Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Official Languages
Issue 3 - Evidence - Meeting of February 10, 2013
OTTAWA, Monday, February 10, 2014
The Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages met this day at 5 p.m. to continue its study on CBC/Radio- Canada's obligations under the Official Languages Act and some aspects of the Broadcasting Act.
Senator Claudette Tardif (Chair) in the chair.
[Translation]
The Chair: Honourable senators, I call this meeting of the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages to order.
I am Senator Claudette Tardif from Alberta; I am chair of this committee.
I would ask senators to introduce themselves, starting to my left with the deputy chair of the committee.
Senator Champagne: Senator Andrée Champagne from Quebec.
Senator McIntyre: Paul McIntryre, senator from New Brunswick.
Senator Fortin-Duplessis: Senator Suzanne Fortin-Duplessis from Quebec and a member of the committee's executive.
[English]
Senator Marshall: Elizabeth Marshall from Newfoundland and Labrador.
Senator Beyak: Senator Lynn Beyak from Dryden, in northwestern Ontario.
[Translation]
Senator Charette-Poulin: Senator Marie-Paul Charette-Poulin. I have represented northern Ontario in the Senate since 1995.
Senator Chaput: Senator Maria Chaput, from Manitoba.
The Chair: Today, we continue our study on CBC/Radio-Canada's obligations under the Official Languages Act and some aspects of the Broadcasting Act, as well as our study on best practices for language policies and second- language learning in a context of linguistic duality or plurality.
This evening, we welcome witnesses from TV5 Québec Canada. TV5 is the only generalist French-language network operating internationally. Its signals reach almost 200 countries. It is managed by two organizations, TV5 Monde, based in Paris, and TV5 Québec Canada, based in Montreal.
The TV5 Québec Canada representatives will give us a presentation about Francolab, a web platform that is unique in Canada. We will also discuss the TV5 UNIS project that was approved by the CRTC in August 2013.
Allow me to introduce Suzanne Gouin, the President and General Manager and Benoît Beaudoin, Director, New Media. Welcome to you both.
After your presentation, senators will have questions for you. I now give the floor to Ms. Gouin.
Suzanne Gouin, President and General Manager, TV5 Québec Canada: Thank you for your welcome, Madam Chair. The very DNA of TV5 lies in the different aspects of the best ways to help the French language flourish, with all its strengths and variations.
So, a few months ago, it became important for us to launch a platform for the learning of French, given the gaps we saw in this area in terms of the Canadian material available to second-language teachers.
I will now step aside and ask Mr. Beaudoin, our director of new media, and really the driving force behind this magnificent project, to describe it to you in broad terms.
Benoît Beaudoin, Director, New Media, TV5 Québec Canada: Thank you for inviting us, Madam Chair.
Let us look at a dozen or so slides together. They will describe Francolab's history, the history of how French instruction tools are provided to Canadian teachers, and the platforms that we will talk about throughout the presentation.
The Francolab platform was a natural outcome of TV5's mission to educate. I am sure that everyone knows a little about TV5's content; it is as rich in documentary work as it is in presenting slices of life. We have always had that ability to use TV5's television content for education. Over the years, we have identified the need to provide content that is more Canadian. The network's mission is known as one that showcases content produced by francophone public broadcasters in Europe as well as in Canada. Using Canadian content from our Canadian producers, we have wanted to extend that broadcasting mission and move it towards the field of education.
The cornerstone was a study that we requested from Canadian Parents for French (CPF) in 2010. The study sought to identify, in a more tangible way, the real needs of Canadian teachers in terms of digital, interactive, web-based content. The result was our first project, even before the Francoweb project was born. The project was called ``Ça bouge au Canada'' modelled on a format developed in France called ``Ça bouge en France.'' You have the slide here.
We introduced this first project in 2010 at the congress of the Association canadienne des professeurs d'immersion (ACPI) in Victoria. Our first step was a great success. It was very encouraging. The teachers liked it. The platform shows ten places where ``ça bouge,'' where things are happening. There are experiences and sports activities to participate in, there is a rich culture and there are discoveries to be made through information sheets, videos and references allowing students to explore the region and to practice their French.
This was designed for a young adult audience, 15 years old, and was intended to introduce a very dynamic and rich content that would encourage them to pursue their own research. The overall objective is to interest learners and make them always want to know more, to do their own research and listen to more content on TV or online.
With that first rich experience, we wanted to strengthen the learning objectives and operational objectives of a new platform to be developed.
The principal goals were to provide authentic educational resources and audiovisual material and to strengthen the construction of identity by using audiovisual material that is rich in Canadian cultural references. Learning French as a second language is also seen as an entry point for new Canadians by providing them with content rich in the identification of Canadian values. We were also seeking to meet the evolving needs of our audiences. We know full well that people today do not learn as we did 20 years ago. So we need the ability to evolve quickly with the new technologies in school and at home in order to become one of the top resources in Canada for learning French as a second language.
Of the many products on the market across Canada, few are free and few are designed with the real needs of classroom teachers in mind. As a result, Francolab was born. It really is a resource site for teachers and is aimed at an audience of learners 15 years of age and older. They are learners, therefore, who are just about to leave their teenage years, new immigrants and university students. It is highly structured around audiovisual content produced by TV5. So it has programs, vignettes, web series, quizzes and games and a lot of teaching material designed for the needs of teachers, with activities based on oral comprehension. We have videos, audiovisual montages, information sheets, additional content, texts, photographs and links that allow students and teachers to enrich their learning and teaching experiences.
This is an educational approach that suggests interesting topics to encourage reflection, research and discussion. It covers different levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced. Given that the material is first and foremost audiovisual, such as television programs, when we say beginner, we really mean ``not quite beginner'' because these are people with some basic understanding of French. We are working on new projects designed for real beginners. So we are starting with people with very little knowledge of French and with very varied types of activities designed for oral and written comprehension, written expression and discussion. The goal is to become a key resource in the educational community. With all this content, we want to meet the needs of educators, however diverse they may be. They may be first-language French teachers in minority situations where enhancing teaching with these kinds of audiovisual tools makes a big difference.
Last year, we also worked on a Canada-wide communication campaign that provided 1,000 information kits to a number of different schools and associations. We organized a contest called ``Le français m'inspire'' where classes had to send in images, photos and videos based on the students' understanding of an idiomatic expression or a proverb. The contest was very successful. We had schools and groups vote for the three winners in each category.
Basically, the goal is to forge much stronger ties with existing associations. We are very active in the Association canadienne des professeurs d'immersion (ACPI), the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers (CASLT), the Association québécoise des enseignants de français langue seconde (AQEFLS), the ACPF and the Association des professeurs francophones du Canada.
Let us talk about new projects. We are continuing the experiment and trying to move to self-learning with more interactivity. Last year, we launched a project called ``Dans l'air du temps,'' using 180 activities. By ``activities,'' I mean interactive ones, giving students the opportunity to do web-based exercises by themselves. The activities revolve around 30 French-language songs from La Bolduc to Tricot Machine and from Daniel Lavoie to 1755. So we include artists from all over Canada.
We have tools specially designed for teachers so that they can track the progress of their students. Teachers can send out links that the students receive. With those links, it is possible to do specific exercises using the songs that the teachers have chosen. The teachers can easily get the completed exercises back, so that they can check for problems. This really is in self-learning mode.
The platform will also be deployed into multimedia rooms. The new ``Dans l'air du temps'' platform provides a number of hours of a stimulating and enjoyable learning experience.
You can see the home page on the slide. Each time students open the home page, they see different artists with different playlists. We are very pleased with the co-operation from the rights holders. A project of this kind is very complicated in terms of copyright. The rights to one song can be held by several publishers. The artist has rights too, as do the production companies. Very fortunately for us, SODRAC became involved with our project and allowed us to proceed on the basis of a flat rights fee that was reasonable for us and without which nothing would have been possible. SODRAC liked the project so much that they asked to become a partner. We are very happy about that. We deal with them on a daily basis to get artists. We have some really big names like Félix Leclerc and Gilles Vigneault.
Now let us talk about the future. As well as the ``Dans l'air du temps'' platform, we are working on Francolab Junior. With these new platforms, we want to address the subject of introductory French to find out how to present French to the young and the not-so-young who have never spoken it or have hardly heard it. Francolab Junior will be designed for tablets and use 11 modules exploring elementary French. As students move from one module to another, they will be able to acquire more vocabulary, to develop the skill to make complete sentences and to understand French.
Francolab TV is an experimental project from our partner TELUS. Using our initial presentation of Francolab Web, TELUS identified an interest in providing Francolab with English interfaces in order to serve the needs of adults and mixed families. In minority language francophone communities, we find situations where one parent speaks English and the other speaks French. Using new IP TV technologies, we see the possibility of developing a TV application that different family members can see in their living rooms. It would provide entertainment using dramatic series like Les Parent for francophones who have seen it on Radio-Canada and by providing interactive items right on the TV itself.
Those are two projects on which we are working hard with major partners.
Thank you. My presentation ends with a last slide that gives you a visual idea of the IP templates we are working on with our partner TELUS.
The Chair: Thank you very much for that excellent presentation. The first question is from Senator Fortin- Duplessis.
Senator Fortin-Duplessis: I am very happy that you are appearing before our committee today. Before I ask my questions, I would like to congratulate you for the magnificent work you are doing with educators and students. Your learning products are effective, well done and attractive.
Mr. Beaudoin: Thank you, Senator.
Senator Fortin-Duplessis: Our committee's study deals with CBC/Radio-Canada's obligations under the Official Languages Act and some specific aspects of the act. So I would like to ask you a few questions about that topic for the purposes of our report.
My question goes to our two witnesses. I would like to hear your opinion about the arrival of TV5 UNIS and its impact on Radio-Canada's obligations.
As you know, during this Senate study, witnesses have stated that TV5 UNIS's arrival on the air will force the crown corporation to greater compliance with its obligations in terms of the visibility of francophone communities across our country. But other witnesses are more skeptical, saying that your arrival will make CBC/Radio-Canada abandon some of its responsibilities to francophone and Acadian communities, particularly outside Quebec.
How do you see that? Will TV5 UNIS provide CBC/Radio-Canada with an incentive to offer more programming for the communities or is there a chance that Radio-Canada will just leave the francophone market to you?
Ms. Gouin: Thank you for the question, Senator. Clearly, when the CRTC handed down its decision that made it possible for TV5 Québec Canada to launch the new UNIS channel, it was not done as a move against Radio-Canada but as a move really designed to offer complementary programming to all francophones across Canada.
The TV5 project follows that lead. Radio-Canada is a public network with many missions, because of which it is sometimes difficult to target an audience perfectly.
With the new UNIS channel, our mandate is clearly not only to meet the aspirations of minority francophone communities, but also, in a spirit of community for all of French-speaking Canada, to offer a new communications vehicle to all the francophones in the country. I do not feel that the new channel will put Radio-Canada in an awkward position; I feel that it is a way for us to have more programming available for francophone communities. It will also be a new centre for francophone creativity in Canada, which is quite an innovation that will allow artists to remain in their various areas of activity. I think that is one of this project's strengths.
I also think that, the more opportunities we have to create content in different regions of the country, the more we will end up meeting the expectations of francophone communities all across Canada.
Senator McIntyre: Ms. Gouin, Mr. Beaudoin, it is a pleasure for us to welcome you here today. For me, the creation of a new television channel dedicated to Canadian and Acadian communities is good news. TV5 UNIS is certainly a step forward.
I see that the distribution order granted by CRTC last August includes certain conditions, including opening three regional offices, one of which is in Moncton, New Brunswick. As a senator from New Brunswick, I happily welcome that announcement.
As you know, TV5 Québec Canada operates in a competitive market. We all know that the competition is based in the fact that more and more consumers are turning to the web to watch their favourite programs. How do you see your role in the rise of these new technologies, given the other players in the broadcasting industry?
Ms. Gouin: Just like TV5, which has some really major digital tools and is run by Benoît, the new UNIS channel will clearly have the same tools available to viewers. As a result, not only will we develop a website with features that will make it easier to understand the schedule and that will make it possible to watch the programs broadcast on the channel, but we will also make available a new platform created for TV5. It is sort of a simultaneous platform and we have called it TV5 Duo. The platform allows you to have additional information on a program while you are watching it; if it is a game show, you can participate by sending in your answers and competing with those who are playing on the air.
The tools we have made available to TV5 will also be available for the new channel.
Clearly, we feel that current viewing habits and the evolution of those types of viewing habits pose many challenges for all broadcasters. However, the quite surprising thing is that, if you look at the television ratings, never before have they been so high during prime time.
In a word, yes, new platforms are here to stay; they are indispensable broadcasting tools for television channels, but meeting in front of the television set will always be the preferred get-together, when a high-quality product is offered. The ratings usually show it.
At the same time, we are concerned. We do not have a crystal ball to predict the future. As the company's CEO, what I am concerned about right now is the way children aged six to nine consume television. They play with tablets the way some of us learned to ride a bike. Those kids might not have set viewing habits like their parents. Our challenge will be to make sure that the programs we air will bring families together so that they want to watch traditional television, in the current sense, but also to use the new platforms.
Senator Champagne: Ms. Gouin, Mr. Beaudoin, let me just tell you how delighted people like me were when you finally received this licence. We have talked about it a great deal here, and I had the opportunity to talk about your TV5 UNIS with producers or actors who were complaining that, in their part of the country, they had nowhere to go for assistance to be able to produce content and, most importantly, that they could not find a broadcaster.
Could you tell me what stage you are at with setting up regional offices for directors or producers to submit their programming proposals?
Ms. Gouin: In keeping with the licence terms and conditions we are subject to, we have opened three regional offices and filled positions in the Moncton, Toronto and Vancouver offices. People have been working there since the very beginning of January. So we are really firing on all cylinders so that the people in those offices are ready to receive proposals.
However, well before the offices were created—and some of you must know how television programs are funded—you know that francophone producers in minority situations receive a separate envelope from the media fund, with two deadlines for submissions: one in October and one in April. If we wanted to have productions on air as soon as possible, we had to make sure that the number of October submissions was significantly higher.
So we issued a call for proposals; the decision was announced on August 8 and I think two days later we made a call for proposals to all francophone producers outside Quebec.
I am pleased to tell you that, of the 13 or 14 proposals submitted to the media fund, only one was rejected, just because of a technical issue. As a result, we feel that the first steps have been taken and the work really is under way. We have received proposals from the Atlantic region, Ontario, Manitoba and Vancouver, proposals from all over the country, including single documentary productions and documentary series. For the time being, we are very happy and we keep moving forward. Programming Director Pierre Gang went to western Canada last week and met with the production community from Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia to encourage more new proposals.
Those meetings were the result of another licence requirement from the CRTC, that is, the creation of a consultative programming committee that we formed after soliciting nominations from across Canada. We held the first meeting of the committee on February 1 in Calgary. In one day, with the members of the committee, we determined the performance indicators we were going to use from now on to assess the success of this new channel.
Senator Champagne: I will turn to another topic. I am really pleased that Canadian producers and creators will get a second chance.
I would like to briefly talk about your Francolab. If, say, we were to make Francolab mandatory for French- language TV hosts, it would be unreal. They might learn that there is a French word for ``jackpot'' and for ``buzzer.'' They keep insisting on sending ``e-mels'' or ``mails,'' whereas the French word ``courriel'' is approved by the French Academy.
I was watching TV5 last week when I was at a conference in Rabat, Morocco. As I was watching the channel, it felt a bit like home, especially since our newscast was at a reasonable time. In other parts of the world, newscasts from Canada are at 5 a.m. or something like that.
I am not sure who we should contact so that things start happening in France as well, not only in Canada. The other day, I heard a TV host called Nagui say that only Canadians and Quebeckers want to translate everything. He said that they use English words and that works fine. However, they are not in a situation where their language is in danger. If they were in Canada, surrounded by anglophones, they might be a little more careful with their language. Gilles Vigneault once said: Gentlemen, in France, take care of your language, because it is also my own.
If distributing Francolab was mandatory for those hosts, perhaps the French language would benefit.
Ms. Gouin: Senator Chmpagne, the dynamics of our colleagues at TV5 Monde are clearly different, especially in a world where the status of the language is very different from ours. At regular meetings we have with them, we sometimes have a hard time going over some of the terminology we use and we can see they seem amused. We obviously have developed a sensitivity that our European colleagues do not have. The weight of their demographics gives them, or lets them take, the permission to not use French to its full potential.
What we must consider is the strength of what we are doing here. We can hope that, eventually, this will spread and that they will see the benefit of improving and using the French language in their daily activities. That is what we do with our hosts at TV5 Québec Canada. We make sure of the quality of the language.
Of course, in Quebec and the rest of Canada, we are very sensitive to the use of the French language. Unfortunately, it would be presumptuous for me to tell you that we will be able to influence our European colleagues. We hope that we will be able to lead by example.
Senator Champagne: I am proud to hear that Canadians and Quebecers want to translate everything. At least, we try to speak French. Thank you.
Senator Charette-Poulin: Ms. Gouin, Mr. Beaudoin, the paths you have both embarked on are so impressive that we can only admire you. Ms. Gouin, you have made a great choice in selecting Mr. Beaudoin as the director of new media. Mr. Beaudoin, I noticed that three of your productions won the Gémeaux awards in 2006, 2008 and 2013. That is great.
Mr. Beaudoin: Thank you.
Senator Charette-Poulin: Given that we are trying to build a bridge for the future, the committee's mandate is to study the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Société Radio-Canada's obligations under the Official Languages Act and some aspects of the Broadcasting Act.
TV5 was born in 1984 — I participated in the meeting when TV5 came was born — so, for the sake of those watching, could you sum up TV5's milestones that have led to where we are today and to our discussion on Francolab?
Ms. Gouin: Let me say that TV5 Québec Canada was really set up by a consortium that, at the time, was made up of the governments of Quebec, Canada, France, Belgium and Switzerland. Those governments delegated representatives from their public television to create this new channel, which also had partners from the private sector, private broadcasters, including the NFB that was part of that big family.
The main objective was to share the best of international television with the Canadian francophonie and the best of Canadian productions so that they could be broadcast by our colleague TV5 Monde. There was significant progress. TV5 United States and TV5 Latin America were created and TV5 Québec Canada controlled their signals until 2001. Operations were restructured then and the Canadian operation was refocused around TV5 Québec Canada to ensure that broadcasts covered the widest area possible in Canada with much the same mission of reflecting the international francophonie and the Canadian francophonie.
I took office in 2002, and what I saw then was the potential of this channel to go much further. And I am not just talking about its TV products that had to be rooted in the Canadian francophone reality, because, at that time, we were far from new media products as we know them today. The advent of new technologies seemed to be a great way to help us reach out to audiences that were perhaps not tuned to TV5.
Over the years, we have developed the channel and increased opportunities to find very innovative content, comparable to other Canadian channels. It is also important to point out that TV5 Québec Canada is a private company with a public mission as a non-profit organization.
We do not pay dividends at the end of the year, but we reinvest our entire surplus in new projects. That is how the new media division came to be. Francolab also came to life from our ability to generate new revenue. It then seemed clear to us that, since our mission was international francophonie and Canadian francophonie, we had to go back to the CRTC and submit a proposal for a new channel for the Canadian francophonie, in addition to the TV5 proposal. That is the proposal for the UNIS channel.
All those things allow us to ensure not only that the francophonie is very much present, but also that its impact is truly felt in every single Canadian province, as a reflection of Canadian society.
Senator Charette-Poulin: Madam Chair, I have a follow-up question. Is Francolab really available on the Internet?
Ms. Gouin: Yes, it is available for free on the Internet. I will let Benoît elaborate a bit further.
Mr. Beaudoin: Currently, Francolab is a free web site, aimed at teachers and learners and structured around educational activity sheets. Francolab offers nearly a hundred educational PDFs of up to 20 pages each. They make it possible to use the video and quiz content for classroom discussions and activities tailored to learning objectives.
Now, we want to move towards new media that uses more innovative platforms, the tablet and IP TV, in order to target other ways of making content accessible.
Senator Charette-Poulin: What is your marketing plan?
Mr. Beaudoin: That is a good question. Today, Francolab is available for free, but the applications that are really developed to meet the learning requirements identified by parents and teachers of children aged six to nine will be offered at a cost. An application in the App Store or Google Play is available at a cost that reflects market pricing. A number of comparable French learning products already exist.
But we are targeting a distribution method that would make the content available to schools at a significantly reduced cost. Basically, we are looking to deliver a well-defined learning requirement at home with added value and broader access, at a reduced cost for schools. As far as the IP application is concerned, we are considering various approaches with TELUS, but we also plan to base the cost charged for the application on user access.
Senator Charette-Poulin: I would like to be on the list for the second round, please.
The Chair: Yes, of course.
[English]
Senator Marshall: Welcome and thank you for being here today. I want to speak about the funding that you received from Canadian Heritage. Is that an annual amount or is it a grant or a loan? Could you tell us a little bit about the characteristics of the funding?
[Translation]
Ms. Gouin: TV5 Québec Canada is part of the TV5 program, to which the Department of Canadian Heritage allocated a budget over five years, meaning that the program will end in 2014. Without knowing how much we will get in the next budget, I can say that we do know the department is interested in the TV5 program and in the spinoff from the francophone content on the channels offered by our partner TV5 Monde.
[English]
Senator Marshall: How is the funding arranged initially? Did you make application for the funding or was it just given to you by the Department of Canadian Heritage? Were any conditions attached to the funding?
[Translation]
Ms. Gouin: Every year, we submit a business plan to the Department of Canadian Heritage. This past year, we submitted a strategic plan for 2014-16 very clearly outlining the areas we plan to pursue. The priorities you see there, as far as learning, new platforms and revenue diversification go, are an integral part of that strategic plan.
We present and discuss the plan at a meeting with department officials, and the budget we receive is based on the recommendations they make to the various authorities within the department.
[English]
Senator Marshall: There must be an agreement between TV5 and Canadian Heritage, I would think. One of the previous senators was asking earlier and I think you mentioned something about performance indicators. Is this something that would be in the agreement? You're talking about a five-year agreement, so I would expect the government has certain expectations that you will deliver something over the five-year period. Could you talk a little about that? What are the expectations? From what you're saying, you're anticipating another five-year envelope.
Ms. Gouin: We're just hoping.
Senator Marshall: I would think it would depend on delivery of what was outlined in the previous five-year agreement. Could you talk a little about your performance indicators?
Earlier, when we started our discussions, we were saying that the expectation is not that you would replace Radio- Canada but that you would provide some sort of complementary service. Could you talk about the high-level performance indicators that would be outlined in the agreement?
[Translation]
Ms. Gouin: The contribution agreement we sign with Canadian Heritage every year does indeed set out performance indicators. It is very important to understand that the agreement pertains only to the TV5 channel and not to TV5 UNIS. That is an important point to note.
Our performance indicators set out very specific requirements in terms of market share, Web site traffic and various platforms. We also have to satisfy performance conditions applicable to comparable specialty channels that fall within Canadian Heritage's scope of evaluation. Every year, we must submit a very detailed report on how the channel has performed against the indicators.
[English]
Senator Marshall: We're almost through the five-year cycle, so you're not waiting until the end of the agreement to take a look at your performance indicators. Without giving away any state secrets, are you satisfied? You must be tracking the results. Are you happy with the numbers that you're seeing so far?
[Translation]
Ms. Gouin: Senator, I do not think the current government would have given us the annual funding it has had we not been able to significantly improve our performance. Without giving away any corporate secrets, I can tell you that the funding TV5 Québec Canada has received in support of TV5's development has certainly helped us achieve greater visibility and expand content in recent years. The support has provided specific opportunities for renewal and promotion of francophone products by the Canadian government, not just domestically, but also abroad, thanks to our partnership with TV5 Monde.
[English]
Senator Marshall: For the five years that you received funding, did you receive the same amount of funding each year, or did it gradually decrease or increase?
[Translation]
Ms. Gouin: We receive a set budget of $2.3 million from Canadian Heritage annually. Under the strategic plan, we can propose complementary projects to the department, which may then be interested in lending us support to explore the feasibility of those projects. So we have been given additional funding for complementary projects in the past.
Senator Chaput: My first question was already answered. It was for Ms. Gouin. But I just want to say that I was going to ask you about your exceptional commitment to francophone and Acadian communities. After listening to your answers, I can tell you that it is indeed exceptional. You stick to the strategic plan you presented, you respect the fact that we now have regional offices, and the committee you mentioned is being, or has already been, set up. I met a woman from Manitoba who told me she had decided to be part of the committee. Today, you told us that of the 14 project applications you received, 13 were approved. And the project that was not approved was simply rejected on a technicality. I have long been advocating for the rights of official language minority communities, and rarely have I seen such a success story. Your commitment is exceptional, but I would also like to say publicly what an exceptional person you are, so thank you.
Ms. Gouin: Thank you. You understand how important the project is to me. Canada's francophonie is not just some theoretical idea to me; it is something I firmly believe in. The entire TV5 team supports me unconditionally in seeing this project through to the satisfaction of every stakeholder.
Senator Chaput: My second question is for Mr. Beaudoin and has to do with the Francolab Web site, which I find very fascinating. Specifically, I want to know about the teacher dimension. The service is currently available for free on the Internet. Across the country, certain community colleges and universities have agreements with the federal government to teach French to federal public servants. Do you think Francolab could help with that as well?
Mr. Beaudoin: Absolutely.
Senator Chaput: Is it available?
Mr. Beaudoin: Absolutely. Although our team is small, we have met with the largest number of stakeholders possible in the past few years through conferences put on by the ACPI and the association of second language teachers. We have come across representatives of associations, organizations and colleges offering those programs, and we give presentations to promote the use of Francolab. We recommend it is as a good resource.
As part of our marketing strategy, we are currently working on a blueprint for the next three years. We want to take Francolab to the champions of organizations with a genuine need for Francolab products. Our products are available for free on the Internet. And we also want to introduce people to the products we plan to make available at a cost in the next few years. The example you are talking about goes to the very heart of why the Francolab.ca resource was created in the first place.
Senator Chaput: That will allow for a certain degree of consistency, if you will, in the way French as a second language is taught throughout the country, will it not?
Mr. Beaudoin: Yes. Europe has a standardized model it uses to recognize skill levels. Under the European framework, all those with intermediate-level French skills will be subject to the same evaluation and recognition. Standardized testing could be used. Francolab is developed in that regard, so the organizations or community colleges you mentioned could use it within their own specific context.
Senator Chaput: Thank you.
The Chair: I would like to ask you something before we move on to the second round. When the CRTC granted you the licence for TV5 UNIS, it imposed certain conditions, one being that the channel had to devote 75 per cent of its programming to the distribution of Canadian programs. What is your take on that requirement?
Ms. Gouin: With that requirement comes an incredible privilege; not every channel is fortunate enough to receive mandatory distribution status. And we are working diligently to ensure that when we do begin broadcasting, in early fall 2014, we are able to satisfy that requirement. We know the bar has been set high, but if you look at TV5's results to date, you see that we set the bar very high for ourselves in everything we do. We have always surpassed our targets and we will meet the CRTC requirement that 75 per cent of the channel's programming consist of original French-language Canadian content.
The Chair: In order to respect regional diversity, how much of that programming will be devoted to programs outside Quebec?
Ms. Gouin: As we told the CRTC, we set thresholds that will vary between 40 per cent and 60 per cent until the licence expires. That means the content will be produced or co-produced outside Quebec throughout the term of the licence, either in terms of topics or direct production. When I say between 40 per cent and 60 per cent, however, it is important to consider those figures within the context of the CRTC's decision. TV5 and TV5 UNIS must offer a combined level of 50 per cent Canadian content, and we must spend 55 per cent of our revenues on Canadian content, and based on that, you have variations in the proportions of content produced outside Quebec. I do not want to bore you with the details, but the percentages devoted to the production of content outside Quebec are very clear.
The Chair: Do they appear in the CRTC decision?
Ms. Gouin: Yes, very clearly. They are in the decision.
The Chair: Thank you.
Senator Fortin-Duplessis: Throughout our study on CBC/Radio-Canada's obligations under the act, we have regularly heard Canadians and organizations lamenting the fact that the Crown corporation's programming is very out of touch with the needs of official language minority communities. I want to know whether you plan to consult francophone and Acadian communities outside Quebec on a regular basis, be it formally or informally.
Ms. Gouin: We have already set up the consultative committee, which met on February 1, and we have already shared with the committee the first programs that producers are working on. So we are already engaged at that level. Keep in mind that, generally speaking, just in terms of TV5, we conduct polls and focus groups every two years to get a really good sense of how responsive people are to our products outside Quebec, how satisfied they are. We were already doing that for TV5 and we will do it again.
In addition, I have committed to meeting the president of the Fédération des communautés francophone et acadienne periodically in order to keep her up to date on how the new channel is coming along.
You can tell I am not a hockey fan. If broadcasting hockey games was a priority for the channel, it would clearly not be popular with a certain percentage of viewers.
The new TV5 UNIS channel is truly aimed at general interest programming, with two exceptions. It will not offer any news broadcasts because that is the responsibility of Radio-Canada and RDI — plus, that is not at all what the new channel is about. Nor will the channel offer any professional sports programming, not because I do not like hockey, but simply because the rights prohibit it. It is clear from the recent contract signed by the National Hockey League and Rogers that we could not pursue professional sports programming.
But, within that specialty channel, you will see content for children because, in the survey we submitted to the CRTC with our application, parents made it clear that they wanted content to support language learning for children and small children. We intend to devote two hours to youth programming to ensure we meet that need.
If the economy is more to your liking, you probably will not be satisfied with two hours of children's programming. But we are trying to build as broad a schedule as possible in terms of the content offered in order to satisfy a large audience of consumers and viewers. We offer TV programming for people like you. We want to offer content that appeals to your interests and likes, piques your curiosity and satisfies your desire to learn. Fundamentally, that is the new channel's mission, just as it is for TV5.
Senator Charette-Poulin: You said education was one of your main priorities, but that is not true for CBC/Radio- Canada, whose mandate centres on information, development and entertainment. Do you collaborate with the national broadcaster?
Ms. Gouin: There is no doubt that we will collaborate, but at this stage in the game, it is very important that we give the new UNIS channel its own distinctive style. I would say that all our partners, regardless of channel, are watching to see what the new channel will look like.
Since TV5 and UNIS will be subject to mandatory distribution on the basic digital service of cable providers, it is crucial at this stage, that there be no projects or programs that could also be on CBC/Radio-Canada. First and foremost, that point is absolutely critical. Why would viewers bother watching us and why would cable providers pay us carriage fees for products that could easily be found on other channels, within a very short time frame?
Right now, we are very aware of the need to create an identity for the new UNIS channel, by offering truly original content initially, but obviously, we only have so much money. You may find programming that will have been broadcast on other channels, but that will not be the prerogative of CBC/Radio-Canada. They will be programs that have not been seen or perhaps seen by all francophones and francophiles across the country.
Senator Charette-Poulin: Mr. Beaudoin, when you presented the Francolab project, I looked carefully at the map of Canada and I would like to preach for my bailiwick a little.
Mr. Beaudoin: Please do so.
Senator Charette-Poulin: In your ``Ça bouge au Canada'' project, there is no mention of northern Ontario. When will you include northern Ontario?
Mr. Beaudoin: That is true. In fact, we had the possibility of including about ten regions. Unfortunately, we were unable to cover everything. But we will get to them later.
What I can tell you in the meantime is that our aim is to have sufficient content in our productions to be able to cover all the regions. Through the TV5 Fund — we will not be able to discuss all of the TV5 Quebec Canada initiatives here — but the TV5 Fund provides funding for young creators to develop Web series. This is a unique fund in Canada, which we launched; we are now at the sixth generation.
The first year, we had the good fortune of having a project entitled ``Au nord de la Transcanadienne'' from a young Toronto creator; it was filmed entirely in the city of Hearst, where she grew up, and was a huge success. Francolab took on the series. It is offered with educational files, and fills the gap in the ``Ça bouge au Canada'' project.
Senator Charette-Poulin: I want to invite you to tour northern Ontario as soon as possible in order to discover all of its wealth.
Mr. Beaudoin: Yes, certainly.
Senator McIntyre: Ms. Gouin, I fully agree with Senator Chaput. You take your work very seriously and you do excellent work.
Allow me to reassure you right from the outset; this is not a trick question, but I would like to obtain some clarifications concerning the fears expressed by other corporations or firms following the creation of TV5.
Ms. Gouin: The creation of UNIS or TV5?
Senator McIntyre: TV5, TV5 UNIS.
I understand that both these projects were submitted to the CRTC last August with a view to the creation of a new channel, TV5, TV5 UNIS and the ACCENTS corporation. Yours was the one which was approved. Following this announcement, in a letter addressed to the CRTC, the president of the ACCENTS corporation called into question the choice made by the CRTC. I also note, in addition, that the CRTC advisor did not agree with the mandatory distribution order announced regarding TV5 Quebec Canada. She felt that these services did not meet the mandatory distribution criteria.
I also understand that the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française, better known as the FCCF and the APFC, Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada, expressed some financial concerns.
What is your reaction to these concerns?
Ms. Gouin: I am not privy to the rationale behind the CRTC decision. All that I can tell you is that we read the results and we are working very hard to ensure that we deliver a quality product.
We had asked for a higher royalty than the one granted us in the CRTC decision. This means a $5 million annual shortfall.
We had tabled a plan with the CRTC. We reviewed all of our processes, our work methods, in order to reduce our expenses so that everything we receive, the cable broadcasting royalties, can be reinvested into the product, into producing the program and marketing it, because that too is very important. Even if we produce wonderful programs, if no one knows about them, we are wasting our time.
Allow me to borrow an English expression: the proof is in the pudding. We are preparing said pudding and it should be ready in the beginning of September.
At this point, I cannot continue to wonder how I am going to respond to the critics.
I think that the best proof of the quality of our product is the quality of what we will be putting on the air, and the way in which we do it, that is to say while respecting individuals, the location of the production and its capacity to do the work, our primordial objective always being to truly ensure that we will have delighted viewers — some may be less so — but viewers who will nevertheless be happy to see this new channel. When I say viewers I am talking about francophones, but I also include francophiles, because to me that is part of our context and identity.
The Chair: Ms. Gouin, Mr. Beaudoin, on behalf of all the members of this committee, I want to thank you for your testimony and your contribution, which we will certainly take into account as we do our work.
I want to congratulate you for this excellent project, Francolab. I went and looked at the Website a few weeks ago. I found the content dynamic and interesting. It will certainly motivate learners and will be very much appreciated by teachers. Bravo!
Thank you also for having presented your vision of this new channel TV5 UNIS. We feel your passion, your commitment and your determination to see your project succeed. We wish you all the best and hope that your projects will have a very positive impact on our francophone communities throughout Canada.
Thank you very much for your presentation here today.
Ms. Gouin: Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, senators.
The Chair: Honorable senators, with your consent, we are going to take a short break and then continue in camera.
(The committee suspended.)