I'm sitting here with the terrifying realization that my light went on, so I'll take the opportunity to speak first on this one.
There are a couple of things that I understand about the demise of the radio orchestra: that the talent budget that was going into musicians' pockets in the Vancouver area has been around $400,000 a year in recent years, which I understand is a decline from historic levels; and that the radio orchestra, like the other radio orchestras that CBC established over time, of which the Vancouver group is the final example, were very active. They needed to be active because there was not a professional orchestral community across the country that was of a calibre, reliably, to be on the airwaves.
At the same time, the radio orchestra essentially acts as a research and development wing. New Canadian works and unusual repertoire that orchestras who are somewhat more exposed to market forces don't dare put on the stage, the radio orchestra has been able to. And it has done it very well. It's a really good orchestra. I would not be doing anyone justice to say “An orchestra is dying. What a good thing.” I'm not going to say that.
In terms of who potentially benefits from that $400,000 being redirected, based on the conversations we've had with CBC personnel, it does not look as though the rest of the Canadian orchestral community is going to benefit. Although we have some assurance that the approximately $700,000 a year that's spent on orchestral broadcasts and recordings, net of the radio orchestra investment, will remain in the coming year, there's absolutely no commitment in the years beyond. The $400,000 has been reinvested into programming.