According to reports in the Canadian Press and
the Journal de Québec last week, CKMI’s manager asserted that « 20.5
hours of local programming is produced in Québec City ».

In fact, daily production out of Québec City is limited to two
items totalling approximately five minutes. (See Journal de Québec,
September 7, page 34 and The Canadian Press, National News,
September 6, 2005 at 16:24 EST.)

The station manager also stated that Global has « the biggest
English- language newsroom outside of Montreal ». CUPE would like to
clarify that Global has no real newsroom in Québec City. Only three
journalists are posted in the Capital and their assignments come
out of Montreal. It should be recalled that during the licensing
hearings, Global talked repeatedly about making CKMI the
headquarters of its Québec network.

As for the of 20.5 hours of « local » production, contrary to all the
promises made to the Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), it actually originates in
Montreal and not in Québec City.

Background

When they applied for the license, CanWest Global committed to
making CKMI its headquarters in Québec. At the time, they promised
to hire 75 people as soon as the station opened, the majority of
whom would be located in Québec City. Global even promised 100
employees by the second year, including several additional
positions in Québec City.

In December 1996, at the CRTC public hearings in Montreal, Glen O’
Farrell, then a senior executive at CanWest Global, could not have
stated it more clearly: « Our commitment, on an employment level, is
to create, as of Year One, approximately 75 new jobs, of which the
majority are in Québec City. In Year Two, that grows to 100, with
additional employment created in Québec City » (page 1147 of the
CRTC transcript).

After the transfer of production to Toronto, presumably on
September 26, Global will have no more than 8 fulltime employees
and one half-time employee at CKMI in Québec City- a far cry from
their projected target. We have to wonder what will become of
what’s left of the local production promised by Global.

Global in Québec

In the province of Québec, Global has a presence in Montreal,
Québec City and Sherbrooke, with a total of about 125 employees, a
hundred of whom are in Montreal. Every Global employee in Québec is
a member of CUPE.

CUPE

CUPE has 7,000 members in communications in Québec and is also
present in several other sectors, notably health and social
services, education, urban and air transport, Québec Crown
Corporations and public agencies, hydroelectricity and
municipalities. With about 100,000 members, CUPE is the largest
member of the FTQ.