Management and CBC/Radio-Canada employees can push a huge sigh of relief. The threat made of the federal conservative party and its leader, Pierre Poilievre, has just faded with their electoral defeat. The Liberal Party, called to govern, intends to guarantee the future of CBC.
Previously, so as not to be outdone vis-à-vis his opponent, the new leader of the Liberal Party had considered an appropriate electoral to be the rescue of the public broadcaster. His government was not only going to maintain the presence of CBC in the audiovisual landscape, but also to benefit the public broadcaster of additional financial means, until they double over the years its annual funding of funds, to reach more than $ 2 billion.
Recall that the promise to support the funding of Radio-Canada more substantially found its genesis in the St-Onge plan, named after the former Minister of Canadian Heritage Pascale St-Onge. Presented on February 20, during the campaign at the chiefdom of the Liberal Party and barely a month before the start of the general elections, the project concocted by the former Minister was the subject of a simple copy and paste on the liberal electoral platform. We can understand, without however excusing it, the eagerness of the Liberal chief to differentiate his electoral commitments beyond the settlement of a new trade agreement with the United States.
Now installed at the head of the Canadian government, Prime Minister Carney is expected to be satisfied at first to have dismissed the CBC closure threat linked to his conservative opponent. And take advantage of the coming months to think more about the best ways to promote the country’s national and cultural sovereignty, two fundamental and inseparable objectives of the Canadian broadcasting law.
Let us first mention the context to justify this second look at the future of Radio-Canada.
The Council for Canadian Radiation and Telecommunications (CRTC) should take over the hearing in the start at the start of the electoral campaign, a gesture by which it also postponed the entry into force of the regulations following the adoption of the law on continuous online dissemination (C-13 bill). However, one of the main problems that the federal body will have to solve lies in the very definition of the concept of Canadian content, which will then determine the conformity of large platforms, such as Netflix, to the principles and objectives of the new law.
But now the announced resistance of multinational platforms could find its echo in the negotiations that the Canadian government should have with its southern neighbor, not only to settle trade relationships, but also to curb the imperialist momentum of Donald Trump. This makes the CRTC challenge to say the least, delicate and critical for the influence of our creators, our artists and our culture, English -speaking as a French -speaking, in the rest of the world.
The Carney government should also go back to the premises of the St-Onge plan, at least incomplete, at worst exaggerated, even erroneous. And before acting, it would be appropriate to engage a conversation with Canadians about the future of our broadcasting systems.
First, it is an exaggeration to suggest that Radio-Canada is the main historic player in the application of the broadcasting law, at the very least on the French-speaking side. In Quebec, TVA for 65 years, then Noovo for 40 years contribute in a masterful way to develop, then shine, the original French -speaking creation. The two broadcasters built a piece by piece, alongside the public broadcaster, the phenomenal success of our television and they certainly do not deserve that increased funding from Radio-Canadada will raise a mortgage on their future.
However, the St-Onge plan did not provide for withdrawal from the state-owned advertising market, which would maintain a unfair and punitive competitive context for private broadcasters. The proposal to prohibit Radio-Canada advertising in information emissions was not retained by the Liberal chief, which demonstrates a certain ignorance of the rules of the Canadian broadcasting system or a profound insensitivity to the fate of private radio.
Second, the comparison of the levels of funding for public broadcasting in the world used in the St-Onge plan is seriously lacking in nuances. If it is true that taxpayers in European countries support public services more through tax or compulsory fees, their state -owned disseminors have little or do not have access to the advertising market.
Before following the St-Onge plan, the government has several ways to increase the scope of public institutions under the governing of the Canadian Ministry of Culture and Identity. For example, the French government put on the table last year a public audiovisual merger project to promote its adaptation to the transformation of the media landscape in the digital age. Greater strategic and operational cooperation is generally a source of greater efficiency. For example, accommodation on the same continuous broadcasting platform of original CBC creations and the Radio-Canada company would be beneficial in terms of national identity and cultural sovereignty.
Fortunately, CBC recently made a little light appear through the clouds.
It was not a first, but by allying with Netflix and Aptn for the production and dissemination of the brilliant series North of NorthCBC gives a certain breath to Canadian creation and the influence of its culture in the rest of the world. The series appears at the list of the most watched series on Netflix.
The success of North of North Recalls also the potential advantages linked to the deceased agreement with Netflix set in motion and defended by Mélanie Joly. Although imperfect, its implementation would have allowed us not to lose an additional eight years to take a stand on the global market for continuous dissemination, better finance our ambitions and highlight our fabulous creative resources. The Money Heist did not weaken the Spanish broadcasting system, but rather revealed the exceptional value of its talents.
