QUESTION PERIOD — Canadian Heritage
CBC/Radio-Canada
June 6, 2024
My question is for the Government Representative.
Senator Gold, a story from The Canadian Press on May 13 reported the appointment of a new seven-person panel that will advise the Minister of Canadian Heritage about a path forward for the CBC and Radio-Canada, focusing on governance and funding. This same The Canadian Press report stated, “The department says that consultations on the CBC’s mandate have already been conducted with the general public.”
As well, Minister St-Onge is quoted as saying, “The expert committee won’t be consulting on the future of CBC/Radio-Canada. It’s already been done several times . . . .”
My question is about these consultations with the public about the CBC. When were these consultations undertaken, who was consulted and where were they reported? Are past consultations adequate for the purpose today? Thank you.
Thank you for your question, senator. Indeed, there have been extensive public consultations throughout the history of CBC/Radio-Canada, and the What We Heard Report results are regularly posted online in a variety of levels of detail.
While I cannot cover the exhaustive list in the time I have, recent consultations include the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, or CRTC, licence renewal in 2021; the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel in 2019 and 2020; and the 2017 report by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, which is entitled Disruption: Change and Churning in Canada’s Media Landscape.
You may also note that in 2015, the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications published the report entitled Time for Change: The CBC/Radio-Canada in the Twenty-first Century, which will also help the current panel’s work.
These are just a few examples of how the Government of Canada and the houses of Parliament have engaged Canadians in issues that face our national broadcaster.
On May 18, CBC President Catherine Tait, in an interview on CBC Radio’s program The House, noted that the CBC conducts regular surveys of opinion — twice a year, she said — about aspects of the CBC’s mandate.
Are these consultations available to the public to be reviewed? Will these consultations be taken into consideration by the review panel?
Thank you for your question, senator. I’ve been informed that CBC/Radio-Canada publicly releases 17 metrics from the Mandate and Vision Perception Survey three times annually — in the fall and the spring, and then combined data. I understand that these surveys are sent directly to the CRTC, and CBC/Radio-Canada posts these publicly on their corporate site.
