CHPC meeting 33 · 2026-04-23 — Committee Evidence — LegisWatch

Summary

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage met to study issues of fairness and competition in Canadian journalism and media, hearing from Marie-Philippe Bouchard of CBC/Radio-Canada, Calvin Millar of Channel Zero and the Local Independent Television Stations (LITS) group, Rod Schween of Pattison Media, Angus Frame of Torstar Corporation, and Rudyard Griffiths of The Hub.

Marie-Philippe Bouchard emphasized that CBC/Radio-Canada prioritizes collaboration with other Canadian media through content sharing, journalist training, free advertising inventory, and joint advocacy, citing partnerships like a crime podcast with the Toronto Star and sharing radio newscasts with community stations. She noted the opening of 11 new CBC bureaus and added resources in 22 Radio-Canada communities to improve local coverage, and defended the public broadcaster's role in covering major events like the Olympics. She disagreed with characterizations that CBC poaches journalists from private outlets, arguing that journalists apply for jobs on their own and that CBC seeks to collaborate rather than compete, and she stated that the $150 million in temporary funding was used to add journalist positions and invest in digital platforms and independent productions.

Calvin Millar, speaking for LITS, described the severe financial pressure on independent broadcasters as internet advertising grew from $1.8 billion in 2009 to $20 billion today, with foreign tech giants capturing about 75% of Canada's ad market, leading to the closure of five local TV stations. He urged the government not to give away the Online Streaming Act or the Online News Act (Bill C-18) in trade negotiations, and recommended emergency bridge funding for the Independent Local News Fund, extending the journalism tax credit to broadcasters, directing at least 25% of federal ad spending to domestic news organizations, and eliminating advertising tax deductibility on foreign platforms, warning that news cuts are likely this summer or fall.

Rod Schween, also representing LITS, echoed the advertising revenue crisis and noted that Pattison Media's Kamloops and Prince George stations serve small markets of about 100,000 people, making local news provision difficult. He criticized CBC for entering markets like Medicine Hat without prior collaboration, stating that after Pattison closed its TV station there, CBC hired one of his remaining journalists, leaving his radio operation to train a replacement, and he called for training agreements between CBC and private media to help develop local talent.

Angus Frame highlighted that Torstar's 350 journalists are often the only reporters in courtrooms or city halls in Ontario communities, and that federal programs have provided stability to hire 40 new or student journalists this year. He argued that Google's monopoly over ad technology and its AI Overviews, which summarize content without attribution, effectively steal from publishers, and he recommended that the federal government follow Ontario's lead by allocating its ad spend to Canadian-owned media, investigate Google's ad tech practices, and require bot disclosures for AI content use, noting that Meta's removal of news was part of a global strategy rather than a response to Bill C-18.

Rudyard Griffiths, publisher of The Hub, argued that government subsidies like the labour tax credit and Local Journalism Initiative, totalling nearly $100 million annually, entrench incumbent legacy media and stifle innovation by start-ups, while undermining public trust—citing a drop in Canadian trust in news from 55% in 2016 to 39% in 2024. He recommended ending anonymity for subsidy recipients, tying subsidies to audience engagement and subscriber growth rather than head count, requiring a code of conduct for outlets receiving public money, and mandating that payroll subsidies fund journalism rather than payouts to owners, disagreeing with other witnesses who focused on maximizing existing subsidies.

The committee also heard exchanges where members questioned Bouchard about the Prime Minister choosing YouTube over CBC for a national address, CBC's impact on private media in smaller markets, and the use of AI in newsrooms, with Bouchard defending CBC's journalistic standards and transparency. No procedural debate, motions, or votes were recorded in the transcript.

AI-generated summary — may contain errors; verify against the official evidence.

Witnesses · 5

Marie-Philippe Bouchard

President and Chief Executive Officer, CBC/Radio-Canada

Opening remarks

Madam Chair, members of the committee, at my last appearance, we discussed the challenges facing Canadian media organizations. As previous witnesses have highlighted, foreign giants are monopolizing digital ad revenues—to the tune of 96.5%. This has enormous repercussions for Canadian media at a time when traditional ad revenues continue to decline. In this rapidly shifting landscape, CBC/Radio-Canada is especially mindful of its responsibility as Canada's public broadcaster. Today, I'd like to draw your attention to how CBC/Radio-Canada is contributing to the Canadian media sector. From content sharing and journalist training to advertising and joint advocacy on common causes, we are prioritizing collaboration with other Canadian media. In terms of content, for example, CBC and the Toronto Star have partnered on a new investigative crime podcast about Ryan Wedding, the Canadian Olympian turned FBI most wanted fugitive. CBC/Radio-Canada also shares content with other media. In Tumbler Ridge, for example, we organized the camera pool at the memorial service, providing live video to other media covering the story and keeping the number of cameras to a minimum out of respect…

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Calvin Millar

President, Channel Zero, Local Independent Television Stations

Opening remarks

Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning. My name is Cal Millar. I'm here in my capacity as chair of the Local Independent Television Stations group, or LITS. I'm also president of Channel Zero, owner and operator of CHCH. With me today is Rod Schween, president of Pattison Media, with television stations in Kamloops and Prince George, as well as 51 radio stations spanning the four western provinces. You heard from LITS members RNC Media and Télé Inter-Rives on April 14. A fact sheet on LITS has been provided with this statement. All independent broadcasters operate through a combination of entrepreneurship, commitment to a community and optimism. As many of you will remember, in 2009, the late Izzy Asper's Canwest Global was found to be bankrupt. Shaw Media bought most of Canwest's local stations, but a handful, including our CHCH and CHEK-TV in Victoria, were orphans. They were redundant in a national network that favoured reach over local service, and they were slated to close. We acquired an unprofitable CHCH at the time. Our management team grew up watching CHCH. We knew—or at least we gambled—that CHCH could have a future and took it back to its past, where it was rooted…

Rod Schween

President, Pattison Media, Local Independent Television Stations

Opening remarks

Here at Pattison Media, we first got into the business of local television in 1987, when we acquired our Kamloops station. Both Kamloops and Prince George are much smaller markets than Hamilton, each with approximately 100,000 people. I trust you can appreciate that providing local news to markets of this size, with advertising as the only commercial revenue, has never been easy. However, what we at LITS all have in common is that our past challenges pale in comparison with the challenges we face today. When Pattison bought Kamloops, the Internet effectively didn't exist. When Cal's company took over CHCH-TV—we're only talking about 2009—total revenues for TV stations in Canada were $2.1 billion. Today they are $1.5 billion. This might not sound like a big drop, but realize that after inflation, it represents a 50% drop. For LITS, this 50% drop has resulted in the closure of five local stations to date. How did this happen? Did we forget how to run TV stations? Did we lose our relevance or our collective competitive edge? No, I don't think so. What happened is that Internet advertising grew from $1.8 billion in 2009 to a whopping $20 billion today. Let that sink in. Over the…

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Canadian Heritage

Summary

Witnesses · 5

Bills mentioned