Canadian Heritage committee  In terms of the festivals you mean?

Canadian Heritage committee  Right. Going back many years, Canadian Heritage has provided funding through different programs, much of it focused on the proliferation of music, the support of the artists, and so on. But it really has not had a focus on the events side and how the events, using music, can pr

Canadian Heritage committee  The beauty of most destination music events like our event or the Montreal jazz festival is that we don't have infrastructure. We're not talking about building a light rail. We're talking about building ideas and events that pop up. So the investment required is not the same as w

Canadian Heritage committee  Again, I base it on my conversations with recording industry executives. Generally, being in the industry for about 30 years now, I find that people lamented the fact that artists weren't making money 20 years ago, because most artists never made money. The record labels, when th

Canadian Heritage committee  Basically, with an event like ours, we would spend roughly 50% of the total revenue on artists' fees. That would go to several hundred artists or different groups. Honestly, what happens with the top level groups is that there's really a negotiation with their agents or managers,

Canadian Heritage committee  But you see, one of the problems is that there isn't a fund at a federal level that promotes economic development in music. If there was, they'd be getting funding.

Canadian Heritage committee  Exactly.

Canadian Heritage committee  My comment is just that we're very supportive of the Canadian Tourism Commission and giving them the ammunition they need to attract more people to Canada. We see that, as the destination music events, we have to put out the product. We are not specialists in marketing: we're spe

Canadian Heritage committee  First of all, your question is a very good one. There's one thing that's missing from the federal funding picture right now, and that's a focus on economic development. Right now, Heritage is giving money out to various priorities and some have economic development as a priority

Canadian Heritage committee  Exactly.

Canadian Heritage committee  The only thing I would comment is I'm not familiar with why they wouldn't receive funding. I don't see why they wouldn't. But the point is, as a free event they need to be supported. If they're having that economical impact, they should be supported in a big way. If they're havin

Canadian Heritage committee  It's actually quite easy to measure through economic impact studies. We measure the visitors now with the technology we have in terms of the sale of tickets and entries and so on. We know exactly where the visitors are coming from.

Canadian Heritage committee  My comment is that I see things globally. I think when you engage the community, obviously what David's saying is true: 70-80% is Canadians coming out to see them, but it's proliferation of these large-scale events, which draws both locals and tourists alike, and that helps the w

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you so much, and again, thanks for inviting me here today. Honestly, I was surprised to get the call, but I'm happy to give my thoughts on a number of different fronts and I'll try and stay within the eight minutes. The first thing I want to touch on, which has really been