Submission of Comments regarding CBC/Radio-Canada local programming to The Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications. Introduction As a senior living in Victoria, British Columbia, on this island which is cut off from the Mainland, in a province cut off from the rest of Canada by the Rockies, I am submitting the following comments to bring to your attention the importance of local programming to us. 1.

As island dwellers who depend on locally focussed programming to knit our communities together and provide information essential to our everyday living and vitally so during the many emergencies we face given our geography, we have one dedicated independently owned TV station, CHEK TV . It is ironic that the publicly supported broadcaster which was expressly created to knit the far flung communities of Canada into a sense of itself as one nation, the CBC has the least presence on the Island.

Meanwhile, the small CHEK TV station which is owned by its employees and local investors is our only resource to be informed and connected to our communities. While other private networks manage to provide some local news such as CTV’s dedicated Island newscast and Global TV’s very BC focussed news which has more Island content, the CBC’s coverage is mostly Vancouver and Mainland focussed. 2. Through a lack of Island focussed media attention to political and social issues there is a lack of awareness and hence public policy response to Island specific needs.

For example, Victoria and Island communities have some of the lowest levels of primary care access in the province and the country. There are specific healthcare and public safety issues arising from Vancouver Island drawing migration from neighbouring provinces and other parts of the country due to our temperate climate. Such Island focussed issues do not have the opportunity for thorough discussion and visibility due to the lack of more than one local broadcast media. 3.

Vancouver Island has a rich cultural, artistic and sporting history as evident from the decorated Olympic and professional athletes who compete nationally and internationally at the highest levels, to players on the NHL and women’s professional sports teams and preeminent artists such as Emily Carr and musician Nellie Furtado. Local programming provides a sense of connectedness and is vital to giving budding artists and athletes the profile required to raise funding and encouragement to grow by consistently showcasing their stories. 4.

Local businesses that cannot afford to advertise on network stations have a home only on the one independent CHEK TV station here. The station takes an innovative approach to promoting local businesses by combining aspects of traditional advertising, information and entertainment programming to sustain its services. Vancouver Island residents recognize that supporting local businesses is vital to retaining entities that provide us with the goods and services we need everyday and therefore prioritize shopping locally.

More local broadcast outlets are needed to provide this support on an ongoing basis and vital to our survival in the aftermath of often experienced emergencies such as fires, floods, landslides and earthquakes. 5. While there is coverage about ethnocultural and racial/cultural expression in Vancouver Island communities through the independent TV station, there is no representation among the hosts of Island originated newscasts and programs. Any such representation happens only through freelancers who host programs and provide content from the Mainland.

Vancouver Island has a rich cultural heritage drawn from its Indigenous communities who have spawned and occupied communities here for thousands of years, its British and South Asian residents and entrepreneurs since the 1800s and its recent immigrants, three quarters of whom are visible minorities representing over 16 percent of the overall population. This racial and cultural mix of Vancouver Island population deserves more presence in local programming. 6. The CBC’s brand suffers because it lacks presence on the Island in the above respects.

Above all, as the public broadcaster, it needs to be encouraged to have a local outlet able to provide dedicated news, cultural, business and sports coverage of Vancouver Island for all of the above reasons. It needs to be mandated and resourced as such, so that it adds to instead of negatively impacts the Island’s only independent TV station by competing for commercial revenue. I would like to thank the Committee for this opportunity to present my comments intended to bring to your attention the lack of diversity in local programming on Vancouver Island. Shyla Dutt