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 is from both places. I understand my colleagues in Toronto who don't want to hear about the regions. I also understand my colleagues in Manitoba who see the importance of regional representation.
In terms of my personal story, what first brought me to Manitoba was the fact that I was making the movie The Diviners, based on the Manitoba novel written by Margaret Laurence. Even as a Toronto producer, I knew that if I didn't make it in Manitoba, Margaret would rise up from her grave in Neepawa and smite me down. I just knew that it had to have the flavour of Manitoba, this novel. So that's how I came here. That's how I learned about Manitoba, and it was a wonderful introduction. I understood what Margaret was writing about when I came here. That was in 1993.
When I was leaving Toronto and leaving the Toronto office of CBC—I wasn't working there, but they were our broadcaster and I was the independent producer producing it—everyone at CBC said I would have a great time in Manitoba, and to say hello to so-and-so at the Manitoba office because he was great. One even told a very Torontonian story, saying that one person was such great guy and was offered a job at head office but decided to stay in Manitoba, and they called it a heroic sacrifice. There was a real camaraderie, so I had the feeling that CBC had connections.
I'm not sure I can pinpoint when it happened, but I can tell you that I produced the movie A Bear Named Winnie most recently. It was a big hit for the CBC, getting 1.4 million viewers. It clearly was a story that was nationally popular coming right out of Winnipeg, because it's a Winnipeg story. But the Toronto office did not involve the local office at all in the production of A Bear Named Winnie, except as a kind of cheering section, which was great. They helped us set up the local premiere at a theatre and they were wonderful in doing that. But in the actual production, the truth is that no one at the Winnipeg CBC office has any experience in the making of TV movies or drama, so they do not feel, to their credit, that they can judge a script, make comments on a script, tell you that you have the right writer, in their opinion, and therefore approve him. There is no one at the office.
There is someone there who is a very nice man. I'm not sure what his title is, but I think Carl Karp is in charge of independent production. Carl's experience is not with drama. The people at head office don't think of calling Carl and asking him what he thinks. In other words, they don't have any confidence in their local office. I don't want to insult anyone, because I think Carl does his job admirably. But that's not what he's been asked to do, and it's not what he's been trained to do.