I would like to add something on that subject.
I am a career teacher. In the past, 20 years ago, when the severe cutbacks started and the cuts became even worse, the television production centre in Toronto was closed and was amalgamated with Ottawa.
Television as a medium is very important because it allows our young people to see themselves, to see their community, and you made those same comments for other regions of Canada.
Take for example a program like Génies en herbe,
which is basically the equivalent of what existed at the CBC, Reach for the Top.
Seventeen or twenty-four French high schools in Ontario participated. The entire event took place in Toronto. There was a tangible increase in the television youth audience in our communities. Everyone went to Toronto, and everyone could see that we existed. This is important, because we are scattered over a large territory. We were competing against each other. It was of a high calibre and really robust.
All of that disappeared from one day to the next, because it was reduced to four schools. When the regional centre was dismantled, it became national. Following that, there were only two schools participating. At some point in time, it simply died out. For a small community like Kapuskasing or Hearst, with populations of 10,000, 12,000 or 15,000, it was dramatic.
It reminded me somewhat of McLuhan's theory according to which we did not exist if we did not see ourselves on television. It was a shock, because afterwards, we became more isolated. From now on, we only exist when disastrous or exceptional events occur. We are talked about on the news, but in terms of our daily life, culturally speaking, we are literally disappearing from the airwaves, with the exception of radio. This does not encourage students to seek information from the television station. Adolescents want to see themselves somewhat on television. Afterwards, they might wish to listen to the newscasts.