The word "protectionism" has a certain negative connotation in this regard. In my opinion, Canadian society must above all refer to a principle which is more and more present, that of cultural diversity, following the signature of the convention.
I think that from an international standpoint, we recognize that every country must have the means to have artistic and cultural production reflect its specific nature. It must also have the means to protect that uniqueness. There are societies that are stronger than others, and we have to prevent this homogenization of everything world-wide rather than promoting diversity. Instead, we should engage in positive discrimination. We have to make choices about the values of our own country.
In my opinion, we have to establish foundations with regard to regulation. Some will say that this is protectionism; I would qualify it as positive discrimination in order to protect this diversity and to avoid promoting homogenization. From that starting point, we can open up to the world to offer choices to our citizens so that they can be informed of what's going on in the world.
I think this is regulation that must be based on values. In my opinion, the Broadcasting Act in Canada already expresses that very well. On that basis, we could open up to the world. Personally, I think that we are already very open to the United States. It is not necessary to be even more open than we already are. As a matter of fact, I think that we should be a bit more open to countries other than the United States, all the while protecting who we are, without forgetting that we have challenges too, as I mentioned earlier. However, Radio-Canada was forced to play a role as a commercial television service rather than a public broadcaster. I believe that that has forced Radio-Canada to close in on Montreal. We must therefore give it the means to open up to the entire Canadian francophone community.