GOVERNANCE MATTERS

Transparency and Accountability

In 2012–2013, the Information Commissioner awarded CBC/Radio-Canada a grade of “A” in her special report tabled in Parliament for our performance under the Access to Information Act. This contrasts with the “F” we received in the Commissioner’s previous report, tabled in March 2011. Also this year, our ongoing improvements in transparency, accountability and access to information earned us a spot as a finalist in the 2012 Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC)/Deloitte Public Sector Leadership Awards.

Access to Information and Proactive Disclosure

Over the course of the year, we responded to a total of 152 access to information (ATI) requests. This includes 150 of the 154 requests received this year and two others carried over from fiscal year 2011–2012. No files received in 2012–2013 were answered late. 

We released approximately 18,000 pages of information in 2012–2013, including more than 3,900 pages pertaining to meetings of CBC's Board of Directors posted proactively on our Transparency and Accountability website. These 3,900 pages of information were processed and posted in accordance with the Act, as if they had been requested formally under the Act. CBC/Radio-Canada also continues to proactively post records released in answer to ATI requests that are of general interest to Canadians. Since 2010, more than 32,000 such pages have been posted in relation to eight general categories (Expenses, Policies, etc.).

We received 47 complaints regarding our processing of ATI requests in 2012–2013. This is down from a high of 525 complaints received in fiscal year 2007–2008, and is the lowest number of complaints received since we became subject to the Access to information Act in 2007. The downward trend in our “deemed refusal rate” also continued during fiscal year 2012–2013. This rate, which refers to requests not responded to within statutory limits, has dropped steadily from a high of 80.5 per cent in 2007–2008 to 1.1 per cent by the end of March 2013.

Annual Public Meeting

We hosted our fourth APM on September 25, 2012, in front of a live audience in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, highlighting our commitment to enhancing our regional presence. Canadians from across the country also tuned in via Twitter and webcast to hear Chair of the Board of Directors Rémi Racine, President and CEO Hubert T. Lacroix and Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Suzanne Morris provide highlights of 2011−2012 and an overview of the Corporation’s direction for the current fiscal year and beyond. Archived material from the APM can be viewed here.

Journalistic Standards and Practices

CBC/Radio-Canada has an extensive code of Journalistic Standards and Practices and editorial control mechanisms to guide employees and to ensure that our programming remains balanced and accurate.

To address new challenges, CBC/Radio-Canada adopted an updated and modernized Journalistic Standards and Practices (JS&P) document. This latest version still holds the national public broadcaster to the highest standards of accuracy and fairness when it comes to its news and current affairs, but also takes into account many of the new situations encountered in the world of social media and the Internet. The Corporation also adopted guidelines to ensure employees consider the implications of each and every posting they make on social media sites and services, and act in a way that reflects our values.

Complaints about news and current affairs programming from the public that are not resolved at the program level to the satisfaction of the complainants are dealt with by the Corporation’s two Ombudsmen. The Ombudsmen are completely independent of CBC/Radio-Canada programming staff and programming management and report directly to our President and, through the President, to our Board of Directors. The role of the Ombudsmen is pivotal in strengthening the national public broadcaster’s accountability and transparency to Canadians.

Ombudsmen

In 2012−2013, the Offices of the Ombudsmen handled a total of 4,236 complaints, expressions of concern and other communications. Of these, 2,618 concerned English Services and 1,618 concerned French Services, as documented in the annual reports from the Ombudsmen. For English Services, 1,586 communications fell within the mandate of the Ombudsmen (news and current affairs programming), compared to 1,365 for French Services. Communications not directly related to our news and current affairs programming were forwarded to the programming departments concerned. 

The Ombudsmen can be reached at: The Ombudsman for English Services, CBC/Radio-Canada, PO Box 500, Station A, Toronto ON M5W 1E6 (ombudsman@radio-canada.ca); and Bureau de l’ombudsman pour les Services français, CBC/Radio-Canada, CP 6000, Montréal QC H3C 3A8 (ombudsman@cbc.ca).

Code of Conduct

CBC/Radio-Canada employees at all levels are expected to adhere to the Code of Conduct and policies governing their behaviour in such areas as respect for democracy, respect for people, integrity, stewardship and excellence. Our code of conduct and human resources policies can be viewed online.

Corporate Social Responsibility

In pursuit of our mission to express Canadian culture and enrich the democratic life of this country, we strive to be a socially minded organization in everything that we do — from our programming and community activities that provide public value; to our social, environmental and business practices that benefit the planet; to our employee-related activities that enable our people to do their best to serve Canadians.

To illustrate the impact that we have on the communities we serve, we’ve created a dedicated website, called Social Responsibility and Public Value at CBC/Radio-Canada — Citizenship: Inside and Out, to present a sampling of our public value stories. In keeping with our environmental efforts, this publication is electronic only.

Please take a look at another side of CBC/Radio-Canada.