When I came to the NFB, it was clearly experiencing an economic downturn. There had been no increase since the major cuts in 1996. We are making do with what we have now. It is a stressful situation, but somehow we are getting through with what we have. Even then, we see the positives, but we do not speak about cuts, about things we cannot do, etc.
When I think about the future, I think about two things. First of all, I intend to seriously examine our long-term costs. Can we lower costs? Is there a better way of doing things? I have experience in management and I have an MBA. So I am aware of these issues, but I also want to focus on creation. This is one path to investigate.
Second, the NFB has many assets and I do not know if they are being used to their full potential. This has yet to be seen. How can we be more entrepreneurial without contradicting our mandate, which is to serve the Canadian public?
Also, even if we find ways to obtain money by being entrepreneurial and ways to effectively make use of our assets, distribution is no longer simply traditional distribution. The world has changed drastically. So we are in the process of examining all of this.
But I think that if the government invests in the NFB, it is an investment in the future and not in the past. We must not say that we are investing now simply to maintain something. We must really invest for future innovation, digital technology, the future of all arts, culture, the
entertainment industry to become somehow a focal and crucial leverage point in terms of the future economic life of this country. To invest in the film board in terms of that means to invest in the future of Canada.