Canadian Heritage committee  There is a guaranteed service offering on two levels. First, local TV stations provide certain services, including CBC/Radio-Canada, which serves minority groups across the country. That service has to be included in the basic package. Second, there are also a certain number of mandatory services.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Madam Chair, for inviting my colleague Michael Craig, acting senior manager for English television, and me, Scott Hutton, executive director of broadcasting with the CRTC, to appear before your committee. We commend you and your members for focusing on media and local communities.

Canadian Heritage committee  The answer to your question takes us back to the 26 or 27 objectives set out in the Broadcasting Act. Simply put, however, we have to make sure Canadians are able to express themselves on the public airwaves and, on the flip side, to hear and see that expression of themselves. What's more, mechanisms are needed to ensure everything comes together.

Canadian Heritage committee  Obviously, in order to stimulate creation, it's important to have funding that is used to create that initial period with respect to broadcasting. It has to do with discovering new talent. It's necessary to make sure that we cultivate new sounds, new words, with each generation and that we shine the spotlight on them.

Canadian Heritage committee  Regulation of government policy is always a little bit behind. It's a fact we try to combat every day, but it is a fact of life. I think there were two parts to your question. One is that the wonderful thing about the industry we regulate is that it is in constant evolution. The key thing with the CRTC is being able to stay close to what is happening and being able to do proper research.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'll let Madam Laflamme provide you with the details, but we do have the English and French side, and I think you're suggesting two as the English and French; that is what I understand. Within those two particular organizations, they each have a very different role. If we're talking about FACTOR and Musicaction, certainly the role is to be more on the R and D side, if we can call it that, to develop the new...to help grow people from zero to something, whereas the second organization concentrates on something significantly different.

Canadian Heritage committee  Most cases where copyright is concerned involve the Copyright Act, government policies or the way the Copyright Board implements them. Your question gives me a chance to clarify something about our mandate. Earlier witnesses talked about copyright and the way that artists are paid for the use of their products.

Canadian Heritage committee  We cannot know whether an initiative will have the same effect. We must be careful not to apply old methods to a new reality. A number of things have been noted. Technology has changed, and people are no longer making purchases in the same way. This is a new environment, and our mandate is to ensure that Canadian content—including audiovisual content—is available on various platforms.

Canadian Heritage committee  Canadian consumers are consuming in a different way. A quota can simply be applied on streaming services, but what is a streaming service? Is it similar to broadcasting? Certain streaming services are more popular than others. I remember my last appearance before the committee. Your daughter probably makes her own decisions on what she wants to watch.

Canadian Heritage committee  In the audio industry mainly, and to a lesser extent in the television industry, the piece of the pie has shrunk. As we heard, Canada has the seventh largest music market in the world. And as far as our international sales are concerned, we hover between second and third place. The figures in terms of the number of albums or musical selections sold remain steady.

Canadian Heritage committee  For many of the things, whether it is with respect to music or television at the CRTC, we have our own specific role and our own area, which is regulation of broadcast services. What we're finding as we're looking at the new environment is that you need to be able to reach out to find new ways to help with the consumption of Canadian product.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for inviting us to meet with your committee today. You've introduced Madam Laflamme. She's our director of radio policy and applications. We welcome this opportunity to explain the many ways the CRTC is helping to foster a diverse radio sector in this country, and how this sector in turn contributes to Canada's music industry.

Official Languages committee  A subcommittee derived from the group is involved. In fact, a number of subcommittees are working on that issue. At the latest meeting, the participants were unable to come to a conclusion. The next meeting is scheduled for September.

Official Languages committee  The decrease we were discussing earlier was in television. It applied only to Quebec stations. The decrease over a 10-year period you are talking about was in radio. That was a reduction in francophone songs....

Official Languages committee  I would just like to add something. The drop that is a concern for you applied only to Quebec microwave stations.