I haven't said a lot in this debate, because I thought our reasons for doing this were self-evident. I want to support what my colleagues who have spoken in favour of this motion have said. We need to appreciate the difficulties under which so many cultural workers struggle to make a living in Canada. We need to do all we can to support them, for all of the reasons that have been indicated.
I don't believe the finance committee is the appropriate place to do this kind of study or to make these kinds of recommendations. I think this is the appropriate committee to be looking at that.
I find it rather ironic that in this country we can regularly find the means to give huge tax cuts to big corporations, to the wealthy, to the big polluters in Canada. Yet when it comes to some of the hardest-working, lowest-income people in Canada, who contribute so much to our economy and our culture, we say that it's too complicated and we can't address it. I find this very sad.
I hope we can proceed with the study and break through some of the thinking that has dominated this place for far too long.