Rabinovitch questioned by committee as he seeks reappointment as CBC head

CBC president and CEO Robert Rabinovitch vowed that the public broadcaster would expand its regional services when he appeared this week before a House of Commons standing committee determining whether he should be granted an extension of his tenure. Rabinovitch appeared November 15 before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage marking the first time that the head of the public broadcaster, or any Crown corporation, required Parliamentary approval for an extension to his term. Rabinovitch came under heavy pressure by the same committee in 2000, though with different members, when he cut regional news programming – something he claimed was fiscally necessary at the time (CCR, July 6/2000). Saying that any cuts by the federal government to the CBC’s budget would ultimately affect programming, Rabinovitch said he would not trim regional shows any further. "I don’t think that we can cut regional programming any more unless we were to get out of it completely. I have the scars of doing that once. I don’t think there is any way we can cut regional programming any more. It’s a bare-bones operation," he told Canadian Communications Reports following his appearance before the committee. While declining to provide figures before the committee, Rabinovitch said in a media scrum that the CBC would need the $60 million in top-up funding it has been granted over the last several years (CCR, May 10/01) plus another $40 million to meet its objectives for Canadian programming, not including local or regional shows. "If we had $100 million (extra) – and sort of an inflation factor – we feel that is the type of money that we need to have quality Canadian programming in English and in French," he said. "For regional and local, we are putting together a program that is costed at about $75 million, but it will be spread over three years." Rabinovitch told the committee in his opening remarks that the public broadcaster has become more efficient, having undertaken a series of initiatives that will generate $65 million a year in savings and additional revenue. "But while our efficiency efforts and the $60 million have allowed us to strengthen our Canadian programming, I must point out that we have still not recovered from the severe cuts of the 1990s. Our Parliamentary appropriation – in constant dollars and including the $60 million in additional funding – is still $415 million less today than it was in 1990, and we are expected and want to do more," he told the committee. Rabinovitch came under fire for not delivering a strategic plan for the CBC to the committee as recommended in Our Canadian Sovereignty: The Second Century of Canadian Broadcasting report tabled last year (CCR, June 20/03). It called on the CBC to present such a plan within a year. Rabinovitch replied that it was difficult to "seek guidance" from the politicians during that time because of the election, but that that a comprehensive plan for the CBC would be ready within a year. "We have not been sitting on our hands (on this issue)," he told the committee. "We will go forward in a short period of time." Rabinovitch told reporters following his appearance that he didn’t bring a plan, "for a very simple reason, and that is that I have to discuss the plan and present the plan to the minister (of Canadian Heritage)." "My objective is to bring a regional/local plan that is basically now finished, and in good shape, to the minister and get the minister’s support for it," he added. "Because at the end of the day, it’s the minister who has to argue in the corridors of power, not me, for the money. Rabinovitch was also questioned on the great audience losses experienced in the regions following cuts to local news. Charlie Angus, the New Democratic Party MP representing the riding of Timmins-James Bay, asked, "The decision to cut those (regional) shows – was that a mistake?" The MP cited figures that audience ratings in St. John’s NF had fallen from 60% in spring 2000 to 21% today, and in Timmins had declined by 200,000 viewers. Rabinovitch re-stated that the decision was due to financial realities. He also noted that viewing to the CBC’s newscasts had begun to decline in the late 1980s and early 1990s, before the regional newscasts were trimmed. He pointed out that during that time, private sector TV broadcasters put a new emphasis on news as a profit center and "they beat us." The CBC head would not confirm whether or not he planned to restore the regional supper time newscasts to one hour, but did say a goal was to extend and upgrade its local programming. "We will do a series of different things. We’ll look at different approaches in different areas. What we would want to do as well, there are certain parts of Canada that are underserved," he told CCR. "We’re not in Northern Ontario, and there are some very large places where we are not located and we should look at those as well." Under questioning from the committee, Rabinovitch said that cuts made in 2000 to regional news were made equally on an across-the-board basis on the advice of the CBC board. Rabinovitch also noted that it was possible that the CBC could actually lose government funding as the Liberal minority has asked for departments to look to trim budgets by 5%. "If we lose money, it will have a direct impact on programming. We have cut so many different things, and we now have a pretty efficient operation," he told reporters. "If we have more money, we will do more programming. If we don’t have the money, we won’t. You will see more repeats and more frustrations. But that is the reality of the CBC." Rabinovitch’s appearance before the standing committee to gain approval for his reappointment is historic. In the past, the head of the CBC was appointed exclusively by the prime minister. "Given the importance of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. as one of Canada’s primary cultural institutions, the government has decided to provide the standing committee with the opportunity to review this proposed reappointment," stated a November 4 media release issued by the Office of the Prime Minister. Rabinovitch’s initial five-year term expired on November 15. The prime minister is recommending a three-year reappointment. The standing committee decided not to call Rabinovitch back before it for more questioning, as was suggested by some committee members. The prime minister, on the advice of the committee, reappointed Rabinovitch on November 22.

Rabinovitch questioned by committee as he seeks reappointment as CBC head

Broadcast | November 22, 2004

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