HERI Committee Report

ADDENDA

Bloc Québécois Complementary Opinion

When Cultural Sovereignty Is Threatened

Context

This report is the end result of 24 months of instructive discussions and consultations, which have enabled us to understand more clearly the various issues at stake in the broadcasting system. The Bloc Québécois would therefore like to thank all the individuals and groups from Quebec and Canada who provided evidence to the Committee. The wide range of views expressed and the diversity of solutions suggested once again expose the complexity of the Canadian broadcasting system.

Although this report sets out several recommendations that would support creation if they were implemented, some of the recommendations do not go far enough. We also believe there are other recommendations that should have been made which would contribute to meeting the legislative objectives.

When cultural sovereignty is threatened

If the federal government acknowledges that urgent action is required to safeguard Canadian culture vis-a-vis the United States, it must also recognize that Quebecers' battle to protect and develop their own culture is legitimate.

The Government of Quebec is in the best position to defend its culture. It is completely reasonable that this is the government to address the cultural development of Quebecers. All Quebec governments, regardless of their political allegiance, have defended their autonomy and maintained that culture is an area of exclusive provincial jurisdiction.

[translation] "Today, Quebec can be proud of its record on culture, with has had exceptional results reflecting the major efforts made by the Quebec government to support culture in all its forms. But no matter how productive these efforts have been, they are no match for the restrictive nature of Canadian federalism. The federal government is of the view that there is not really a Quebec identity or culture: there is only one Canadian culture, a multicultural culture, expressed in several languages, one of which is French."

Parti québécois¹

[translation] "A responsible government must take the necessary steps, in terms of both relations with the federal government and international relations, that will allow us to determine and govern our collective future."

Liberal Party of Quebec²

Recent history has shown that the spending power of the Canadian government and its courts led to increased federal intervention in one of Quebec's vital areas: culture.

Given the current constitutional framework, it might be expected at the very least that the federal government would heed the priorities set by the government elected legitimately by Quebecers.

The Bloc Québécois has identified six areas of insecurity that are not adequately covered by this report:

1.   Non-recognition of Quebec's cultural specificity

2.   Recommendations on cultural content

3.   Job protection

4.   International negotiations and culture

5.   Institutional politicization

6.   Media concentration

Our main recommendation derives from these challenges:

The Bloc Québécois asks that the federal government respond positively to the request from the Quebec Government, which is unanimous in demanding a new federal-provincial administrative agreement [...] in the field of the communications.³

Our complementary opinion attempts to respond to these concerns.

1. Non-recognition of Quebec's cultural specificity

Quebec culture is a reality that is recognized in Quebec and abroad for its vitality and originality. Audiences in Quebec recognize and identify with Quebec content. In all areas of cultural expression, Quebecers are fond of made-in-Quebec cultural productions, in particular in broadcasting, while they welcome foreign cultural productions.

To no one's great surprise, the Committee succeeded in reviewing the Broadcasting Act without any acknowledgement of Quebec's distinctive culture. After hearing from hundreds of witnesses, after meeting for hundreds of hours, and after visiting several large Canadian cities, including Montreal, the Committee still refuses to deal frankly with a fundamental reality: Quebec has its own culture and its own institutions. Quebec culture is not merely a regional element, as the committee seems to think. Ignoring Quebec culture is a denial of its existence and a refusal to promote it.

How can we discover Quebec's identity, when the compilation of various statistical tables includes figures for all francophones in Canada, and it is impossible to obtain an accurate profile of French-speaking Quebecers, or English-speaking Quebecers, for that matter.

One of the problems with the Broadcasting Act is that it does not have a definition of the adjective "regional"; a "region" may be assimilated with a group of provinces, one province or another region (part of a province). Quebec will never agree to being regarded as a region. This results in a confused understanding and application of the law.

The report mentions Quebec's "star system," which is the envy of Canadians. Stars have developed in Quebec because Quebec audiences are proud of the talented Quebecers who have, through their activities, gained popularity and recognition. At the same time, they have great respect for their stars.

Regarding broadcasting and culture, the Bloc Québécois can testify to the many initiatives by the federal government designed to limit Quebec's place in Canada:

Thus, while the members of the Committee made "the public interest" the main theme in this report, we are entitled to ask whether the recommendations really help safeguard the interests of Quebecers who are eager to see Quebec content, i.e. content developed by Quebec artists that echoes Quebec's reality.

The Bloc Québécois recommends that the federal government recognize that Quebec has sole responsibility for arts and culture in Quebec, and to sign a framework agreement with the Government of Quebec acknowledging this responsibility and transferring the necessary funds to Quebec.

The Bloc Québécois recommends that the federal government negotiate an agreement with the Government of Quebec to make the province solely responsible for communications and telecommunications undertakings.

The Bloc Québécois recommends that the federal government amend the mandate of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), requiring it to consider the impact of its decisions on minority communities and that the CRTC be compelled to revise its definition of community, to ensure that allophones are not automatically grouped together with anglophones.

2. Recommendations on cultural content

Although the Committee is making several recommendations on cultural content, funding for this sector is still haphazard.

Intervention by the Government of Quebec, combined with the drive of the private sector, created a leveraging effect that led to the blossoming of Quebec's culture. However, it is clear that cultural organizations in Quebec need additional financial resources if they are to remain viable. The management and the results of these sectors are patently affected by the federal government's failure to live up to its commitments in terms of financial support to television production and to provide stable financial assistance.

• Canadian Television Fund (CTF)

Although in its report the Committee recommends stable, long-term funding⁴ from the Canadian Television Fund, the federal government is sending contradictory signals to the cultural sector in Quebec and Canada: in the latest federal budget, the Finance Minister cut the Canadian government's contribution to the Canadian Television Fund from $100 million to $75 million per year for the two next years, while at the same time he announced an increase of $25 million per year in tax credits for foreign films produced in Canada. We are not opposed to the latter measure because it provides jobs for some of those working in this sector. But who is on the losing end of the $25 million budget cut? The small producers in urban centres and in the regions, but the regional producers will be paying almost the entire cost of the budget cut. In the television community, that was perceived by our own producers and creators as a slap in the face.

The federal government must maintain its level of funding for the Canadian Television Fund at no less than $100 million: it is a base amount that enables the industry to survive, but it should go further so that Quebec and Canadian producers can provide substantial content.

In addition, in the interests of equity, regional television producers would like to see the implementation of measures similar to the ones earmarked for francophone producers in minority communities (IPOLC - Interdepartmental Partnership with Official Language Communities); the objectives might read as follows:

We support this request from regional producers to safeguard regional television production and to maintain jobs in the regions.

The Bloc Québécois recommends that the federal government guarantee minimum annual funding of $100 million to the Canadian Television Fund (CTF). All amounts invested by the private sector in excess of $100 million should be matched dollar for dollar by the federal government.

The Bloc Québécois recommends that the Canadian Television Fund set aside a specific budget for regional productions.

• Community media

The Broadcasting Act states clearly that:

3(1)(i): the programming provided by the Canadian broadcasting system should: [...] (ii) be drawn from local [...] sources, (iii) include educational and community programs⁵.

However, a new CRTC policy has changed the concept of "community". When it adopted its policy on community-based media in 2002, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission created a new class of licence, called the Community-based television programming undertaking, with two sub-categories (community-based low-power television undertaking and community-based digital services). However, we cannot agree with the CRTC when it makes these categories accessible to for-profit applicants as well. Though the Committee did not condemn this situation, the Bloc Québécois considers it important to preserve the specific, for-profit nature of the community-based media in Quebec.

In fact, Quebec has a long history of non-profit community radio and television stations. People throughout Quebec joined together in community-based groups in order to broadcast different programming. The government budget cuts in the early 1990s did a great disservice to the community-based media. The Government of Quebec began investing again in community-based radio stations in the amount of $10,000 to $44,000, depending on the population base served, and its investment in community-based television station ranged from $5,000 to $25,000⁶.

The Bloc Québécois recommends that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission reconsider its position and that the licences awarded to the community-based media remain not for profit.

Moreover, we feel recommendation 9.8 (p.56) on the creation of a Local Broadcasting Initiative Program (LBIP) is unfair, as the program is oriented toward disadvantaged communities in the regions, and that they should have a financial role to play in this program. As not all communities having the same financial resources, it seems unfair to ask communities that are already undercut by poverty to invest. The government will have look into of the ability to pay of the communities for which the LBIP is intended.

The Bloc Québécois recommends that the funds earmarked for the implementation of the Local Broadcasting Initiative Program (LBIP) be transferred to the Government of Quebec, to be used in meeting the specific needs of specific regions.

3. Job protection

The vitality of Quebec's culture is also reflected in the organizations formed by cultural sector employees. Quebec's cultural community comprises professional trade unions and groups that work independently, or in co-operation when necessary with their Canadian and international counterparts on specific broadcasts.

It is essential that the federal government's regulatory framework, tax system and programs protect these workers to the full extent of its powers.

The Committee's mandate was very broad. We believe that section 3.(1)(d)(iii) makes it legitimate for us to propose amendments to other Canadian statutes:

through its programming and the employment opportunities arising out of its operations, serve the needs and interests, and reflect the circumstances and aspirations, of Canadian men, women and children [...] ⁷.

3.1 Canada Labour Code and strike breakers

Various labour conflicts in the telecommunications industry (with Radio-Nord, Vidéotron, etc.) should remind members of Parliament of the need for better protection for the workers subject to the Canada Labour Code.

The Bloc Québécois asks that the Canada Labour Code be amended to ban the use of strike breakers.

3.2 Training

Cultural sector workers and creators live in a state of permanent insecurity, most of the time as self-employed or contract workers; the absence of a social safety net, inadequate remuneration (despite their years of education) and the failure to enforce Income Tax Act provisions, which would enable them to spread their income over more than one year, are among the problems highlighted in a report entitled Face of the Future.⁸

One of the problems raised in this study is that volunteers are often given jobs that should properly go to paid workers. Moreover, the cultural sector is an excellent training ground, with the result that it is difficult to keep workers with experience and there is a turnover rate that is markedly higher than in other industrial sectors.

Another aspect of employment in the cultural sector is that it is extremely difficult for cultural workers to receive adequate training at a reasonable cost, particularly in the regions. Some of the report's recommendations deal with mentoring to train replacements, while others cover developing career management skills and adapting to the new context of globalization and an increasingly open and competitive market.

The Bloc Québécois contends that labour is an area of provincial jurisdiction and that the federal government should transfer to the provinces all the money that it spends on labour, which would enable the provinces to set their priorities according to their own needs. Moreover, the Harel-Pettigrew labour market agreement, signed by Quebec and the federal government in 1997, transferred management of most programs to Quebec.

The cultural sector is a well-worn training ground that produces talented workers who, upon reaching a threshold skill level or a ceiling on their professional advancement, leave the sector for opportunities elsewhere.⁹

Some of the "young" clientele retained by the federal government head early in their careers toward the cultural sector to get experience.

The Bloc Québécois recommends that the federal government transfer all labour clienteles and increase its contribution to 0.8 per cent of the insurable payroll, that is, to the ceiling defined by the Employment Insurance Act.

3.3 Employment insurance

Canada's employment insurance system is not designed to accommodate atypical work patterns. Workers in television, films and the cultural sector generally have an insecure status and fluctuating incomes.

To protect these workers, who are essential to the cultural industry's development, the Bloc Québécois recommends that the government consider creating a framework that would extend the application of the employment insurance system, for both regular and special benefits, to the self-employed.

The Bloc Québécois recommends that the government consider expanding the application of the employment insurance system to workers who combine self-employment and salaried employment. If the government decides not to do so, premiums should be reimbursed to those persons who have insurable employment but cannot apply for benefits because of their status as self-employed.

3.4 Taxation System

One way of enabling cultural workers to enjoy a better quality of life would be to reform the taxation system to allow for income averaging: cultural workers sometimes earn substantial incomes in one year and much lower incomes in previous or subsequent years. To facilitate the management of their taxes, it would be useful to harmonize the federal Income Tax Act with that of Quebec.

The Bloc Québécois recommends that the federal government permit income averaging for workers in the cultural sector.

The Bloc Québécois recommends the federal government harmonize its Income Tax Act with that of Quebec so that copyright revenue under $15,000 is not taxed.

4. International negotiations and culture

The cultural sector notes and deplores the weakness — or worse still, the absence — of provisions on culture in international trade agreements. The Committee's Report deals in Chapter 17 with globalization and cultural diversity. A number of the witnesses heard from confirmed the need to pay special attention to the effects of globalization on the cultural domain.

One group of cultural organizations from Quebec said in its brief,

"[TRANSLATION] If we leave the market to do as it chooses, without setting guidelines, it will be virtually impossible to produce and distribute effectively content that reflects diverse cultures. Globalization must take a form that safeguards the conditions that make it possible to maintain and develop cultural diversity. And this presupposes the maintenance in each country of conditions that allow for the production of original works."¹⁰

Globalization cannot be seen as simply a matter of liberalizing trade without regard for the conditions in which cultural works are produced and distributed (music, television programs, etc.).

Well-known biologist and ecologist Francesco di Castri said while passing through Quebec City on March 23, 2003, that there are two societies in the world that have been able to benefit from the new openness [i.e., globalization] to assert their cultural distinctiveness in the eyes of the world: Quebec and Catalonia are, according to him, the best examples of the approach that has to be taken in the current situation.¹¹ Quebec simply wants more freedom for its cultural outreach.

Globalization must not be seen solely in its narrow trade aspect, because from that perspective the only things that matter are efficiency and competition. All the aspects of life in community are subsumed in merchandise. In this view, the market is the one and only yardstick. But it is not true that the planet is just a huge global market in which a variety of objects are exchanged.

The exclusively economic perspective must not be allowed to predominate over all the others. It is incompatible with cultural diversity: if we leave everything up to the market, there will soon be no cultural diversity at all, because it will be impossible to produce and distribute content that reflects different cultures. Globalization must be the goal only in a context where it is possible to maintain and promote cultural diversity. Above all, we must not make the mistake of regarding broadcasting as just a telecommunications service. How would it be possible to maintain Canadian content requirements if control of broadcasting undertakings slipped from Canadian hands? Broadcasting undertakings are the main vehicle for cultural content. There is also a risk for freedom of expression, quality of information and diversity of viewpoints: cultural expression and freedom of expression cannot be dissociated.¹²

In this era of globalization, three challenges identified by Professor Ivan Bernier must be met by nations:

Given the importance of these crucial issues, it is essential that the Quebec government participate in international negotiating sessions.

The Bloc Québécois recommends that the federal government make a commitment to assure the participation of the Quebec government in all international negotiations with a bearing on Quebec's powers, in particular in areas that may affect culture.

5. Politicization of public institutions

A number of the witnesses spoke of the independence of cultural bodies from the government; Chapter 18 of the Report deals with these issues. The witnesses argued that the process of making appointments to such bodies lacks transparency and that this threatens their independence.

For example, Quebec's Fédération nationale des communications said in its brief to the Committee,

"[TRANSLATION] Given the major issues of economic and technological evolution, there can never be too much emphasis on the importance of a broadcasting service like the CBC, which is supposed to be independent of the dominant economic and political pressures."¹⁴

A group of Quebec cultural organizations referred in its brief to the need for editorial independence:

"[TRANSLATION] The Broadcasting Act stipulates that the CBC provides its services as the 'national public broadcaster'. This definition is important: the Corporation is not simply a mouthpiece for the government, it is responsible for providing a service that by its very nature presupposes editorial independence. By stipulating that the CBC provides a national public broadcasting service, the Act manifests its intention of giving the Corporation a degree of liberty analogous to that which is in principle allowed to other broadcasting undertakings."¹⁵

The Heritage portfolio is a huge one, and one of its objectives is defined as follows:

"To encourage the building of collaborative partnerships between the Government of Canada and individuals, groups, institutions and organizations that will promote Canadian identity and enhance national unity."¹⁶

The politicization of the main Canadian broadcasting institutions rubs the industry and the people working in it the wrong way, because it exerts on them pressures that can go so far as to limit their freedom of speech and action. The Bloc Québécois wishes to point out that political alignments and practices are not uncommon in the industry.

Here are some examples:

In 1995, the present Minister of Canadian Heritage coolly insisted that the CBC has a mandate to promote national unity. She said that it was unreasonable for Ottawa to pay the Corporation's bills if it had no responsibility for national unity.¹⁷

How can there be any credibility in the political independence of organizations reporting to the Department of Canadian Heritage when the Department includes in its mandate the promotion of Canadian unity?

The Bloc Québécois recommends that all reference to the need to "contribute to a shared national consciousness and identity"¹⁹ as stipulated in section 3(m)(vi) of the 1991 Broadcasting Act, be removed from the CBC's mandate.

The Bloc Québécois is delighted that the members of the Committee recognize the problems involved in the appointment process. The recommendations proposed by the Committee in Chapter 18 of its Report constitute a positive step in the right direction. However, the recommendations strike us as not strong enough.

The Bloc Québécois calls on the federal government to change its manner of appointing presidents and members of boards by entrusting this responsibility to an independent committee, so the various institutions that make up the broadcasting system can be independent from the political arm.

6. Media concentration

For 30 years now, despite repeated warnings, successive governments have allowed media conglomerates to develop in Canada. Today the movement toward concentration is virtually complete. But it is not too late to intervene and to make changes that will ensure separation between the various media.

Regulation of communications is an area of jurisdiction shared by the Quebec and federal governments. Until such time as a Quebec City-Ottawa agreement is negotiated (as demanded by a committee of the National Assembly²⁰) to clarify the responsibilities for communications of the two levels of government, in particular regarding quality and diversity of information, we propose that the federal government clarify its own laws and spell out the mandates of its own institutions.

We believe that governments must stay out of the internal affairs of the media, if only to ensure their diversity. However, the state may have to resort to measures that encourage competition.

The Canadian broadcasting system has public, private and community components. In the opinion of the Bloc Québécois, all of these components must be put to good use.

6.1 Internal oversight committee

A comprehensive system designed to monitor media concentration must include some self-regulation on the part of private enterprise.

The Bloc Québécois wants the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to force the conglomerates to set up an internal oversight committee mandated to enforce codes of ethics dealing with relations between the various enterprises that make up the conglomerates. The findings of these committees would have to be made public every year.

6.2 Foreign ownership

In our opinion, increased foreign ownership would not solve the problem of media concentration. On the contrary: weaker restrictions on foreign ownership and an influx of new capital would accelerate the concentration process.

The creative people of Quebec who testified before the Committee were unanimous in this regard:

"Without Canadian ownership of broadcasting companies, it would be impossible to maintain the integrity of the system and its fundamental mission, which is to safeguard, enrich and strengthen the cultural, political, social, and economic fabric of Canada."²¹

We are extremely concerned that the Industry Committee has recommended the liberalization of foreign ownership in the telecommunications sector and indirectly the liberalization of ownership rules for broadcasting distribution undertakings.

The Bloc Québécois recommends that the Heritage Minister actively lobby her Industry colleague to maintain the existing foreign ownership rules for telecommunications and broadcasting.

Conclusion

The Canadian broadcasting system seems to have gone off-course: it is now more open to the world but it is also too focused on major urban centres, and local and regional communities feel forgotten. Is it necessary to point out that local and regional programming and production seem to be difficult, even impossible, to achieve?

The evidence heard by the Committee highlighted the broadcasting system's inability to provide appropriate support to all communities in Quebec and Canada, with the result that it has not proved able to assist the francophone communities outside Québec, First Nations peoples and certain regions within Quebec and Canada in their legitimate desire to be able to express themselves through the system.

This leads us to wonder about the delicate balance required to preserve our identities while adapting the system to the new technologies, in a context of globalization. The issues to be reconciled are manifold and today's challenges will continue into the future. It is even likely that they will be magnified. The broadcasting system needs a new direction and greater flexibility if it is to meet the needs of the cultural realities being expressed in Quebec and in Canada. The rapid implementation of the recommendations will not in itself be enough to bring about this change of direction.

If there is one sphere of activity in which we must be vigilant and make no compromises, with respect to globalization, it is definitely the cultural domain. For some people, "globalization" seems to be a magic wand that fixes everything, but for others, the lost democracy and influence over culture that it conceals demand attention. To understand the impact of globalization on broadcasting institutions, we must ask who profits. What is more, globalization tends to bring about conditions on which governments are not consulted, and to create a plutocracy directed by a small group.

The Bloc Québécois remains convinced that sovereignty for Quebec represents the best means of protecting our culture and assuring its development in the current context of technological expansion and globalization of trade. We have every confidence that Quebec talent, supported by the Quebec government, will be able to adapt successfully to the challenges of the 21st century. However, in this complementary opinion we are making recommendations adapted to the existing federal framework, for the sake of Quebec's culture and its artists and craftspeople.

We conclude by recalling the enthusiasm that Quebec culture arouses because of its creativity, its dynamism and the international renown of its artists.

Endnotes