Appendix 1 Olmc Consultation Report

APPENDIX 1 OLMC CONSULTATION REPORT

Official Minority Language Communities Consultation Report Broadcast year 2019-20

Introduction

CBC/Radio-Canada is focused on providing Canadians with trusted news and information programming, accelerating its progress on diversity and inclusion, and supporting Canadian creators and cultural organizations.

More than ever during the global pandemic, local news has been vital to communities across the country, particularly in Quebec’s English Official Language Minority Communities (OLMCs) where CBC is often the only media outlet. Our presence and programs make it possible for English-speaking Quebecers to receive vital information, hear their stories, and to stay connected.

Condition of Licence Requirement

As of September 1, 2013, CBC/Radio-Canada has been required under condition of licence to “hold a formal consultation at least once every two years with official language minority communities (OLMCs) located in each of the regions of Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Western Canada, the North and Quebec to discuss issues that affect their development and vitality. For the French-language services, the relevant regions are Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Western Canada and the North. For the English-language services the relevant region is Quebec. Consultations shall include independent producers from OLMCs. The licensee shall report annually on consultations that took place that year and demonstrate how feedback from the consultations was taken into

consideration in the Corporation’s decision making process.” This is an interim report for 2019-20 between consultations.

Overview:

Our corporate strategy Your Stories, Taken to Heart and community consultations continue to guide our work in 2019-20. We are building on the success of our existing services and aim to increase and deepen audience engagement.

This report highlights initiatives as they relate to the following key issues raised at our OLMC roundtable consultation held on May 2, 2019:

1. Prioritizing local connections 2. Reflecting contemporary Canada 3. Connecting with younger audiences 4. Customizing digital services 5. Commitment to original journalism and in-depth storytelling

These initiatives demonstrate that feedback from participants was taken into consideration in our decision-making process.

In addition, our audience perception survey for 20191 illustrates a significant proportion of Anglophones living in OLMCs feel that CBC’s radio and television does a better job of providing programming that reflects their region (94%/91%), their culture (78%/72%) and diversity (91%/87%) than Anglophones living outside Quebec.

We continue to exchange and learn different perspectives and views of Canadians through our television, radio and digital platforms. We use these exchanges to enhance our reflection of OLMCs. Our next official CRTC public consultation will take place virtually in spring 2021.

1 OLMCs Mission Metrics 2019.

1. Prioritizing local connections:

CBC Montreal and CBC Quebec continues to be leading sources of news and information on all our platforms, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 18 and for the first few weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, CBC made the decision to temporarily consolidate resources so that we could continue to offer Canadians the best international, national and local coverage of this rapidly changing story. This was a temporary measure and a difficult decision in response to an extraordinary situation.

In the face of unprecedented circumstances, CBC News Network shifted to a live breaking news service integrating local news from CBC stations across the country. Restoring local evening TV News service was a priority and resumed quickly, with late night following. CBC Montreal News at 6 returned on March 27 and CBC Montreal News at 11 was back as of April 14. During that period, our News team maintained local radio services, filed to the consolidated TV news service as well as contributed to our digital platforms.

During the spring, CBC.ca's average monthly unique visitors/viewers across the country grew by 19% compared to the previous spring. CBC/Radio-Canada was the number-one ranked news entity in Canada for unique visitors/viewers. In addition, average monthly minutes per visitor on CBC.ca increased by 32% in Spring 2020 vs Spring 2019.2

In Quebec, the audience looked to our digital service for up-to-minute coverage. CBC.ca reached over 1 million average monthly unique visitors/viewers in the province. In

2 Source: Comscore, MyMetrix, Media Trend & Key Measures, Multi-Platform. March - May 2019 vs March - May 2020

addition, average monthly minutes per visitor in Quebec on CBC.ca increased by 18% (to 41 minutes per visitor) in Spring 2020 vs Spring 20193.

Below are some initiatives which demonstrate how CBC is prioritizing and expanding local connections: ● In addition to daily coverage and original journalism, CBC Montreal organized and funded a translation feed of the provincial COVID-19 briefings for all English-media outlets, including our competition. CBC carried the briefings live to ensure OLMCs were informed about public health guidelines and protocols. ● From April to June, the CBC Montreal Instagram account offered a daily Ask me anything feature, where people could ask COVID-related questions and have them answered by a CBC journalist. We also produced a special first person personal essay feature called Quarantine Diaries. ● On digital, CBC Montreal’s site over the last 20 months has averaged 106,000 daily unique visitors each month and the CBC News app has 34,000. This is an increase on both platforms from 2018-19 during which CBC Montreal’s site had 96,000 average daily unique visitors each month and the CBC News app had 30,000. ● On CBC Radio One, Montreal’s afternoon show Let’s Go, deepened local connection and reflection by introducing new columnists: Emilie Nicolas (Politics and Community Solutions); PhD candidate Rackeb Tesfaye (Science) plus a monthly column featuring Indigenous voices. The show also introduced a “Montrealer of the month” segment to highlight Montrealers who are brightening the lives of the people around them. The first, Naveed Rehman, a nursing aid at St. Mary's Hospital is featured here. ● This year, Cree language programs in Northern Quebec (Eeyou Istchee) moved from ICI Radio-Canada Premiere to CBC Radio One. The change was made

3 Source: Comscore Media Metrix® Multi-Platform, Total Audience (desktop 2+, mobile 18+), Average of Monthly Unique Visitors/Viewers & Average Minutes per Visitor from March-May 2020 vs March-May 2019, Quebec, Canada

following consultations with members of the Cree Nation. Since English is more widely spoken as a second language in the communities, listeners preferred Cree-language programming on CBC Radio One rather than ICI Radio-Canada Premiere. In addition, CBC Radio One is now carried on Kinwapt Cable, the local TV community channel. ● In September Quebec AM produced back-to-school programming featuring English-speaking Quebecers in Nunavik, Lower North Shore, Eastern Townships on the new start in the pandemic. The team also produced a special series on how children deal with racism called Ending Racism Early. ● For Startupfest 2020, CBC Montreal's famous media pitch tent went virtual with a digital call-out for Quebec-based companies that pivoted their offering to help the community during COVID-19. We received over 30 submissions, the winner, Factually Health, was featured on the website and CBC Radio’s Let’s Go. ● CBC Montreal and CBC Quebec’s social media channels are also essential to our digital strategy to serve OLMCs. They connect our journalists directly with the audience in a continuous dialogue and also increase reach to both younger demographics and underserved communities. Specific examples are listed throughout this report.

In 2020, CBC journalists in Montreal and Quebec City won nine RTDNA awards for the Central Canada region for their work in 2019. The RTDNA awards recognize journalistic excellence in individual reporting, as well as for programs and stations across radio, television and digital platforms. CBC Montreal's web team won six awards for its digital coverage, including Excellence in Social Media for our coverage of the Montreal Climate March.

In addition, during the broadcast year our scripted and unscripted programming teams met with over 30 Quebec independent producers and are working on a number of projects with them.

2. Reflecting contemporary Canada:

CBC Montreal and CBC Quebec work closely with English-speaking associations and communities on projects to ensure we reflect the realities of life for English-speaking Quebecers. Based on feedback from the consultation, we expanded projects to include the following:

● Our annual Digital Writer in Residence program with Quebec Writers’ Federation (QWF) funds emerging writers to share their stories on cbc.ca/montreal. Leveraging QWF’s Fresh Pages project, the partnership has expanded to attract a greater diversity of voices from underrepresented communities. The new stories will appear in January 2021. ● CBC’s Charity of the Year program supports stories of the people who are making a difference in our community, throughout the year. The 2019 charity was Montreal Children’s Library located in St. Michel, one of the city’s most diverse and underserved neighbourhoods. In 2020, we have expanded our Charity of the Year initiative to include two charities, one based in Montreal and the other in one of the vital English-speaking communities in rural parts of the province. ● CBC Quebec has secured a CAPE (CBC Abilicrew Placements for Excellence program) internship. The CAPE intern, starting in 2021, will develop best practices to conduct public consultations virtually in an equitable, diverse and inclusive format. ● Absolutely Canadian broadcast on CBC Television and on-demand via CBC GEM presented six Quebec-produced regional documentaries made by independent producers. Notable films reflecting English-speaking realities include: ○ Champions: A filmmaker follows his brother to the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi, along with 20 other Canadian athletes with intellectual disabilities pursuing titles in their divisions. ○ Meet and Eat at Lee’s Garden: A look at the history and social impact of the Chinese-Canadian restaurant through a daughter's memories of her own family’s restaurant on Parc Avenue in the 1950’s.

○ Quiet Time: Canadian filmmakers in lockdown in Canada, U.S.A. Bulgaria, Denmark, U.K. and Haiti, capture their personal experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. ○ Absofreakingultely: Bagel cults, aging hipsters in DIY maker spaces, marriage during COVID-19 - Comedians David Heti, Lori Braun, Rodney Ramsey, Walter J. Lyng and others capture the absurdity of Montreal living in 2020. ○ Into the light: This film takes viewers behind the scenes to discover how the walls in Old Montreal are transformed with cinematic projections that reimagine Canadian history. Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon, renowned former Cirque du Soleil and virtual reality directors, use the city as a canvas in Cité Mémoire, creating immersive projections that enthrall spectators on the street after dark. ○ Justice Dawning: Follow international lawyer and CBC Massey Lecturer Payam Akhavan on his mission to pursue justice for survivors of genocide around the world.

As reported in previous years, CBC continues to work with filmmakers through CBC Films (formerly the Breaking Barriers Film Fund). This fund supports the production of English-language feature films that demonstrate creative excellence and cultural relevance, prioritizing films by women, Indigenous, LGBTQ+ and diverse filmmakers. These feature films bring diverse voices and stories that engage and reflect Canadians on the big and small screens. Our commitment is to fund high quality productions that reflect, represent and reframe diverse perspectives through character driven stories that are at the center of the Canadian experience. CBC invested at least $7.5M into the fund over 3 years.

Three feature films commissioned this year through this fund were from Quebec producers:

● Saint Narcisse - This film was co-written by Martin Girard and Bruce La Bruce, directed by Bruce La Bruce and produced by Nicolas Comeau of 1976 Productions. It tells the story of a young man who thought his mother was dead and discovers that she may still be alive and then goes on a quest to find her. His journey takes him to a remote cabin in the woods where his mother lives in exile with a mysterious young woman. ● Best Sellers - This film was written by Anthony Greico, directed by Lina Roessler and produced by Pierre Even of Item 7 and Jonathan Vanger of Trans Film. It’s about a woman who, in a last ditch effort to save the boutique publishing house her father left her, goes on a book tour with a bitter booze-addled author who helped put the publishing house on the map. ● Felix and the Treasure of Morgaa - This animated film was written by Marc Robitaille, directed by Nicola Lemay and produced by Nance Savard of 10e Ave. Convinced that his father, who disappeared at sea two years ago is still alive, 12-year-old Felix embarks on a search for him in the company of Old Tom, a retired fisherman; Squawk, a thieving one-legged parrot; and Rover, a cat who acts like a dog. Their journey takes them to Darkshadow Island, where a secret community inhabits an underground city, ruled by the megalomaniacal Morgäa, possessor of a priceless treasure.

3. Connecting with younger audiences:

Connecting and engaging with younger audiences continues to be a key focus. Here are examples of initiatives we developed to reach these audiences in 2019-20: ● In August 2020, CBC Quebec participated in the annual Bishop’s Forum in Lennoxville Quebec. Because of the pandemic, the civic engagement forum moved online. Fifty young English-speaking Quebecers participated in sessions including mental health, allyship and racism. CBC Quebec provided a

mindfulness session, a virtual trivia night and a screening of The Oka Legacy (in partnership with Curio). Host Nantali Indongo joined a panel on racism in the media. ● In June, we celebrated the graduating high school class of 2020 with our digital storytelling valedictorian project featuring 18 resilient secondary 5 students. ● In Spring 2020, with many parents juggling working from home and homeschooling, we commissioned local artists to make custom "ca va bien aller" colouring sheets and did a series of "Friday Family Challenges" on social media about baking, organizing your house and "keeping kids busy". ● CBC Montreal partnered with YES (Youth Employment Services) on ELLEvate. YES is a charitable non-profit that provides free and low-cost resources, tools and strategies to improve employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for Quebecers. The ELLEvate program is aimed at increasing the participation of women in Quebec’s entrepreneurship ecosystem through workshops, mentorships, and specialized coaching. CBC provided mentorship sessions and workshops on how to pitch to the media and storytelling. We are currently exploring other opportunities including a joint project with DESTA (Black Youth Network). ● From November 14-16, 2019, in collaboration with Canadian Heritage’s Official Language branch, Bishop’s University and the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), CBC Quebec organized Co-LAB, an innovation challenge focused on youth employment for English-speaking Quebecers. Sixty members of the public (youth, diversity, business) met to dream up ways in which we can address youth employment issues better and together. We solicited input from community organizations and the wider public to present challenges. The event mixed crowd-sourcing, educational presentations and workshops. The organization Committee for Anglophone Social Action (CASA) out of Gaspe was selected as the winner. As a follow, CBC has extended mentorship to Y4Y (Youth 4 Youth Quebec) on their podcast project. We have held quarterly mentorship sessions with CBC podcast producers as well as meetings with our

social media and marketing team. Y4Y is set to launch their podcast, Say La Vie! a youth and culture podcast in fall 2020. ● The second season of CBC’s Mic Drop podcast launched in September 2020, handing the mic over to teenagers and letting them tell their own stories in their own way. It’s the brainchild of CBC Montreal journalist Shari Okeke, who wanted to provide a safe space for teens to talk about what's on their minds without any adult interruptions.

4. Enhancing digital services and content:

CBC aims to create personal, relevant and engaging experiences that Canadians expect. For our English-speaking minority communities living in Quebec, that means seeing themselves reflected in our digital services as well as radio and television programming.

CBC Quebec has been with English-speaking Quebecers since the beginning of the pandemic, sharing firsthand voices of the impact of virus as well as the impact of shutdowns and isolation. Some highlights include: ● Julia Page’s stories from Gaspe of children struggling to mourn their mother without rituals and Campers littering the beaches during the pandemic. ● Spencer Van Dyk’s piece uplighting Eastern Townships’ women coming together to break isolation. ● Julia Caron’s stories from Ecole St-Malo’s innovative video projects for young newcomers to help them connect with the place they now call home, first in 2019 and then her follow-up in 2020. ● We continue to be a space to discuss changing demographics and fabric of our community. Stories like this one from Chaleur Bay about the sale of a local church are important to share with our audience. ● During the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, audiences looked to digital and social media for continuous, real-time updates on survival information as well as connection to the community. CBC provided local audiences the most

up-to-date information on cbc.ca, as well as through our CBC News app, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

5. Commitment to original journalism and in-depth storytelling:

Unlike other news outlets, CBC Montreal and CBC Quebec consistently produce original stories, often originating from public tips and messages. Some examples this year include:

● A tip from a Cree actor about the commonly-used French term for a casting "cattle call," which has a racist connotation. Our investigation led a government agency and a local production company to stop using the term "casting sauvage." ● Following CBC's news coverage last year of the First Nation Elites, an Indigenous hockey team that faced racism at a tournament in Quebec, CBC’s Cree unit produced Racism in Hockey, a four-part digital series which looked at allegations of discrimination in the sport. ● Our investigative team broke a number of stories during the pandemic including: ○ Cancer patients concerned about surgery wait due to COVID-19 first wave ○ The tragic cost of barring caregivers from CHSLDs is a wake-up call ○ Nurse who held it together while Herron CHSLD spiraled ○ Experts believe random testing of asymptomatic carriers needed to get a true picture of COVID-19 transmission.

Conclusion: CBC values the feedback and ongoing dialogue with our English-speaking audiences. Even in the pandemic, we are creating new virtual ways to deepen our understanding of our communities and the people who live there. We strive to be a public space where our audience feels they have a voice and a story worth telling. We will continue to

endeavour to use the feedback collected through the official CRTC public consultation and our additional consultations to strengthen our relationship with English-speaking Quebecers.