Radio-Canada will have to shoulder much of the blame if the TQS television network is forced to shut its doors, says Quebec Culture Minister Christine St-Pierre.
During a public event in Quebec City on Thursday, St-Pierre wasn’t mincing words when talking about her former employer.
If Cogeco Inc. decides to pull the plug on TQS, “we’ll find a Radio-Canada bullet close to the heart,” said St-Pierre, a former Radio-Canada reporter before jumping to provincial politics.
TQS, a money-losing francophone TV network, claims it is being negatively affected by the termination of an affiliation agreement for three stations with the CBC’s French-language, along with the public broadcaster’s strategy to act as a commercial player.
St-Pierre, Quebec’s culture and communications minister, said that decision may have played a role in the private network’s current financial situation.
But Radio-Canada said in a statement late Thursday it was surprised by St-Pierre’s comments, and that current market conditions have more to do with TQS’s precarious financial footing. It also says that the affiliation agreement only ends in 2009 and has nothing to do with the current situation with TQS.
St-Pierre has a history of frosty relations with the public broadcaster and has fought against her firing while on a leave of absence to pursue a career in politics.
In December, TQS obtained court protection from its creditors in a bid to survive while it looks for ways to make the company more attractive to prospective buyers. The company lost about $5 million in 2006 and owes $68 million, including broadcast licensing fees.
Cogeco, a Montreal-based cable and broadcast company, owns 60% of the network of conventional television stations across Quebec, while CTVglobemedia, one of Canada’s largest media companies, owns the remaining 40%.
TQS has five of its own stations—in Montreal, Quebec City, Saguenay, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivieres—and four affiliates in Gatineau, Ottawa, Val-d’Or, Rouyn-Noranda, Rimouski and Riviere-du-Loup and its own production house.
