Advertising on CBC radio an option: Heritage minister

Heritage Minister James Moore suggested Monday that advertising on CBC Radio "is an option." Moore made the comments during an exchange with NDP heritage critic Charlie Angus during the minister's first address to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. As the CRTC's April deadline for the renewal of broadcast licences approaches, opposition MPs asked Moore whether he would consider opening up CBC Radio One and Radio Two for commercial advertising in light of a $60-million funding shortfall, which Angus said was yet to be added to the public broadcaster's budget for this year. Moore replied that commercial advertising is an option he would consider so long as it strengthens radio at the public broadcaster. "CBC has a lot of pressure... Look we're working with Hubert Lacroix and people at CBC in order to get a full sense of the scale of the problems that they have. Commercial advertising is an option that has been talked about for some time. I would frankly consider anything so long as the end result is to have a strong national public broadcaster that serves Canadians as best as possible." Moore added, however, that the issue has yet to be discussed with CBC. "It's not something that I'm looking at doing. But we are very conscious of the needs of the CBC - the pressures that they're facing. I would work with them on any option that they think would work to best serve their mandate in serving Canadians." Paid advertising was dropped entirely from the radio network by the mid-1970s, although CBC does carry nominal podcast sponsorships and ads on radio websites. CBC Radio's total budet for 2009 is about $140 million, of which less than $1 million is from self-generated revenue. Copyright bill could be delayed until fall Moore also told committee MPs that it could take until the fall before the government introduces new legislation to replace the now defunct Bill C-61, although he's hopeful it will be tabled in late spring. In his speech, Moore did not mention copyright legislation, until Liberal MP Scott Simms and Angus quizzed him about it after the speech. However, Moore said there was "lots of conspiracy theories" about the bill, hence the need for the government to move quickly on it. Opposition MPs were also keen to know who would own the new copyright bill-Industry Canada or Heritage Canada. Moore replied that both ministries will work together to table the bill. Asked whether he would consult stakeholders before tabling new legislation, Moore replied that he would consult with the minister of Industry. "He distinctively did not say that he was going to have consultations," said Angus. "He said that he would have conversations with the other minister but that's not enough, we need industry, we need the tech community, we need educators. That's how we are going to get 21st century copyright." Packaged as part of the government's stimulus budget to kick-start the economy, Moore's speech outlined a need to revitalize the cultural industry and reinforce its ability to inject money and jobs into the economy. "I believe we need cultural policies that respond to our unique heritage and put Canadians' interests first, as citizens, creators and consumers," he said. However, the speech also avoided controversial issues like Bill C-61 and Bill C-10. The latter contains provisions that would deny tax breaks for film productions deemed to be incompatible with the government's ideological stance. Moore said Bill C-10 would not be retabled. Moore also said money allocated for the cultural industry was partly raised through a strategic savings plan that cut off about 5% from obsolete programs in several federal departments. As an example, he cited culture.ca, a directory of cultural podcasts that was shut down last fall. Calling the site "a virtual ghost town online" that cost the government $3.8 million to maintain-about $1.95 per hit-Moore said search engines like Google and others have rendered the site useless. However, opposition MPs criticised Moore for offering nothing new to boost the broadcast and new media industries. In his speech Moore praised the National Film Board for putting online more than 700 films, but Angus said $67 million allocated for the NFB in the budget is a major drop, far below the $81 million in previous years. Angus also criticized Moore for maintaining funding for the Canadian Television Fund and the Canadian New Media Fund at "1996 levels." But Moore defended the decision saying the government had renewed funding for both funds for the next two years and hinted that Canadians should expect more, but he was not specific. "The chapter is not closed on this," he said. "There will be more information coming out soon."

Advertising on CBC radio an option: Heritage minister

News | 02/11/2009 2:30 am EST

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