Conservatives stand by CBC: Oda

Heritage minister Bev Oda delivered her first comprehensive speech on broadcasting on Sunday, June 11, the first day of the Banff World Television Festival. In it, she responded to some of the issues and concerns Canada’s broadcasting community had expressed about increasing competition from unregulated networks and the future of the CBC, among other issues. Below is an edited excerpt from her speech. I am pleased to announce that the government will draw upon the expertise of the CRTC to examine the future technological environment facing the entire broadcasting industry. The commission will be asked to gather and synthesize input from Canadian stakeholders and informed sources and present their impartial findings to the government... I have requested that the CRTC present its report by December 14th of this year….The CRTC report will complement the picture of technological change that was started last spring, when the Telecommunications Policy Review Panel reviewed Canada’s telecommunications policy and regulatory framework… To fulfill its responsibilities of policy making, the government needs to better understand the future of the broadcasting industry and audiences in this new era. The fact-based study will provide us with the necessary information to help make needed policy decisions and formulate the framework in which the media, broadcasting, and electronic cultural content industries will move forward. Our government firmly believes that it is the role of government to make public policy, and to be accountable to Canadians for those policies. Regarding our public broadcaster, as the Minister of Canadian Heritage, let me assure you that this government does support CBC/Radio Canada. Let me be clear — the CBC/SRC will remain Canada’s public broadcaster, in both official languages. It is important that we ensure our national public broadcaster plays a meaningful and relevant role as we move forward into this new century. Like all parts of the broadcasting system, it is facing challenges created by technology, the growth of the private sector and a new broadcasting economy. And like all segments of the system, it must respond to these challenges. The services provided by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and la Société Radio-Canada represent the largest public element of our system. It is greatly valued by Canadians in all parts of the country. Through radio, television and other new media platforms — it speaks to Canadians in English, French, and a number of Aboriginal languages, while providing the most Canadian content programming. We owe it to Canadians to ensure that the CBC/SRC meets their expectations and is strongly seen as our national public broadcaster in the 21st century. The CBC/SRC has to be one of the most enduring topics of debate since its inception. Debate around the types of services it should offer, what genre of programming and content it should present, and its accountability to all Canadians. These debates occur as each generation passes through different stages in their lives. And so — we acknowledge that for this generation and the next, the same debate and questioning must take place. The public broadcaster does not exist in isolation; rather it is one facet of a larger, interrelated national system. The future of the CBC / SRC will impact private broadcasters, producers, creators — the entire industry. Our government will be working towards ensuring Canada’s public broadcaster continues to have a place as the media and broadcasting world evolves.

Conservatives stand by CBC: Oda

News | 06/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

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