Canadian Heritage committee  No, I'm saying—MMPIA is saying—if we decide to have a public broadcaster, let's commit to them. Let's not go halfway. Let's not say we're helping them by giving them some CTF money, but that's not really enough to help them. We're helping them by doing this, but it's not enough.

Canadian Heritage committee  No, not at all.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think you'll find that producers are entrepreneurs. We never know where our next dollar is coming from.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think there are probably a number of different ways, and I look forward to lively discussion over the next ten years. Things are going to change. I could suggest to you, sir, that your party could eliminate the Canadian content regulation, eliminate the CBC, take down the borde

Canadian Heritage committee  No, no--it could very well be a suggestion, because the cost of their entry could be that they show a quota of Canadian shows. I'm only saying that there are any number of creative ways to get Canadian shows to Canadians. I do not think that keeping the CBC alive at all costs, i

Canadian Heritage committee  That's right.

Canadian Heritage committee  But I would ask why it's not in their interest. I would argue it is in their interest, because their mandate says regions are important, and their goal is to create the best programming possible. It's the opposite of a creative compromise. Moving outside augments and enhances the

Canadian Heritage committee  That's a very good question. I just want to make sure it's not as codified as that. I think radio is a good example, and I know most about radio as a listener of CBC radio, because I'm a huge fan. We're dealing with human beings. They're the ones who watch the shows, make them,

Canadian Heritage committee  I personally have a problem with layering more bureaucracy on the decision-making process, because the minute you say that 10% has to come from somewhere, then one year maybe the good ideas aren't there in that place. I am a little worried about that. And I don't think it's wha

Canadian Heritage committee  Exactly. You don't want that either. A Bear Named Winnie isn't an idea that a Torontonian was going to have. It's an idea that a Torontonian who moved to Winnipeg discovered. It's a richer landscape to go across the country. There has to be the will. I have to ask this. My f

Canadian Heritage committee  The project you're referring to is called Falcon Beach. It's a series that's on Global Television—no longer, by the way, otherwise I'd tell you to watch it at eight o'clock on Friday night, but it finished its run last week. It has sold in 115 territories around the world. It has

Canadian Heritage committee  That's right. The other networks, I will say—because I've worked for all of them, sold to all of them—are driven by simulcasting. I think everyone on this committee knows what that is. For instance, Falcon Beach on Global gets the time slot that's left over, that no American sh

Canadian Heritage committee  I really don't mean this to be insulting, but I'll use the example of CTV and what they've done in the region. The two never like to be compared, but because of the benefits package, CTV had to find a local person. They found that person in the form of Rob Hardy. They hired him a

Canadian Heritage committee  I can, and I will also ask Louis to. I moved to Winnipeg in 1993. It may interest the committee to know that I lived in Toronto for many years before that. I was a producer with Atlantis Films in Toronto, and I've lived in and had homes in Toronto and Winnipeg, so my perspective

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you very much. The Manitoba Motion Picture Industry Association, known as MMPIA, welcomes the House of Commons standing committee to Winnipeg. We're happy to provide you with our comments for your study on the role of a public broadcaster in the 21st century, and we're ver