British Columbia public broadcaster Knowledge Network has set a three-year action plan on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) following the results of an independent pre-licensing equity audit by Indigenous advisory organization Castlemain Group.

The audit, which reviewed the provincial pubcaster’s prelicenses between 2014 to 2021, found that 7.1% of funds for commissioned or licensed content were directed to “racialized-owned production firms.” That percentage fell to 3.9% for Indigenous majority-owned firms.

The report also identified that Knowledge Network did not spend any commissioning dollars on Indigenous-owned companies, with 1.7% of commissioning funds going to racialized-owned companies.

Projects were labeled as commissions, leads and second windows. Knowledge Network defines leads as an unsolicited commission, where the broadcaster was pitched by a producer. Second window refers to a project where Knowledge Network serves as a secondary Canadian broadcaster.

Approximately 5.2% of leads funding went to racialized-owned companies, while 1% went to Indigenous-owned companies.

According to the audit, Knowledge Network commissioned nine programs between 2014 to 2021 and provided funding for 29 leads and 94 second window programs. All nine commissioned projects were produced by B.C. companies, 24 leads and 15 second window projects. All leads and commissions were documentaries, while 50 second window titles were children’s content. The data was collected by a survey of funding recipients, with a 58% response rate.

“Over the last months, Knowledge Network’s Board and staff have been actively engaging in discussions about our role in supporting racial equity and inclusion in British Columbia’s broadcasting sector and how we can do better. These conversations have been occurring in light of the many events in 2020 that brought systemic racism to the forefront as a reality that is pervasive in our society and institutions,” wrote Knowledge Network president and CEO Rudy Buttignol in an open letter.

“While many industry organizations and broadcasters responded to these outcries early on, Knowledge Network did not. We regret this fact and are committed to doing better. Knowledge Network has neglected to increase the number of IBPOC (Indigenous, Black, people of colour) producers behind the stories we share. We acknowledge that insufficient representation of IBPOC producers harms not only IBPOC communities but all Canadians as well; and that inequitable representation of IBPOC producers has resulted in urgent calls to action. We are responding to those calls,” he continued.

The company has set four key DEI action points over the next three years: ensure 25% of documentary commissions between 2022 to 2025 are from Indigenous-owned production companies; 50% of documentary commissions from Black or people of colour-led production companies; prioritize accessibility for viewers with disabilities; and collect race-based data via voluntary user profiles and industry partnerships to “find data solutions for television to better understand viewership.”

The audit results and action plan come after a widespread call from provincial stakeholders, including the Vancouver Asian Film Festival, the Racial Equity Screen Office, the British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories chapter of the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) and the Canadian Media Producers Association’s BC Producers branch.

“These numbers implicate Knowledge Network in a system of racial injustice that has hampered the careers of a generation of Indigenous, Black and racialized filmmakers. Knowledge Network has centred white-led narratives in a brazen dismissal of the Indigenous lands that we occupy and the Indigenous, Black and racialized peoples who live here. It is time to centre work owned by Indigenous, Black, and racialized creators, and to invest in the Indigenous, Black, and racialized producers,” said Nilesh Patel, interim executive director of the Racial Equity Screen Office and a board member of DOC’s British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories chapter, in a statement, adding that the report is the result of an “enormous amount of labour” from industry stakeholders.

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