Introduction
Canadians do not need to be reminded that we live in the shadow of a large, powerful neighbor. A neighbor that eagerly exports it's culture, it's values, it's fashions, it's philosophies and it's ideology. According to former Minister for International Trade Pierre Pettigrew they do this to the tune of some 100 billion dollars annually.
It is not always easy to identify and hi-light what makes Canada different from the United States. Some of the differences are obvious, some are more subtle, some depend on where in Canada you are standing.We all know the differences are there, and that those differences are important. Canadians know that Canada’s voice in the world is unique, and that Canada has important stories to tell and significant social, intellectual and cultural contributions to make to the world.
Although the Internet, satellite signals and other new technology have made more and more media choices available to consumers, the place of uniquely and distinctly Canadian content is threatened more than ever before, and the threats are growing by the day.
The Media Marketplace
It is widely thought that people will soon have access to
a “million channel universe”, I don’t know if a million channels is a literal possibility, but thousands of television channels and tens of thousands of radio stations is a distinct possibility it is, in fact, almost a certainty. Additionally consumers will have twenty four hours a day, seven day a week, on demand access to any programming, audio or video that has ever been produced by anyone and the ability to at least partially block any and all advertising from that programming. Producers of content will also have the ability to distribute directly to consumers without traditional broadcasters, distributors or affiliates.
As all of this takes place, traditional broadcasters will certainly begin demanding less and less government regulation. They will claim, probably correctly, that they need a maximum of flexibility and a minimum of regulation in order to survive. If the Government is not extremely flexible in how it regulates commercial broadcasters, those broadcasters will increasingly simply bypass the CRTC. Also, as ad revnues dwindle because of technology that blocks ads, many commercial broadcasters will be forced to charge consumers directly for content. This means that commercial broadcasters and production companies will require larger audiences, often larger audiences than Canada alone can provide. This will mean more sexual and violent content. It will also mean more programs like Crime Scene Investigations (CSI.) While CSI is a very popular program internationally, made by Alliance Atlantis, a Canadian production company, is not shot in or set in Canada and gives no indication that it is, in fact,
Canadian.
In this environment, the handcuffs must be taken off of commercial broadcasters.
The alternative, quite simply, is forcing them to fail in their competition with US, and other foreign broadcasters. At the same time, a space must be preserved on the airwaves to insure that Canadian stories continue to be told, that Canadians have access to local, regional, national and international news, that Canadian history and culture are presented and preserved and that home grown artists have an outlet.
Why Save the CBC?
The Canadian Government, as well as provincial governments, city governments, private individuals and charities spend a great deal of money preserving Canadian cultural, historical and artistic treasures for the present as well as future generations. While what is going on today may not seem as vitally important, that is only because we are not looking at today's events in the same context that future generations will. Surely, even if the present generation does not see the value, in the eyes of future Canadians it will have been well worth the cost of recording todays events, and preserving todays cultural treasures. In fact, they may not forgive us if we do not.
This, I would argue, is the ideal role for the CBC. Preserving Canada's history, one day at a time, telling Canadian stories, exploring Canadian arts and culture and delivering timely, relevant local, regional, national, and international news and information, from a Canadian perspective to the Canadian public, and using modern technology, to anyone who has an interest in Canada and Canadians.
I know that the CBC, specifically CBC television, in it's current form has many detractors. CBC Television is frequently charged with being out of touch, with failing to adequately represent the diverse regions and peoples of Canada, with being biased in terms of it's news and political coverage and with acting too much like a commercial broadcaster.
I think this is in part due to a lack of vision on the part of management, it is also in part due to the benign neglect and a failure to set a clear mandate on the part of successive governments.
At any rate, if the CBC is, or can be a valuable public service (and I don't think there is much debate on that point) then it should be treated no differently than any other public service. If Canada Post, or the Canadian Military, or Canada's Health Care or Education systems were not functioning the way Canadians wanted them to, the demand would be to fix them, not dismantle them. So, the goal should be to diagnose the problems, and then find solutions to those problems.
the Ideal CBC
It seems to me that the best way to 'fix' the CBC is to first determine what it should, ideally, be.
As a public broadcaster, the CBC
>Should first and foremost be loyal to the Canadian public, that means putting the public good, and the public's right to information above and beyond any other considerations - political or commercial. Even the appearance of any conflict of interest in this area should be carefully avoided. This means not only advertisement free, but free of any commercial interests.
> Should insure the inclusion and representation of a wide variety of viewpoints, including those that may be to unpopular, or too much of a minority viewpoint to find inclusion elsewhere.
> Should, as the chronicler of Canadian history and culture for present and future generations, never sacrifice quality or integrity for commercial viability.
> Should promote public dialogue on important international, national, regional and local issues and facilitate the delivery of the information necessary to that dialogue.
> Should deliver high quality, commercial free, no-cost content, though every medium widely used by the public, and should not, under any circumstances demand extra payment in exchange for content that the Canadian public has (through it's tax dollars) already paid for.
> Should make it's full archives available for personal, education and other non-commercial use via it's website and other on-demand services.
In short, the CBC should facilitate public discussion, be a watchdog for the public good, tell fictional and true Canadian stories (stories of the past, present and possible future), promote Canadian ideals and Canadian culture at home and abroad, and keep Canadians informed of events and issues across Canada and around the world. Finally, the CBC should do all of this without the constraints faced by commercial broadcasters. The Canadian public demands it and the Canadian government should insure it happens. Without a guaranteed, unbiased moderator of the national discourse, provider of vital information and chronicler of Canadian life, culture and history nearly every single other national institution (public or private) is diminished in value.
Finally, the CBC should not be a ratings or revenue driven organization. As Canada's national public broadcaster it serves a function and operates under a mandate quite different from that of commercial broadcasters. The CBC should fulfill it's role, to the best of it's ability. The CBC should provide high quality, intelligent, distinctively Canadian news, information, opinion, arts, entertainment, history, culture, comedy, drama, documentary, entertainment and children's programming.The CBC should to the best of its ability, and making maximum use of the talents of its people, provide the content it is mandated to provide and then trust that there is sufficient demand for that content. If there is not, if Canadians are not interested in the subjects I've listed above, the it's not just the CBC, but the entire
country that is in trouble.
If the CBC's efforts must be measured against other broadcasters, then let them be measured against the success of public broadcasters in other countries, or even against specialty cable channels whose role is to provide a specific type of content to a specific audience. It's true that not all Canadians will always want to watch high quality, distinctively Canadian programming, but it should be insured that when they do want it, it will be there. The ratings system is designed for companies with shareholders to appease, and ad time to sell. The CBC, as the National public broadcaster of Canada has a different purpose and a higher calling.
The Plan: What needs to be changed and why
When the current CBC mandate was written in 1991 the internet, as far as the general public was concerned, was still in it's infancy, satellite television, cell phones barely existed and digital cable was unimaginable to most people. Now 15 years later, I think most would agree that what is needed is not a little more money, or a little more tinkering at the edges but an overhaul, a repurposing and a renewal with guidelines of how to achieve its mandate in the 21st century.
Much of what I will propose will require serious revisions in the broadcast act, but broadcasting has changed so significantly in the last 15 years, and is poised to change even more dramatically over the next 15 years. It's time for the CBC and the Broadcast Act to pull ahead of the curve instead of playing catch up.
The areas of the CBC where change is needed are, I believe, in funding, programming, governance and distribution.
Funding
Just as the CBC's success should be measured against other public broadcasters,
the government's commitment to public broadcasting, Canadian arts and culture, and the public's right to information should be measured by the level to which the CBC is funded. So far, it would appear that the government does not put much value on these things, despite the fact that there seems to be agreement that it should be a priority. From former NDP Leader Alexa
McDonough in 1997
The Facts:
In the 1993 federal election, the Liberals promised "stable multi-year
funding" to the CBC.
*The federal Liberal government has instead cut $414 million from the CBC's budget. (On a per capita basis, the CBC's funding will be 47% lower in 1998 than it was in 1984. Federal spending on CBC North dropped by 30% in 1996-97 alone.) *By May of 1998, the CBC's full-time staff will have fallen to about half the 1984 level. By the end of this year, about 4,000 hard working and dedicated CBC employees will have lost their jobs.
*Compared with other countries, the CBC's funding from Parliament , on a per capita basis, is among the lowest, even though Canada, unlike many other nations, supports public radio and television in two official languages.
*Per capita funding for public broadcasting: Sweden $116.93, United Kingdom $60.82, Japan $56.41, France $39.78, Canada $32.19 (1984), Canada $19.11 (1998), United States $3.92.
Then, in 2005 from Conservative MP Michael Chong
This may mean more money is required for the CBC. Since 1993, this government has cut $200 million out of the CBC’s budget in real terms. The BBC receives more than twice as much funding per capita as does the CBC. Among OECD countries, Finland, Denmark, Norway, United Kingdom, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Greece, Sweden, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, Australia, Ireland, Italy, France, Korea and Spain all spend more as a percentage of GDP on public broadcasting than do we. We get good value for our investment in public broadcasting, especially considering our sparse population spread out over a wide geographic expanse and our two official languages.
Yet, as we reach mid 2006 nothing has been done, the CBC's budget continues
to fall, in real terms, and the staff continues to shrink.
Most people, in Canada and the world, would agree that the BBC is the world's premier public broadcaster. This is due, at least in part, to the fact that the per capita government funding the BBC receives is approximately $100 Canadian. Bear in mind that the BBC only has to broadcast to a fairly small geographical area and in only one language. The CBC, which broadcasts in English, French and several aboriginal languages and which has a responsibility to a comparatively huge geographic area currently receives approximately $28 per capita, or about $2.33 per month. In light of this it is not surprising then that many Canadians are not happy with the level of service or the quality of programming, especially when they compare the CBC to it's British cousin.
The first thing I would propose in terms of funding is to increase the amount of government, per capita funding to $5.50 per month, or $66 a year (roughly 2/3 of what the BBC receives.) If you consider the value of a high quality public broadcaster against what you can buy for $5.50 I think most will agree that it's worth the extra $2.17. If you do not agree, then I would urge you to read to the end of the document and see what I'm asking you to buy.
Next, I would suggest that this funding be guaranteed an annual increase to match the rate of inflation and that the CBC be reclassified as the first 'Crown not-for-profit corporation' and allowed to accept individual donations as well as donations from charitable and cultural foundations. Not only should individuals and foundations be able to donate, but they should be able to earmark donations for National content or for local or regional content for specific locations. This funding should be solicited by a semi-separate arm of the CBC, and not on their airwaves. Finally, the provinces and territories should be able to add to the funds available for local content. The current CBC budget is near, but not quite at 1.5 billion dollars a year (including advertising), under this new funding system the CBC's annual budget would be just over 2 billion dollars (plus donations). I will explore one more funding opportunity in the next section, but this by itself, should provide a significant boost to the CBC's overall operation. Money alone is not the
solution though.
Programming
For the programming reform part of the plan, I looked at both what makes CBC radio successful and borrowed from the U.S. PBS model. The new CBC should be, for starters, 100% Canadian.
Canadian stories about the rest of the world certainly have a place on the CBC, but wholesale imports such as American movies, or British soap operas do not. There are plenty of other contenders, among commercial broadcasters, to deliver that kind of content. It is shameful that, while Canadian film is very difficult to find and see Canada's national public broadcaster shows American blockbusters.
Once the CBC is 100% Canadian and commercial free, Canadian content restrictions should be diluted for commercial broadcasters. American content is in high demand in Canada and these broadcasters can save significant amounts of
money by buying foreign programming rather than producing their own programs domestically. So, I would propose a sliding scale: the more Canadian content they show, the lower the price of the Broadcast license. Hopefully most Canadian broadcasters will still choose to show some Canadian content. However, if there are some that choose not to, or to air less than they currently do, they will simply be asked to share some of their savings. With the proceeds going to subsidize more Canadian programming, the CBC and other cultural programming. This would be in addition to, and not the source of the additional CBC funding mentioned above.
It can also be hoped that as the new, purely Canadian, CBC builds audiences at home and abroad for Canadian programming that commercial broadcasters will voluntarily add more to their schedules.
Under the new model I am proposing the CBC would operate, as most successful Canadian government programs are, as a federal-provincial partnership Each of the provinces would appoint a separate board of directors who would hire senior executives for the provincial or regional CBC bureaus. The regions would each have their own operational and programming budgets, as a percentage of the CBC's overall larger budget and the day-to-day schedule would be divided between mandatory national programming, mandatory local/regional programming and optional programming. The latter could be filled with either programming from the National CBC, additional local/regional programming, or programming from other local/regional CBC Bureaus.
So, the National CBC would remain the largest part of the overall organization, would continue to operate CBC Newsworld, Country Canada and other cable operations, and would continue to acquire programming for National distribution, the local bureaus would each create or acquire programming for local/regional distribution and all of this programming, wherever it is created, would be available for use by the National network, or any of the local/regional bureaus. This would have the effect of creating a number of 'content factories' across the country, allowing local talent to be developed, and issues of local and regional importance to be explored. Again, all of this programming would be expected to meet the standard of 'high quality, intelligent, distinctively Canadian news, information, opinion, arts, entertainment, history, culture, comedy, drama, documentary, educational and children's programming.'
Additionally, as stated before, the provinces could choose to add funds to their provincial bureaus budgets and individuals and foundations could choose to donate to the National or to their local/provincial bureaus. Provinces that have existing public broadcasters such as Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia could also choose to combine the efforts of their existing public broadcasters with those of their CBC bureaus.
Governance
One of the problems that has plagued the CBC, aside from budget issues, has been patronage appointments to the Board of Directors and the senior executive ranks. Many of the people appointed to these positions have had little or no experience in public broadcasting or the broadcasting industry in general.
Under the system I am proposing this would be rectified in a variety of ways. First minimum requirements would be put in place in terms of the experience of board members and the board itself would be altered. The new national board would be made up of the board chairmen from each province or territory and only the board chair would be appointed by Parliament.
As for senior executives, rules would be put in place so that the President of the national CBC, and to a lesser extent the presidents of the bureaus, must come from within the ranks of the CBC itself. The President of the CBC should have a good knowledge of the broadcast industry in general, and should have specific knowledge of how things actually work ‘in the trenches’ of the CBC. It will also be far easier for the leader of the organization to lead if people within the organization know them, and their history.
Beyond this level, all vice presidents and other senior executives should, at least, come from a background in the area they are working in. So a VP for radio should have a background in radio, and a VP for television should have a background in television etc., This seems like it should be obvious in any organization, but the lack of such rules have contributed to significant
problems at the CBC.
Distribution
Finally, but not least important, this new Federal/provincial partnership should strive to make all of it's programming available to as many Canadians as possible, in as many ways as possible including making all of it’s content – radio, television or other – available on the internet, in it’s entirety, for free for personal and classroom use. Every effort should be made to make the content available in whatever formats people are using at the time, and without the requirement that consumers purchase specific brands of hardware or software in order to access the content. For example, if you want to watch television, you will need a television (or a similar device) but there should be no requirement as to what brand of television must be bought or which cable provider to provider to go with – however people consume content and regardless of where they are, even if they are out of the country, the CBC should try to make content available in appropriate formats, in it’s entirety, without advertising and for free.
Mandate
Much of the debate on fixing the CBC seems to revolve around fixing the mandate. The mandate, as I read it, seems to need very little change. According to the CBC’s web site, the mandate currently reads
The 1991 Broadcasting Act states that...
"...the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, as the national public broadcaster, should provide radio and television services incorporating a wide range of programming that informs, enlightens and entertains;
...the programming provided by the Corporation should:
1. be predominantly and distinctively Canadian,
2. reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences, while serving the special needs of those regions,
3. actively contribute to the flow and exchange of cultural expression,
4. be in English and in French, reflecting the different needs and circumstances of each official language community, including the particular needs and circumstances of English and French linguistic minorities,
5. strive to be of equivalent quality in English and French,
6. contribute to shared national consciousness and identity,
7. be made available throughout Canada by the most appropriate and efficient means and as resources become available for the purpose, and
8. reflect the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canada."1
From this I would change only line 1 to read “be distinctively and exclusively Canadian. “ and add a line 9. Which would read “Should not, in any case, compromise the CBC’s exclusive loyalty to the Canadian public and should be free of advertising as well as commercial and political interests".
To me the problem was not, for the most part, with the mandate, but with the interpretation and implementation of the mandate.
In Closing
Canada has a long tradition of giving the world some of it's best known actors, directors, screenwriters, and musical performers and the film and television production industries are vital to Ontario, British Columbia and increasingly to other provinces as well. But if this is going to continue, Canada must see fit to invest in Canadian talent.
The CBC has certainly had it’s problems. But I know that many Canadians, and the CBC’s dedicated staff certainly still believe in the CBC and in the ideals of public broadcasting. I certainly think in an ever shrinking and competitive world that there is a need, probably more of a need than there has ever been before, for a strong, Canadian public broadcaster. The CBC was, after all, created to offer an alternative to U.S. cultural dominance. Far from going away, that threat of cultural dominance is stronger than ever, and will only become stronger still in the years to come.
I believe that this plan, if implemented in full, solves many of the CBC’s problems, answers many of the criticisms and will result in a strong, healthy, intelligent, creative, well governed, distinctly Canadian public broadcasting system for generations to come – something that I believe Canadians will find well worth the extra $2.17 a month.
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