By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – During last month’s CRTC hearing on the renewal of the CBC’s broadcasting licences, Commission chairman Ian Scott and commissioner Claire Anderson asked numerous times for the CBC to file the “mission metrics” public opinion survey which the corporation uses to measure the fulfilment of its mandate.
“In terms of perception about the corporation’s programming, my understanding is that the corporation has been conducting the mission metrics public opinion survey for well over a decade, and it was designed to measure whether Canadians believe that CBC/SRC is fulfilling its mandate under the Broadcasting Act,” the Chairman asked on January 11.
“We’ve noticed that the results of the survey were no longer available online. Does the measurement framework for the corporation’s new strategy, your stories taken to heart, does it continue to include the mission metrics survey?” he went on.
On February 3, the CBC indicated that they had filed the surveys on January 18.
However, on the February 12, the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF) et la Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne (FCFA) jointly filed a procedural request asking the CRTC to demand the Corporation file the full mission metrics surveys, its methodology, and to provide a filing delay to allow intervenors to respond. As we write this story, the FCCF letter is not yet on the CRTC website but Cartt.ca received a copy.
The allegation is that what the CBC provided to the Commission was a document that only refers to the survey, but not the survey itself.
“Just on that note, I spoke with staff at the break, and I don’t think that we have the report on the record. And while we looked at the annual report that you’ve referred to, we only see snippets of the survey found throughout the report. So just for clarity, I was wondering if we could please just get the full report in its entirety because we’ve been relying on it a lot and, to the extent that it’s helpful in showing that you’re meeting the needs for local programming and diversity. It’s beneficial to all if we all are in agreement that we all have the same document,” Commissioner Anderson asked during the hearing.
The FCFA and the FCCF were told by the Corporation the surveys show Francophone Communities outside of Québec were satisfied of the coverage and reflection of their communities. Yet the FCFA and the FCCF were not able to validate the information provided by the CBC.
“CBC/Radio-Canada relies on survey results to affirm that Francophones in minority communities are satisfied with it’s reflection in its national programming. We are surprised by this finding since what we hear on the ground differs greatly. This is why we wish to consult the sources on which the crown corporation relies to reach these conclusions. The CRTC has also reiterated its request to consult this famous survey,” said Marie-Christine Morin, general director of the FCFA.
According to a footnote in the 2018-19 CBC annual report, the survey is done by a company called TNS Canada, which surveys 1,000 Anglophones and 1,000 Francophones per survey and they are conducted in the fall and spring each year. The survey does not appear to be mentioned in the 2019-2020 annual report.
This is not the first time the CBC seems to be less forthcoming with information it provided to the CRTC in the context of this hearing.
In June, the Commission asked the Corporation to provide more information in regard to information on digital revenues and expenses. The Commission had to extend the intervention period. Several intervenors were unsatisfied by the lack of substance of the CBC provided on its strategic plan: Your stories taken to heart.
Finally, it was asked by the Commission to provide more information “relating to the manner in which the production of its English- and French language in-house programming meaningfully includes in key production roles individuals that reflect the diversity of Canadian society—which includes women, Indigenous peoples, ethnic and multicultural communities, Canadians with disabilities and Canadians who identify as LGBTQ2.” And the Commission replied that it was not satisfied by the CBC response.
The CRTC asked the Corporation to respond before February 17. Thus far, any response has not yet been made public.
