our production procedures and look for ways to generate revenue that we can re-invest in Canadian programming.
We will pursue new initiatives such as our Merchandising Division, our Mobile Division and Real Estate management, all designed to control costs while increasing revenues.
We will continue to explore strategic partnerships like ARTV, The Documentary Channel and Sirius Satellite Radio — partnerships that allow us to extend our reach and provide more services to Canadians.
And we will continue to work with and create programming in partnership with the private independent production sector.
These are some of the means we will use to enhance Canadian broadcasting and better serve Canadians. With this Committee's endorsement, and your continued support, we will deliver.
Thank you. I would now be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
