Minister of Canadian Heritage appoints advisory panel on the role, mission and governance of Canada's public broadcaster

GATINEAU, QC, May 13, 2024 /CNW/ - As the national public broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada occupies a unique place in Canada's cultural and information landscape, reflecting Canadian values and sharing our stories from coast to coast to coast. The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that the public broadcaster is well positioned to continue delivering vital services for Canadians, now and in the future.

The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage, announced today the appointment of an Advisory Committee who will provide policy advice on how to strengthen and renew the public broadcaster so it can continue to fulfill its important social, cultural and democratic functions.

The committee is composed of seven experts and specialists who will contribute their knowledge and experience from a variety of fields:

• Marie-Philippe Bouchard, CEO, TV5 Québec Canada
• Jesse Wente, Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts, founding Executive Director of the Indigenous Screen Office
• Jennifer McGuire, Managing Director, Pink Triangle Press
• David Skok, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, The Logic (independent media startup)
• Mike Ananny, Associate Professor of Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California Annenberg
• Loc Dao, Executive Director of DigiBC
• Catalina Briceno, Professor, Université du Québec à Montréal

This Advisory Committee will meet regularly with the Minister to discuss a range of questions dealing with funding, governance and mandate.

"CBC/Radio-Canada is a cornerstone of Canadian culture. For almost 90 years, our public broadcaster has been a daily presence for Canadians, sharing our stories across the country. But the world has changed since the broadcaster started in 1936. Canadians need a strong, innovative and independent public broadcaster that is ready to meet the challenges of this period of transformation and upheaval in news and content creation. This advisory committee, with its diverse perspectives and experiences, will help me fulfil my mandate to modernize CBC/Radio-Canada. It will be able to better promote our culture, our stories, our languages, our artists, and our creators, while adapting to our rapidly changing broadcast and digital landscape."

—The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, the Minister of Canadian Heritage

The Broadcasting Act entrusts CBC/Radio-Canada with a mandate to provide a wide range of programming that informs, enlightens and entertains. The Act also sets out several objectives for its programming, including that it should be predominantly and distinctively Canadian, actively contribute to the flow and exchange of cultural expression, and reflect the different needs and circumstances of each official-language community.

CBC/Radio-Canada delivers its mandate through a variety of traditional and digital services that are used by millions of Canadians every month. To finance its operations, it relies on an annual parliamentary appropriation of approximately $1.2 billion and supplementary income generated from advertising, subscriptions and other commercial activities.

Since CBC/Radio-Canada was established almost 90 years ago, sweeping changes have transformed Canada's media landscape, vastly increasing the number and variety of programs and services available. However, CBC/Radio-Canada has innovated to meet audiences on digital platforms, while still being consistently rated as a highly trusted source of news and information for Canadians. (Source: Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2022)

CBC/Radio-Canada's programming can be heard, read or watched in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. Their mandate and national presence in Canada, available coast to coast to coast and free from commercial or political influence, is unique within the news and entertainment spheres. Many countries around the world have public broadcasters, including all other G7 countries. There are also several provincial public broadcasters in Canada.

SOURCE Canadian Heritage