| RCI ACTION COMMITTEE Seven Days a Week - Defending Radio Canada International - Canada's Voice to the World |
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| Ukrainian Service Cuts Not Because of Budget Says Radio Vice-President On February 3, 2005, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage was questioning executives of our domestic radio and television service CBC/Radio-Canada. Among the executives, Sylvain Lafrance, the CBC/Radio-Canada Vice President who is responsible for Radio Canada International. He was asked about the cuts to the Ukrainian service at Radio Canada International. [Details on the cuts here.] Here's what he said to the Members of Parliament that asked him about the Ukrainian service: 38th Parliament, 1st Session Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Evidence - Thursday, February 3, 2005 Hon. Sarmite Bulte (Parkdale—High Park, Lib.): Let me first congratulate you and thank you on behalf of the many Ukrainian-speaking Canadians who live in my riding for continuing your coverage that followed what was happening in the elections there. I know that there has been some concern in the Ukrainian community that you are going to stop services in Ukrainian. On behalf of that community, I ask you to please revisit that. If revisiting it requires more funds.... I haven't heard a plea for more funds from RCI. I think RCI plays a very important role internationally as a voice of democracy and that Canada is at the forefront. Please don't hesitate to ask us for money in that connection. Mr. Sylvain Lafrance: I would be happy to do so, Ms. Bulte. ... Mr. Maka Kotto (Saint-Lambert, BQ): I wanted to quickly get back to what Ms. Bulte was referring to earlier regarding Radio Canada International. We heard rumours according to which the Ukrainian section will be excluded from distribution, given budget cutbacks at Radio Canada International. Can you confirm that the rumours are unfounded? Mr. Sylvain Lafrance: I can confirm that that is not quite correct. There was a reduction in services in the Ukrainian section. It was announced a year ago, but we maintained the service because of the unique situation in Ukraine. The reduction in the services is now effective. We went from seven times 30 minutes per week to two times 30 minutes per week. I'd like to add that it is not an issue of budget cutbacks, but rather one of internal restructuring at RCI. We chose to make changes to RCI distribution and to launch a Portuguese section for Brazil notably, because it seems important to us at this stage to also communicate with Brazil. The redeployment of existing resources affected the Ukrainian section. There is indeed a reduction in the number of hours produced for the Ukrainian section, reduced to two times 30 minutes on weekends instead of seven times 30 minutes. This is already underway. We postponed it for seven or eight months due to the situation in Ukraine. Now the decision that was made will be implemented. Of course the problem is not budgetary cutbacks, but money. RCI still has the same budget, which has not increased in several years. The launch of the Brazilian section and the global repositioning of RCI is complex. I would say there have been changes to our RCI global budget because of the new types of distribution I was referring to earlier, such as partnerships... You have to pay a partner radio station to distribute in Ukraine. Distribution in Ukraine is not strictly shortwave. Costs as a whole have increased, but the RCI budget has not. So there has been a decrease in the number of hours produced for Ukraine. The Ukrainian section is not being eliminated. The section has not been eliminated, but it has drastically been cut down from a daily evening program, to two programs, one on Saturday and the other on Sunday, without newscasts. The programs are no longer on shortwave, and have limited coverage through the National Radio Company of Ukraine. See details. If you have comments, questions or suggestions on how we can protect RCI please get in touch with us at rciaction@yahoo.ca The RCI Action Committee is an inter-union committee that has fought to protect the mandate and programming of RCI, and for years has received generous support from listeners around the world to keep the service on the air. For more see About Us. |