Hon. Andrew Cardozo: Thank you, Your Honour. No, he is not my twin, but he does look like me.
Honourable senators, I want to focus on some key issues of Canadian culture in the recent budget. But, first, I want to note that for Senator Burey, Senator Patterson and myself, this week marks the third anniversary of our appointment in the Senate of Canada.
Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.
Senator Cardozo: Of course, it remains a deep honour for me to serve in this important chamber of Parliament and certainly with all of you as colleagues.
I have raised the issue of the future of CBC/Radio-Canada at various times, and several of you have spoken on it in the chamber and in committee. The recent budget took the important step of providing the public broadcaster with $150 million extra for this fiscal year. The important thing about this allocation is that it is a vote of confidence in its continued role. The CBC is not being defunded.
As news media across Canada are facing enormous challenges, with most advertising having moved from traditional media to American-based social media, the role of CBC/Radio-Canada becomes more important than ever before. The Senate Transport and Communications Committee has undertaken a study on local programming by the broadcaster where we have heard from Canadians across the country on their needs and expectations.
I am pleased to see that in recent months, the CBC has opened several new local bureaus in smaller cities and towns across Canada.
Local news media is what Canadians yearn for most, and the Canadian public broadcaster has a special obligation to fill that gap across this vast country.
On news media at large, I am glad that various programs directly or indirectly tied to the Department of Canadian Heritage will continue to support the presence and growth of traditional and new online news media. While some Canadians understandably have concerns about a government department providing funding directly to the media, I am engaging with many interested Canadians to explore future funding mechanisms that will secure independent media for decades to come.
Canada has a long tradition of creating strong cultural institutions, including the Canada Council for the Arts, the National Film Board of Canada, the National Arts Centre and national museums in the National Capital Region, Halifax and Winnipeg.
Living beside a highly influential cultural power like the United States has made the needs of all of these national cultural institutions even more urgent than before.
CBC/Radio-Canada and the federal cultural institutions keep us from becoming that fifty-first state. They are the essence of what constantly builds Canada and our unique and complex Canadian identity.
Some Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.