Canadian Heritage Committee on June 15th, 2006

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

We didn't have an argument, but I caution Mr. Abbott to be careful in what he's trying to get from Madam Fraser, because even though one would totally agree that in the case he was mentioning, Telefilm would be the one making the decision--absolutely--they would be making those decisions, though, in view of the criteria set by the ministry and the minister.

So I'm just cautioning Mr. Abbott to be careful in his line of questioning.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Ms. Fraser.

[Sheila Fraser]

Mr. Chair, may I just add a point? If you are getting into this discussion about the role that Telefilm plays, I think as was mentioned earlier you should be aware as well of the new relationship with the Canadian Television Fund, which is largely producers and others from the industry who are now establishing that kind of policy, and then Telefilm will carry that out according to the policy and the criteria that have been established by the Canadian Television Fund.

So in that case, Telefilm itself has little ability to say how they will carry out their mandate, which again, for a crown corporation, is very unusual.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Thank you.

Mr. Kotto.

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

I don't know who will take the question.

I intend to talk, since the subject is inspiring, about the discrepancies between the resources that are allocated and the expectations and objectives that are to be achieved. I'm thinking of Telefilm Canada, in particular, which has a mandate to enable the industry to increase market share. However, as in the case of the Canada Feature Film Fund, which has been levelled off at $100 million since 2001, we're going to be dealing with declining production support in the short term. In Quebec in particular, according to some projections, 11 films were produced between 2004 and 2006, compared to 20 in 2003 and 2004. On the one hand, Telefilm is being asked to conquer the market for numerous reasons, including economic reasons, but I think the most important reasons are mainly cultural and identity reasons. Nature abhors a vacuum. If this room is left to the Americans, our cultural sovereignty will be in play.

My question is whether you can make, or whether you're making, any comments to your boss on this question. I could eventually go further and talk about the Canada Council for the Arts, which has received a $50 million increase. It receives a number of requests. They answer that the projects are good, but unfortunately there's not enough money to provide assistance. These questions are asked for these two files. What are your comments?

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

Some will say there's never enough money to meet all needs.

With regard to feature films, as you know, we're preparing our response to the committee's report. In our analysis, we have noted that the committee itself has asked us to consider the program in the context of existing resources. I believe you've expressed a dissenting view, but not on that point, I believe. Consequently, there are weaknesses in the program, as you know, but adjustments must be made based on the existing envelope, if we want to achieve these two objectives.

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

That's fine.

We're not going to elaborate on the subject. The existing resources could also come from surpluses. That's a political decision.

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

Indeed, it's also a matter of political decisions. I'm merely noting that the committee asked us for a response that assumed a stable fiscal framework.

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

That's good. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Thank you.

Seeing that we have a little more time, I'm going to be very lenient. If someone else has a question before I have the final question, I would take that question.

That having been said, I have a small question.

I understand the fragility of some of our archives. I was part of the committee that put the archives and library together. I didn't have the opportunity to see the deplorable conditions in which some of our archives and museum stuff are kept, but I'm glad to see there's been at least some progress.

At the same time, when we talk about how much it costs to keep our museums going and the amount of money that is spent, I know how little money is spent on some of our smaller museums across the country, some 2,500 museums that work with budgets of somewhere around $9 million.

I think there are a lot of partnerships out there, and maybe there can be some partnerships for some of our national gems. We have these national gems here in Ottawa. I realize how much it costs to keep things up. At the same time, I'd suggest that our heritage and our museums across the country relay a lot of interest. I hope that somewhere along the line we can get some of this in order.

I appreciate that if our programs run correctly, and we can get our national gems into the shape they should be in, I hope there is then money for some of the small museums that we have across this country.

That's more of a commentary than a question.

Thank you very much to our witnesses for coming today. I appreciate it very much.

I'm going to ask the committee to take a five-minute recess. We then have other business to do.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Maybe we can get this over with fairly quickly.

There are two or three things I'd like to bring up. One is about our meeting for next week. We could not get CBC/Radio-Canada to appear next Tuesday. The whole board of directors is meeting in Yellowknife on June 20, so it isn't here.

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Peace River, AB]

Can we cancel?

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Yes, we could.

Also, Minister Oda is not available on that date either.

What Jacques and I have talked about here is that we could hold a meeting to discuss future business of the committee and its plan for the fall. That's one thing that I asked last meeting, to pick out one of the priorities so our staff can work over the summer to get us some stuff. I'd suggest we do that next Tuesday at that particular time.

There are two other things I'd like to do here today. One is that Mr. Bélanger approached me earlier and had something to say to the committee, and I've taken that to heart. The other thing is that I think Mr. Warkentin's motion was circulated to everyone, and maybe we can deal with that here at this time.

Mr. Bélanger.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman

I wanted to revisit a matter that this committee has already dealt with, concerning our request for a response from the government on the re-tabling of the Lincoln report. At the time, I did hear comments from the parliamentary secretary as to whether that was advisable or not. I understand his comments perhaps a little better now, but I suspect he had information at that time that we didn't have, or certainly I didn't have, the fact that over the weekend two initiatives have been launched vis-à-vis the television industry in Canada: one by the minister on Sunday in Banff, asking for the CRTC to look into the impact of technology and to report back by mid-December, and the other one by the CRTC itself in terms of the entire industry, much along the lines of what the CRTC is currently doing in regard to radio.

Given that these two initiatives have now been launched, subsequent to our request for a government response, I'd just say that I was not insensitive to Mr. Abbott's comments when we were dealing with this matter. I'm quite prepared to put forward a notice of motion to be dealt with next Tuesday if necessary, but I'm wondering whether it would not be advisable for this committee at this time to suspend the request for a response from the government and wait until these two initiatives have been completed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

A response?

[Jim Abbott, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

By unanimous consent, I don't think we need to wait until Tuesday.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

I haven't had a chance to talk to all my colleagues here, but I wanted to initiate this today, knowing that next week might be our last meeting. So if you require it for notice, I'm quite prepared to write it and make sure it's tabled before the evening is out.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Is that acceptable to everyone?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Do we require notice?

[Jim Abbott, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

By unanimous consent, we can do anything.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Can we take unanimous consent? Is everyone in favour of withdrawing?

Mr. Kotto.

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

I'm in favour.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Oh, you're for suspending it.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

If we withdraw it, we can always reinitiate it.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

So you're withdrawing or suspending your request.

All in favour?