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![\"JOHN](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3689030_web1_251027_Envol_91FM_thibeault_5.jpg\")
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JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
\u2018I feel like the CBC is all talk right now but no action,\u2019 says Denis-Michel Thibeault, executive director of Envol 91 FM, in the radio station\u2019s St. Boniface neighbourhood studio.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking to work with them,\u201d said Denis-Michel Thibeault, executive director of Envol 91 FM and a former CBC reporter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to be a cost to them. I\u2019m willing to pay my electricity, I\u2019m willing to pay my share of maintenance \u2026 but at the end of the day, we need to find a way to make sure these costs go down. It is the survival of a francophone radio station that is in play here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The French-language station began in 1991. It\u2019s the only major francophone radio source in Manitoba that isn\u2019t the CBC. (Winnipeg-based University of Saint Boniface also has a francophone radio station: CABU.FM.)<\/p>\n
Envol clocked 117,000 listeners last year. It broadcasts within Winnipeg and around 110 kilometres beyond the city, reaching \u2014 roughly \u2014 Gimli in the north, the United States border to the south, the Ontario border to the east and Portage la Prairie to the west.<\/p>\n
Thibeault took over as executive director about two years ago, after sitting on its board of directors. He found the station in a \u201cvery bad financial situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were spending way more than we were making,\u201d Thibeault said.<\/p>\n
The station has been losing advertising revenue since 2014, he said. It\u2019s a common story for many traditional media companies. Online giants like Google and Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) have become boons for advertising dollars.<\/p>\n
Large brands looking for francophone audiences might funnel cash to a Montreal station instead of Envol. Local groups lessened their advertising following the COVID-19 pandemic and government ads are fewer, Thibeault said.<\/p>\n
He said Envol has laid off a handful of staff and restructured other positions to save money. The company now counts seven employees and at least 30 volunteers.<\/p>\n
Volunteers sometimes run programming. The station touts francophone culture through coverage like music and sports.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s stopped providing lunch at its annual general meeting and has put off replacing its soundboard.<\/p>\n
After staff, the biggest expense is renting CBC\u2019s Starbuck-based tower for broadcasting, Thibeault said. The annual cost comes just under $35,000 \u2014 a jump from roughly $30,000 in 2019, Thibeault stated.<\/p>\n
He recalled starting a conversation with the public broadcaster last year, asking for a rent reduction. He said he once threatened legal action, arguing CBC isn\u2019t fulfilling its legal mandate.<\/p>\n
CBC must abide by the Official Languages Act and the Broadcasting Act. Through the legislation, CBC is obligated to promote the development of francophone communities in minority situations.<\/p>\n
CBC declined to share details of its agreement with Envol, citing confidentiality.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe remain in discussion with them,\u201d Leon Mar, CBC\u2019s media relations director, wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n
Envol 91 FM\u2019s ownership gets a discount because of the company\u2019s community radio station status, Mar said.<\/p>\n
CBC recently released a 2025-30 strategic plan. Supporting other media via resource sharing is among the actions listed in the strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like the CBC is all talk right now but no action,\u201d Thibeault said. \u201cHere\u2019s a moment that you can go from words to action.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed to CBC\u2019s budget: in its 2024-25 fiscal year, CBC noted $1.4 billion in government funding and $588 million in revenue (and expenses of $1.9 billion). Envol\u2019s request is \u201ca drop in the ocean for them,\u201d Thibeault said.<\/p>\n
It could be argued assisting Envol would align with the public broadcaster\u2019s mandate, said Guy Jourdain, co-ordinator of the Association of French-speaking Jurists of Manitoba.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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A 2023 amendment to the Official Languages Act requires federal institutions to take \u201cpositive measures\u201d to enhance the vitality of English and French linguistic minority communities.<\/p>\n
Jourdain was echoed by Mark Power, an Ottawa-based lawyer who specializes in language rights. CBC must consider Manitobans\u2019 wants and needs when taking steps to promote French culture, Power said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs the community asking them to help support, a bit more, the francophone community radio station?\u201d Power said. \u201cIf yes, then it would seem to me to be a logical way of implementing these \u2026 federal legal obligations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have to take into consideration what the community is telling them.\u201d<\/p>\n
gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com<\/p>\n
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Gabrielle Pich\u00e9 Gabrielle Pich\u00e9 reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Reporter
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