It's crucial. It's interesting to note the change of attitudes. Every three years I get to attend a world conference with trade unions working in the film industry around the world. Four years ago, it wasn't on the radar anywhere. The IA was addressing it as a serious issue.
I just came back in November from a similar conference and it's all anyone's talking about in Europe, in Asia, and in Africa. This is impacting not just Canada but everywhere, and we are falling behind. You guys know this. We need to act and to move forward. It's impacting jobs.
We haven't tried to quote what the number lost is because then it becomes a mug's game of trying to nail down a number of what the loss is to the industry. But they are significant losses. It's not just for foreign service and the big studios, but it's also for the domestic industry, where financing is so precarious and producers are looking for every scrap they can to get a show made. If you take away any element in the revenue stream...it's integral to financing, and you're seeing shows drop off because of that.