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Does the new “major transformation” of Radio Canada International respect the international mandate of RCI? The short answer is no.

At the moment the obligations of CBC/Radio-Canada in the Broadcasting Act and the Order in Council of 2012 are as follows:

Broadcasting Act of 1991

International service

46 (2) The Corporation shall, within the conditions of any licence or licences issued to it by the Commission and subject to any applicable regulations of the Commission, provide an international service in accordance with such directions as the Governor in Council may issue.

https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/B-9.01/FullText.html

Order in Council 2012-0775

(iii) to produce and distribute programming targeted at international audiences to increase awareness of Canada, its values and its social, economic and cultural activities

https://orders-in-council.canada.ca/attachment.php?attach=26200&lang=en

According to a number of RCI colleagues, when asked, CBC/Radio-Canada administrators said this new policy respects RCI’s mandate to serve an external audience.

It is true that in the press release of December 3, CBC/Radio-Canada states:

“In its strategic plan ‘Your Stories, Taken to Heart’ CBC/Radio-Canada committed to ‘taking Canada to the world’ and ‘reflecting contemporary Canada.’ Transforming RCI is a necessary step to allow the service to effectively fulfill the important role it must play in delivering on those commitments. To that end, RCI will soon be offering more content in more languages, drawing on the work of CBC/Radio-Canada’s respected news teams to reach new audiences at home and abroad.”

https://cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/media-centre/radio-canada-international-transformation

If we examine “Your Stories, Taken to Heart,” and its goal of “Taking Canada to the World” we find no mention of RCI. Even in the article of CBC president Catherine Tait “Yes, the world needs more Canada” there is no mention of RCI, even though she mentions the importance of the BBC World Service for cultural diplomacy and to enhancing the U.K.’s influence abroad, as well as the growth of the BBC World Service’s audience this year.

When we examine the CBC/Radio-Canada press release of December 3, this is what we find describing RCI’s role (see in particular underlined phrases):

“Since its founding, RCI has played a key role in providing a Canadian perspective on world affairs and, since 2012, in connecting with newcomers to our country.”

And the press release presents the key areas of this RCI transformation:

“the editorial offering from five languages to seven, with the addition of complete sections in Punjabi (the third-most-spoken language among immigrants to Canada after the main Chinese languages, Mandarin and Cantonese) and Tagalog (the language of the Philippines and increasingly spoken in Canada).”

“These changes will not only boost RCI’s audience and relevance, but also help the service engage more deeply with its target audience, particularly newcomers to Canada.”

“By becoming more relevant, more visible or more widely available in the languages spoken by the largest number of new Canadians, the new offering will allow Radio Canada International to better connect and engage with its target audience. RCI will also make all this content freely available to interested ethnic community media.”

What is clear in these statements is that the main priority of this transformation is to target an audience in Canada. But this goal is nowhere to be found in the Broadcasting Act or the Order in Council that affects Radio Canada International.

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For more information on the “major transformation” of RCI, read details here

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RCI Action Committee

Website: http://rciaction.org/blog/

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Email: rciaction@yahoo.ca

Spokesperson: wojtekrciaction@gmail.com