It is true that we are in a financial downturn. That is clear. We will take action to work with this situation. I can explain exactly what we want to do, as I did when I talked about what we plan on doing in the next six months. We can present a strategic and operational action plan and a rational business plan. I do not know whether this really affects you or not. There has been much talk within the industry. I think that there are clear economic benefits to this industry, and they need to be supported.
However, the NFB needs to make its views known, even though we have proven ourselves year after year. Since I became head of English programming, for example, we have been nominated for an Oscar four times. We have won twice. Our first nominations go back a number of years. We are everywhere, we have signed agreements, established relationships within communities, and we are creating fundamental links with Canadians. We are doing things that the private sector cannot do. We have a solid track record. I do not know what more we can do other than to continue to make our case.
If I look at the NFB and think about what we are, there are some things to reflect on about this institution. First of all, it has been around since 1939. In 2009 the NFB will celebrate its 70th anniversary. I think this is a reason to celebrate. But how is this important?
This country is made up of its institutions--things like Parliament, parliamentary committees, the CBC, and the film board. What happens is that we've woven a fabric of a place that creates our unique identity in ways that aren't evident anywhere else. When you begin to let things slide and you unpick it and you don't, as it were, conserve that, you're doing something to the country, to the identity of this place, and to who we are as a people. This is not an argument for conserving the film board just because it has existed, but it's certainly one of the reasons that we have to think about it. We cannot consider lightly the film board. We must understand that it's become so fundamental in terms of the mindset of what Canada is.
Second, Canadians have invested almost 70 years in the film board. In commercial language, it's created one of the world's great brands. When I go around the world, I am received with such warmth and openness everywhere, because it's the National Film Board. The value of that to Canada is immeasurable.
Last week at Banff I received a letter from the second-in-command of all of NHK. NHK is one of the world's largest public broadcasters. I'm going to read you a portion of this letter. They were so grateful for what we did for them. They are an organization that is in the billions of dollars; we are an organization of $70 million.
This is from Toyohiko Harada, who is the executive managing director of broadcasting. He was congratulating me. I did a presentation to them on how to connect with communities, because they were going through some problems. They were going through a financial crisis because of that. He says:
I'd like to thank you and the NFB for the help you gave us through the “Challenge for Change” presentations in Banff and Tokyo a couple of years ago. At that time, NHK was in serious financial trouble and had lost a great deal of public trust. But your message inspired us to work harder to reconnect with our audience. For example, our stations all over Japan have held more than 4,000 meetings with viewers and listeners in the past two years. Thanks to such initiatives, we're gradually regaining public trust.
It is unbelievable that one of the greatest public broadcasters in the world recognizes the NFB, but it is not recognized in our country.