Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I'm sorry for the confusion this morning, but I'm committed to being with you for an hour. There's no need to worry about that.
Members of the committee, I would first like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the unceded traditional territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation.
Thank you for inviting me to speak to you about my priorities as Minister of Canadian Heritage.
With me today are Ms. Isabelle Mondou, deputy minister of Canadian heritage, Mr. Thomas Owen Ripley, associate assistant deputy minister of cultural affairs, and Ms. Joëlle Montminy, senior assistant deputy minister of cultural affairs.
Defending and promoting our culture is very important to me. I've done it before, when I worked as president of the Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture. That's why, among other reasons, I decided to enter politics in 2021. I saw that there were a number of pressing problems, and I wanted to contribute to the solutions.
For several years now, the cultural and communications ecosystems have been experiencing major upheaval, largely because of the web giants' business model.
With change comes the need to adapt. The status quo is no longer an option. That is why, as a government, we are in the process of making necessary changes that will allow our culture's diversity to thrive from coast to coast for decades to come.
We have worked very hard over the last few years to modernize the legislation governing culture and communication. I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of my colleagues on the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, who have contributed a great deal to the success of this legislation. I also want to acknowledge the work of my predecessors, ministers Guilbeault, Joly and Rodriguez, who paved the way and showed great determination.
We re on the verge of a major achievement. On the one hand, we're going to ensure that online communications platforms will help support the production of Canadian content in all its diversity, while, on the other, taking into account the fact that French is a minority language in North America.
The proposed legislation on online streaming is also important for shoring up an industry that generates considerable economic spinoffs and provides good jobs across the country.
Along the same lines, we are convinced that the public must be able to access reliable, independent news sources in order to contribute to democratic dialogue across the country. This is why the Online News Act represents a turning point. This legislation will ensure that news media are fairly compensated by the platforms that benefit from their work. With both of these acts, we responded with conviction and with the support of most political parties, who understood the importance of taking action.
Madam Chair, all this to say, as we look back at what our government has been able to achieve for arts, culture, information and our heritage, it’s important to remember where we started, which is far behind, due to the Conservatives' lack of engagement and recognition for our cultural sector. The lack of interest was, in fact, damaging. Our vision as a government is shown in our track record of delivering historic support for arts and culture every step of the way.
We made the choice to support reconciliation, including promoting and preserving indigenous languages. Indigenous communities across Canada are doing this work, and we will continue to support them. In recent years, we've been there to support our creators, our venues, our artists and our artisans. We have always chosen to invest in culture, especially in times as difficult as the pandemic. Some have called this irresponsible spending, but we call it investing in our country and in the talent of our people.
I'm proud to be part of a government that recognizes that.
The cultural sector is immensely important. Arts, culture and heritage represent more than $57 billion in the Canadian economy, and close to 673,000 jobs in sectors such as film and video, broadcasting, music, publishing, archives, performing arts, heritage institutions, festivals and celebrations.
I mention this because, since 2015, we've had to rebuild support for culture and the right to news media. Both of these sectors have been damaged by years of budget cuts and the Conservatives' inaction. We made these decisions in the belief that, as a country, we stand to gain by promoting culture for the common good. That's what we call political courage.
However, in light of the enormous challenges facing the cultural and news media sectors, I come before you with concerns. I'm worried because, even today, some people continue to say that our culture, in all of its forms of expression, doesn't deserve to be promoted. It concerns me to hear, day after day, certain politicians telling tens of thousands of cultural and news media workers that their work does not deserve to be protected by fair and equitable legislation. It's dangerous and risky for a party to promise to roll back all the progress that we've made and that will allow us to succeed.
It's often said that governing means making decisions. I'd therefore like to conclude by saying that the Liberal Party has decided to make culture and news media a priority.
Thank you, and I'll be happy to answer your questions.
