Pascale St-Onge

[CBC/Radio-Canada, May 7th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat what I have been saying since last week, since this story came out: French programming and content will never be connected to the CBC. It will always remain separate and independent. That is very important for the vitality of French in Quebec and across the country.

On this side of the House, we will defend the public broadcaster, whether in Quebec or elsewhere in Canada, because we know that it is important, particularly at a time when many media outlets are making cuts and we are losing journalists. The CBC is an essential service across Canada, and so is Radio-Canada.

[CBC/Radio-Canada, May 6th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I want to point out that the Conservatives are applauding when the Bloc Québécois talks about separating the CBC from Radio-Canada and completely defunding the CBC. What is happening? Why is the Bloc Québécois so aligned with the Conservatives on something as fundamental as our public broadcaster, Radio-Canada?

They were never able to protect Radio-Canada from the Harper Conservatives, and they will not be able to do any better now.

On this side of the House, we have said that we will always protect French programming and content. What we want is more French content, not to reduce funding.

[CBC/Radio-Canada, May 6th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat what I said last week: In no way are the services to Canada's francophone population, whether in Quebec or outside Quebec, going to be affected by internal restructuring at CBC/Radio-Canada.

It surprises me to hear the Bloc Québécois taking more or less the same position as the Conservatives, that we need to completely separate the CBC and Radio-Canada and, while we are at it, completely defund the CBC.

I do not understand where the Bloc Québécois is going with this. It makes no sense.

[CBC/Radio‑Canada, May 3rd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois apparently fails to understand that the Crown corporation and its internal management are independent from government for reasons related to the fundamental freedom of the press and independence of our public broadcaster.

As for me, I am committing to reviewing the financial structure, governance, mission and mandate of CBC/Radio-Canada to ensure their consistency with the current reality, in 2024.

The Bloc, however, never managed to protect the public broadcaster from cuts when the Conservatives were in power. They never will be able to protect Radio-Canada from the Conservatives.

[CBC/Radio‑Canada, May 3rd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I would caution the Bloc Québécois against speculating as to what is currently happening at CBC/Radio-Canada.

I want to reassure the employees and my Bloc Québécois colleagues, who I know are very fond of Radio-Canada, as are we. Radio-Canada's francophone content and programming will remain separate. We understand how important this is to francophones across the country.

Radio-Canada will use public funds wisely. I am being careful because we know very well what the Conservatives want to do: They want to defund the public broadcaster.

[Canadian Heritage, March 21st, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his advocacy. We all have a role to play to advance reconciliation, and this includes cultural reconciliation. Since we supported its creation in 2017, the Indigenous Screen Office has played a pivotal role in revitalizing indigenous cultures and bringing indigenous stories to our screens.

Last week, I was proud to announce that we have made this funding permanent, providing it with $65 million over five years and $13 million ongoing. This funding will support and promote the work of indigenous creators to share their rich and diverse cultures and languages for years to come.

[News Media Industry, February 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, despite months of opposition from the Conservatives, last year we passed the Online News Act, which allowed us to strike a historic deal with Google. That deal means Google will pay $100 million to local news organizations. Those funds would never have been made available if it were up to the Conservatives alone.

I am pleased to say that Google launched its open call process yesterday to ask eligible news organizations to come forward to benefit from this payment. Canadians can rest assured that, on this side of the House, we will always stand up to the tech giants to make them pay their fair share and behave like good corporate citizens.

[News Media Industry, February 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleague that we have taken action.

All of our hard work paid off and led to the modernization of the Broadcasting Act. I would also remind the House that no one thought we would successfully reach an agreement with Google when we went after the web giant for $100 million, plus interest, plus inflation every year. We introduced tax credits to support newsrooms and funding for local journalism.

There comes a point when we can no longer continue to line the pockets of Bell's billionaire companies, as the Conservatives would have us do, but we can continue to support journalism.

[News Media Industry, February 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my Bloc Québécois colleague that we have been taking action since we came to power in 2015, with the full co-operation of the Bloc Québécois on a host of files.

Earlier on, she mentioned the Broadcasting Act, which we struggled to pass for three years while the Conservatives opposed it at every turn. The same can be said of the Online News Act. The Conservatives filibuster endlessly while we try to help the media.

[News Media Industry, February 8th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I share my colleague's outrage at the decisions companies like Bell Media are making today to put 4,800 people out of work and protect dividends for shareholders, who are getting them again this year.

My colleague knows very well that we have been fighting to modernize the Broadcasting Act for over three years and the Conservatives have opposed it at every turn. The regulatory framework would have been in place for three years now if they had not opposed it spouting nonsense like censorship. What is happening today at Bell is on them.