Mr. Hubert T. Lacroix
Stikeman Elliott LLP
40th Floor
1155 Rene Levesque Blvd. West
Montreal, QC
H3B 3V2
Dear Mr. Lacroix:
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting extends best wishes in your forthcoming role as CBC President and CEO. We are a watchdog for Canadian content in the English-language audio-visual system supported by 100,000 Canadians. We have four priorities, two of which touch on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
In our view it is essential to CBC's independence as a public, not a state broadcaster that its senior leadership be chosen at arms-length from government, as recommended unanimously by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in its Our Cultural Sovereignty report four years ago. We also believe that CBC must attach a much higher priority to its Broadcasting Act mandate to "reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences, while respecting the special needs of the regions".
Regarding the private sector, we defend Canadian ownership and control of broadcasting licensees and measures to control excessive concentration of ownership and cross-ownership. In our watchdog role we have praised and criticized the leadership of CBC as well as other broadcasters over two decades.
Arising from our first priority, we have publicly expressed concern that the Prime Minister ignored the advice of the Standing Committee and continued the 20th century tradition of direct appointment in your case. We are also concerned by evidence of partisan political affiliation.
This said, we have not, as alleged in a recent letter from Bill Chambers, attacked your reputation, nor do we bear you any ill will.
In fact, we offer our support and encouragement as you take on your new responsibilities, and look forward to an occasion to share our perspective should you so wish.
Yours sincerely,
Ian Morrison
Spokesperson
