CKRH FM hit the airwaves this week as Halifax's first independent French radio station.
By Lyndsie Bourgon <lyndsiebourgon@hotmail.com>
Posted: Oct. 26, 2007
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Marc LaLonde hosts the daily drive-home show on CKRH FM. Photo Lyndsie Bourgon
Tune into CKRH 98.5 around 4 p.m. on a weekday and you’ll hear Marc LaLonde on his daily drive-home show.
Try to find LaLonde in person and it’s a bit more difficult. Down two flights of stairs into the basement of Z103’s Cogswell Street office is the small headquarters of Halifax’s newest addition to the radio dial.
LaLonde sits at a desk near the back of the room. He’s the director general of CKRH FM, Halifax’s first French language fm radio station.
“The idea came about in 2000,” says LaLonde. “They wanted community radio that would give a voice to francophones in the region.”
All radio stations in Canada need approval from the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) to go on air. CKRH was granted approval on April 12, 2006.
More than a year later CKRH is finally up and running. Their first day on air was Sept. 25, 2007, but only music was broadcast. Original programming began on Oct. 15.
“It’s going very good,” says LaLonde. “It’s new, so people are listening, but I think they’re sincere about it.”
CKRH is Nova Scotia’s third French-language community radio station. The other two stations are located in Cheticamp in Cape Breton, and Clare near Yarmouth.
“This radio station will have the power that the French community will give it,” says LaLonde. “If the support we’ve had for the past two weeks remains, the station will be strong and we’ll be able to entertain and inform.”
CKRH wants to air a variety of programs for Halifax's French community. Photo Lyndsie Bourgon
Before CKRH came along, French programming in the municipality could only be found on CBC Radio-Canada.
“Radio-Canada is regional and provincial news,” says LaLonde. “We’re an alternative and our goal is more local news, artists and community. CBC is doing a great job in the region, but talking about community is helping people feel more attached to the radio.”
Acadian musician Patrice Boulianne, who goes by the name Blou, says the regional programming on Radio Canada is not enough. “There are only two regional programs on Radio-Canada Halifax. Need I say more?” he says.
Isabelle Pedot, director of Halifax’s Alliance-Française d’Halifax, says CKRH is important and echoes the need for more programming.
“The local radio will allow us to know more about what’s going on between all of us,” says Pedot, adding that there are a variety of French communities in Halifax. Halifax has a francophone population of 12,000.
LaLonde wants to give those communities a voice through CKRH.
“We’ll have some jazz, alternative music, and world music that will represent the colour of the French community,” says LaLonde. “In Halifax, we have people from France, Quebec, and Ontario. We’re working on having a Lebanese music show, and we’d like to get the French-African community on the station. [CKRH] radio is a community station and the door is open. If someone wants to do a show, this is the place.”
Hosting a show on CKRH is a volunteer position.
Morning show host Anny Murray creates, produces, research, records, and writes her own show. It airs weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
The station has also just received $20,000 in funding to air the show in the municipality’s three French schools.
“If we demonstrate to kids in school that French culture is fun, maybe we’ll get a few youngsters who would like to come on the radio,” says LaLonde. “We think radio is a nice tool to demonstrate that French culture is living, energetic, and a great possibility. Youth is where we have to work for the future.”
Boulianne says that CKRH is important for the French community.
“It’s a better chance for local artists to be heard,” he says. “It’s a great tool to promote one culture and to keep the pride of being French alive. We need every tool available to counter the assimilation that is happening.”
Alternative, Acadian, and World music are all broadcasted on CKRH. Photo Lyndsie Bourgon
Murray says community radio is reflective, and that she feels a social responsibility to the French community.
“I think it’s very important for people to know that there are many people involved in the evolution of the francophone world in Halifax,” says Murray. “Many Anglophones are listening too, they like the music and the energy, so it’s for everyone.”