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Broadcasting - Staff Letter addressed to the Distribution List

Ottawa, 2 May 2024

Our reference: 2023-0391-5

BY EMAIL

Distribution List

Subject: Part 1 Application 2023-0391-5 – Amendment of Conditions of service – CBC & SRC relating to the calculation of expenditures for Canadian programming expenditures and programs of national interest – Request for comment relating to official language matters

Summary of the Application

The Commission has received the above-noted application to amend the conditions of service (“COS”) relating to the calculation of expenditures for Canadian programming expenditures (“CPE”) and programs of national interest (“PNI”) for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Société Radio-Canada’s (“the Corporation”) English and French-language audiovisual services. The Commission’s decisions in which the COS are found are listed below in the section Related Documents.

The Corporation’s CPE thresholds are calculated as a percentage of their respective total programming expenditures in the current broadcast year and PNI is calculated as a percentage of its respective CPE in the current broadcast year.

In light of this, the Corporation states that the inclusion of Olympic and Paralympic programming expenditures in its CPE results in a significant increase in its PNI expenditure requirements. Considering this, the Corporation anticipates that it will be unable to meet its PNI expenditure requirements over the course of the current licence term and requests that these costs be excluded from the calculation of CPE and PNI.Footnote1

Public record

On 30 June 2023, the application was published on the CRTC website, and several parties submitted interventions, to which the Corporation provided its response on 15 August 2023. On 9 February 2024, Commission staff submitted a request for information letter to the Corporation. The Corporation responded on 21 February 2024, and interveners’ comments on the additional information were subsequently posted on 1 March 2024. The Corporation replied on 15 March 2024.

A copy of the public record to date is linked below in the section Related Documents.

Additional comments relating to official language minority communities (OLMCs)

Commission staff notes that a possible outcome of the exclusion of Olympic and Paralympic programming expenditures from the Corporation’s Canadian Programming Expenditures appears to be that approval of the application could lead to changes in the Corporation’s overall programming budget allocation. This potential change in budget allocation could impact the amounts allocated to Canadian independent programming, which could include English and French-language programming produced by OLMC producersFootnote2. For instance, this possibility has been noted on the record to date as follows:

In its intervention dated 31 July 2023, l’Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada (APFC) states that “CBC/Radio-Canada’s request to exclude programming expenses related to coverage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games from the calculation of these requirements, starting in the second year of the licence period (i.e., the 2023-2024 broadcast year), will have the effect of reducing Canadian programming expenses (CPE) and, consequently, the CPE of French-language OLMCs for the period 2023-24 to 2026-27”. Therefore, “the APFC believes that granting CBC/Radio-Canada’s request for relief would have a detrimental effect on OLMCs, and would therefore trigger a consultation process, as stipulated in section 5.2 (2) of the Broadcasting Act”.

In its reply to APFC’s argument dated 15 August 2023, the Corporation states that “Excluding Olympic and Paralympic programming for the purpose of calculating CPE and PNI requirements would have absolutely no impact on the OLMC production requirements since Olympic and Paralympic programming is produced in-house.” It goes further to state that “the denominator for calculating French-language OLMC production requirements … is the total expenditures on Canadian independent programming for Radio-Canada’s licensed television services and the audiovisual digital media broadcasting undertakings that Radio-Canada operated in the reported broadcast year”.

Commission staff also note that a possible outcome of denying the application could impact the amounts allocated to a reduction in Canadian independent programming. For instance, this possibility has been noted on the record to date as follows:

In its intervention reply on 15 August 2023, in regard to the requirement for a balanced programming offer, the Corporation states it “has a finite amount of money, and it is simply not possible to meet the PNI requirements unless the Corporation makes cuts elsewhere. This would result in less independently produced non-PNI programming, and, since the Olympics occur every two years, hinder our ability to nurture these non-PNI shows for more than one season.”

Pursuant to section 5.2 of the Broadcasting Act, the Commission must consult with Official Language Minority Communities (OLMCs) when making decisions that could adversely affect them. Further, pursuant to section 41 of the Official Languages Act (OLA), measures taken under the OLA in respect of OLMCs must be based on analyses which include dialogue and consultation activities with OLMCs and other stakeholders.

In light of the above, Commission staff note that additional time for OLMCs to comment on the application is needed to complete the record. Accordingly, Commission staff requests additional information as follows:

  1. 15-day additional period reserved exclusively for submissions from members of OLMCs who consider themselves to be adversely affected by the Application. This period will allow OLMC members to comment on the record, specifically as it relates to the impact of the application on OLMCs and any measures (positive or mitigating) that could be taken in respect of impacts on OLMCs. Note that OLMC organizations who are already interveners in this process may still file additional comments in this period. Other members of OLMCs who submit comments in this period will be added as parties to the proceeding. Deadline for filing a response: 17 May 2024.
  2. 10-day reply period for the Corporation’s reply to the foregoing. Deadline for the applicant to file a reply: 27 May 2024.

In view of the timing of the 2024 Olympic programming central to this application, and the benefit of providing regulatory certainty expeditiously in this matter while maintaining fair participatory rights to all interested persons and parties, staff does not intend to grant any requests for extensions of time to provide comments except for truly exceptional circumstances.

Related documents

Yours sincerely,

Scott Shortliffe
Executive director, Broadcasting

cc:

CRTC OLMC Discussion Group members – Listed in the distribution list below.
Bev Kirshenblatt, Executive Director, Corporate & Regulatory Affairs, CBC
Carol Ann Pilon, Executive Director, Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada

Copies to:

Hélène Messier, President and CEO, Association québécoise de la production médiatique
Alain Strati, Senior Vice-President, Industry, Policy, and General Counsel, Canadian Media Producers Association
Dave Forget, National Executive Director, Directors Guild of Canada
Sarah Spring, Executive Director, Documentary Organization of Canada
Neal McDougall, Assistant Executive Director, Writers Guild of Canada
Marla Boltman, Executive Director, FRIENDS
Tania Koenig-Gauchier and Shirley McLean, Wapanatahk Media

Distribution list:

Heritage Canada, jennifer.allen@canada.ca
Heritage Canada, nathalie.piche2@canada.ca
Actra, asikorski@actra.ca
Gala film, agelbart@galafilm.com
Societe de L'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick (SANB), conseiller@sanb.ca
Fédération des francophones de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador (FFTNL), dg@fftnl.ca
Marie-Claude Rioux, dg@federationacadienne.ca
Actra mtl – Anna Scollan, anna.scollan@gmail.com
Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada (APFC), capilon@apfc.info
French Canadian Association of Alberta (ACFA), a.vachon-chabot@acfa.ab.ca
Gala film, agelbart@galafilm.com
Association Des Francophones du Nunavut (AFNunavut), direction@afnunavut.ca
Association Des Francophones du Nunavut (AFNunavut), presidence@afnunavut.ca
La Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique, communication@ffcb.ca
Société de la francophonie manitobaine, danielb@sfm.mb.ca
L'Association acadienne des artistes professionnel.le.s du Nouveau-Brunswick (AAAPNB), jeanpierre.caissie@aaapnb.ca
Fédération Des Communautés Francophones & Acadienne Du Canada, communications@fcfa.ca
Quebec English-language Production Council, qepcouncil@gmail.com
Société Nationale de l’Acadie (SNA), communications@snacadie.org
Fédération culturelle canadienne-française, strategies@fccf.ca
Marie-Christine Morin, mcmorin@fccf.ca
Mosaic Film Studio (director/Actor/Writer), vkasongo@yahoo.ca
Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), stephen.thompson@qcgn.ca
Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), peterstarr1@aol.com
Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), rita.legault@qcgn.ca
Assemblée communautaire fransaskoise, marc.masson@fransaskois.sk.ca
On Screen Manitoba, nicole@onscreenmanitoba.com
Qu’anglo Communications & Consulting, hugh@quanglo.ca
L'Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario (AFO), csavoie@monassemblee.ca
L'Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario (AFO), bmichaud@monassemblee.ca
Fédération culturelle canadienne-française, mcmorin@fccf.ca
Association franco-yukonnaise, rnadon@afy.yk.ca
English-Language Arts Network (ELAN), nick.maturo@quebec-elan.org
Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada, capilon@apfc.info
La Société de l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick, dg@sanb.ca
La Commission scolaire francophone des Territoires du Nord-Ouest (CSFTNO), dgfft@franco-nord.com
Voice of English-speaking Québec, info@veq.ca

Appendix | CBC & SRC – CPE requirements relating to OLMCs.
Broadcast Year 2023-2024 2024-2025 2025-2026 2026-2027
CBC 4e) The Corporation shall devote not less than 6% of the amount it allocates to Canadian independent programming expenditures on its English-language audiovisual programming services to expenditures on programs produced by English-language OLMC producers. 6e) The Corporation shall devote not less than 6% of the amount it allocates to Canadian independent programming expenditures on its English-language audiovisual programming services to expenditures on programs produced by English-language OLMC producers. 8e) The Corporation shall devote not less than 6% of the amount it allocates to Canadian independent programming expenditures on its English-language audiovisual programming services to expenditures on programs produced by English-language OLMC producers. 10e) The Corporation shall devote not less than 6% of the amount it allocates to Canadian independent programming expenditures on its English-language audiovisual programming services to expenditures on programs produced by English-language OLMC producers.
SRC 4f) The Corporation shall devote not less than 3.5% of the amount it allocates to Canadian independent programming expenditures on its French-language audiovisual programming services to expenditures on programs produced by French-language OLMC producers from the regions of Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Western Canada and the North combined. 6f) The Corporation shall devote not less than 4% of the amount it allocates to Canadian independent programming expenditures on its French-language audiovisual programming services to expenditures on programs produced by French-language OLMC producers from the regions of Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Western Canada and the North combined. 8f) The Corporation shall devote not less than 5% of the amount it allocates to Canadian independent programming expenditures on its French-language audiovisual programming services to expenditures on programs produced by French-language OLMC producers from the regions of Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Western Canada and the North combined. 10f) The Corporation shall devote not less than 6% of the amount it allocates to Canadian independent programming expenditures on its French-language audiovisual programming services to expenditures on programs produced by French-language OLMC producers from the regions of Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Western Canada and the North combined.
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