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 ever Cogeco decides to pull the plug on TQS, "we'll find a Radio-Canada bullet close to the heart," said St-Pierre, who worked as a national correspondent in Ottawa for Radio-Canada before she left journalism for 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 French-language service of CBC, 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 that it was surprised with St-Pierre's comments and that current market conditions have more to do with TQS' precarious financial footing.

Radio-Canada 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 the money-losing francophone TV network 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.

The network of conventional television stations across Quebec is owned 60 per cent by Cogeco Inc., a Montreal-based cable and broadcast company, and 40 per cent by CTVglobemedia, one of Canada's largest media companies.

TQS has five of its own stations — in Montreal, Quebec City, Saguenay, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières — and four affiliates in Gatineau, Ottawa, Val-d'Or, Rouyn-Noranda, Rimouski and Rivière-du-Loup and its own production house.