Mr. Chair, we have been working on this matter for a long time. I had an opportunity to discuss it not only with TQS people, but also with the unions, with TVA and others. But our intention is not to tell CRTC how to conduct its business, and TQS people understand that. Our role, as the government in waiting, is to provide some direction and to allow the minister to do her work satisfactorily, not the CRTC's work.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Mourani's motion is not complete. I think it should be amended because we cannot just mention information services. Does that mean exactly the same thing? The CRTC knows that it would be impossible for TQS. I feel that we have lost a little regional sensitivity. If we are mentioning quality information services, we must also mention local production. So I would like to make an amendment.
I gather that this is a new file for Mrs. Mourani, but what is important now is to provide opinions that will reflect something that the unions understand and accept. We want TQS to survive, but we also want to make sure that conventional television supports a basic level of information services, specifically quality regional information services and local production. They may make television for the Montreal region, but we, who understand and are sensitive to the other regions of Quebec, and to the country as a whole, we have to make sure that people on the spot are going to offer a basic level of information services and, above all, local production.
So here is my amendment. After "conventional television must support", the words "a basic level of" would precede the words "information services". And, at the end, the period would be removed and the words "and local production" would be added.
En anglais, we're talking about “local production”, but we're talking about “a basic level of information”.
If Mrs. Mourani does not understand, it is her problem, not mine. I said that I wanted to address the focus and the local production.
Those are the amendments I am proposing, Mr. Chair.