By Denis Carmel
AFTER WRAPPING UP THE portion of the hearing which programming dominated discussion, the CRTC hearing examining the renewal of the CBC/Radio-Canada broadcasting licences saw B.C. and Yukon regional commissioner Claire Anderson take over on Thursday, driving the dialogue down the roads of diversity and relevance, accessibility of programming and ratings classification
Anderson (above) introduced herself as a citizen of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation and she was taking part from Whitehorse, Yukon. “We are here to discuss how the public broadcaster can become even more representative of all Canadians over the next licence term,” she said. She reminded delegates and viewers that four of the five panel members from the CRTC are women and half of the people on the CBC senior executive team are women.
“That can not be a coincidence, the sheer number of women here in senior leadership positions is the result of a tremendous amount of time and work and I do not presume that it was easy to create the space for women at this level. So, this accomplishment ought to be applauded,” she said.
And this theme of creating space and opportunity for all permeated the whole discussion, starting with gender parity. CBC president and CEO Catherine Tait reiterated that she has been the first woman appointed in this role, adding “it has taken 80 years, it’s too long.
“Can you do better, can you take your foot off the gas? My feeling is ‘never’,” she said.
Tait also mentioned although women have been identified in the Employment Equity Act, the Corporation has done so well in hiring and promoting women, they have shifted focus to other underrepresented groups.
Commissioner Anderson, in prefacing one of her questions, mentioned the CBC News reporting of a range of events surrounding protests over racial inequality in the States in 2020, which the CBC editor in chief, Brodie Fenlon made a public statement on June writing in his blog: “How can we ever deepen our awareness and our understanding of race if more people of colour, more Indigenous people, more women, more people with disabilities aren’t in positions of power and influence throughout our newsrooms?”
Anderson went on to say that on the same day, Christine Genier, then host of Yukon Morning, resigned at the end of her morning show reading a four-minute statement after making remarks about the representation of Indigenous and Black voices at the CBC. Genier said the CBC Journalistic standards and practices made it difficult for her to speak out as indigenous woman about injustices she experiences.
Anderson then went on asking questions about the hiring, showcasing of underrepresented groups – and how the CBC is tracking it to understand how it is making progress and if it can provide such reports to the CRTC, on a regular basis.
The lengthy discussion circled around how CBC believes it is making great efforts at hiring racialized employees, putting on air, providing training, seeking more, promoting, and sensitizing its existing employees, providing numerous examples of its efforts. The company is moving to ensure more Indigenous peoples, Canadians with disabilities, Canadians who identify as LGBTQ2, and racialized Canadians find a place in the CBC – and can progress up the ladder.
The difficulty of the day seemed to reside in ensuring the perennity of existing efforts, the measurement metrics that can be put in place, and the measures that could be taken to ensure that the corporation reflects the Canadian reality on an ongoing basis, both on air and within. To ensure that the broadcaster will not take its foot off the gas, to quote Tait.
It became obvious why the Corporation could not answer to the Commission’s satisfaction to a recent request to provide number 
on representation at leadership positions. Definitional issues are a challenge, as are reporting metrics, they went on.
The CBC is very passionate about this issue and is making valiant efforts to fulfill that part of the mandate (the broadcaster’s director of engagement and inclusion, Nick Davis, pictured, took centre screen for some of the day to explain what’s being done inside) but it comes back to the question of trust and the Commission’s duty to ensure the corporation meets its mandate.
The various managers of the CBC spoke eloquently and passionately of the efforts put in place and the public broadcaster is a strong example in this regard but to repeat what the chair of the CRTC said on the first day:” What gets measured gets done.”
One key exchange came mid-afternoon which provided some enlightenment on how TV executives and Indigenous Canadian viewers might think differently. Executive vice-president English services Barbara Williams outlined to the hearing how much better TV shows become when there is diversity behind as well as on camera, but at the end of the day, viewers just want to be entertained. They want a good show to watch and don’t necessarily care “who the showrunner is.”
“I wonder if an Indigenous audience would share the same view,” responded Anderson.
We’re guessing the Commission panel will turn its attention to advertising on CBC/Radio-Canada’s various platforms on Friday.
It was announced during Thursday’s proceedings that the 70 intervenors listed on the agenda, starting with the Canadian Media Production Association, won’t take the screen until Monday.
