CBC boss Hubert Lacroix ‘sorry,’ backpedals on French name change

OTTAWA – After sounding the alarm last week, Federal Heritage Minister James Moore Monday welcomed a decision by Canada’s public broadcaster to retreat on a planned change to its French-language name.

Radio-Canada provoked a public backlash last week, and stinging criticism from politicians, the public and social media users after it announced it would rebrand itself as “ICI” (which in English means “here”).

CBC President Hubert Lacroix said Monday the Crown corporation was “sorry” about all of the “confusion” caused by its announcement and was “listening” to its public viewers and listeners.

“It was never our goal to completely empty out Radio-Canada of all that it represents,” Lacroix said in a statement initially released in French without translation. “However, Radio-Canada has heard the message well that the public has sent us in recent days. We take notice of its profound attachment to everything that Radio-Canada represents.”

Lacroix said that “Radio-Canada” would be subsequently part of each of its brands on television, radio and on its website.

The Crown corporation spent about $400,000 on two private firms for work on the “ICI” rebranding exercise, but said it believed this was a “reasonable figure.”

“The expertise they provided helped our teams develop the brand architecture, related logos and on-air graphics of Radio-Canada’s ten platforms, and ensured a coherent approach to our visual identity and advertising campaign,” said the broadcaster in a statement on Friday.

Vice-president Louis Lalande said the rebranding was part of a larger effort to redefine the broadcaster as being relevant on multiple platforms, with an expression – “ICI” – that was known as a signature expression at the network.

Many were not impressed by the proposed changes and new logos, including NDP’s heritage critic Pierre Nantel and Conservative minister Moore, who questioned the decision to remove “Canada” from the broadcaster’s name.

“One of the mandates of Radio-Canada is to be there in each region of the country and in French equally,” said Moore in the House of Commons on Monday, in response to a question from Liberal MP Mauril Belanger. “Very clearly, it’s a Crown corporation that broadcasts Canadian radio and television.”

Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Mike De Souza