Good afternoon, Mr. Manley. It's a pleasure to have you with us today.
Mr. Sauvé, Mr. Azzaria, Mr. Moyse, and Ms. Wood, welcome. I have questions for each of you.
I would like to begin with you, Mr. Manley, since you just completed your presentation.
I have two brief comments to make with respect to your presentation. You say that “this legislation is […] the product of extensive national consultations across Canada”. But you know as well as I do you can arrange for consultations to say whatever you like. I have gone all across Canada and held roundtables in the ten provinces. Yet I may not necessarily have heard the same thing that the government heard when it held those consultations.
I also want to reassure you. You say that you are “aware that some Canadians are of the view that this bill goes too far in protecting the rights of creators and copyright holders”; but let me reassure you: I don't think there are many people who believe that. I think the bill lacks balance. Some aspects of it are positive, but there is an imbalance which, unfortunately, works against rights holders and creators. There are obvious losses of income and royalties. Those have been noted. The government is also aware of that—for example, as regards the levy, private copying, ephemeral rights and the loss of potential income in education.
Is this not a concern for you? Shouldn't the government be looking at this to find ways of providing compensation, since it is clear there will be income losses for these people?