(Quebec) If the senior management of CBC – Radio-Canada commits to a plan to bring the French and English services of the public broadcaster closer together, particularly in terms of programming, “it would be a catastrophe,” warns the Quebec minister of Culture, Mathieu Lacombe. He urges his federal counterpart Pascal St-Onge to stop the implementation of such a plan.
The Press revealed Thursday that the management of the federal Crown corporation will present a “transformation plan” to its board of directors next fall. According to our information, this would involve bringing together the management of CBC and Radio-Canada with the aim of better competing with digital giants like Netflix, among others.
Is a rapprochement between French and English programming in the cards? “Not necessarily,” replied Marco Dubé, vice-president and head of transformation at Radio-Canada, who was mandated by the board of directors to manage the file. So the idea is not ruled out?
“It is the next CEO who will decide on these big questions, but there is really behind [notre réflexion] judicious use of public funds, and Canadians expect money to be used efficiently, said Mr. Dubé. They expect to have quality programming in French and English, but they also expect us to be an organization that does not duplicate resources just for the sake of doubling resources. This is a bit like what we are looking at now and what we were looking at several years ago. »
Quebec opposes it
In Quebec, Minister Mathieu Lacombe did not mince his words: a rapprochement of programming, “culturally speaking for Quebec, that would be a disaster”.
“I have good hope that Mme St-Onge, in whom I trust, will take the necessary actions to ensure that we never get to that point,” he added.
The CAQ minister also sent a message to federal politicians who dream of slashing budgets allocated to the French sector of the public broadcaster. Pierre Poilière’s conservatives promise to particularly attack the CBC if they take power.
“For us, the future of the public broadcaster in French here in Quebec is non-negotiable. […] If a party in Ottawa decided to attack Radio-Canada, it would clearly find Quebec in its path. But for the moment, I don’t think that’s the case,” said Mr. Lacombe.
“The article I read in The Press worries me and I think that it must worry us as Quebecers because we certainly need a strong public broadcaster, that is to say Radio-Canada, and for this public broadcaster to be strong, it must have all the necessary independence,” continued the minister.
With Charles-Éric Blais-Poulin, The Press