Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for making this time available to meet with you and share some views on Bill C-11.
My name is Gerry McIntyre. I'm executive director of the Canadian Educational Resources Council, which is the trade association of the major Canadian publishers for the K to 12 system in Canada. Our members account for 75% of the curriculum-based learning materials that are used in Canadian schools outside of the province of Quebec.
Before being approved by ministries of education for use in Canadian schools, our resources are evaluated very rigorously in terms of their match to what students are to be learning, the age appropriateness of the material, the grade specificity of the material, the absence of bias from this learning material, and, importantly, that it reflects the Canadian experience in all possible ways.
For any given grade and subject, the cost of developing an education resource that matches the curriculum ranges from $400,000 to $1 million. That is with no guarantee of sale of the product and with no alternative market for a product developed so specifically. So clearly the K to 12 education market in Canada is one that involves considerable investment and a considerable level of risk.
I am delighted to have with me today Mr. Greg Nordal, who will provide you with a publisher's perspective on Bill C-11 and what it means for that market.