Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I suppose I'll make a bit of a suggestion once I get to the end, but I want to address a few things that have been said since I spoke.
Mr. Coderre indicated that he doesn't believe a program should ever be reviewed, and he would fund every program into perpetuity. We heard Mr. Bélanger say that reviewing any programs and failing to ever make reallocations of funds is an abuse of executive authority. What a misdirected, misguided government that would be if you could never take a look at a program.
We live in a changing world, where the way the arts are promoted and perceived...in fact, what is considered art today may be quite different at some point in the future. The government must be able to make adjustments. We have to make sure we're being effective. As I indicated before, making reallocations, focusing government, and ensuring that we are getting results and being very proactive on the file doesn't mean we're reducing funding. We've already indicated that we're increasing funding substantially.
Mr. Scott mentioned festivals and the importance of festivals. We agree, and that's why we added $30 million for summer festivals. That's supporting festivals right across this country, including in Atlantic Canada and, I'm certain, the riding of Mr. Scott. This government made that investment because we know that the promotion of arts and giving entertainers a stage so they can put their talent in front of an audience is so important and crucial to the advancement of Canadian arts. That's why we made that very investment. I know that in ridings throughout the Maritimes, Ontario, Quebec, and the west, that specific investment is yielding real results.
We invested $110 million in Quebec's 400th anniversary this summer, and what a tremendous investment that was. I had the opportunity to take in some of the celebrations in Quebec, and the celebration of the founding of Quebec City. It's interesting that today we have the Bloc Québécois here making very clear statements that federal government investments made in Quebec are so crucial for the Quebec arts industry, and I couldn't agree more. I think the investments being made by the national government are really producing tremendous results in Quebec and right across Canada. I'm glad to see that the Bloc Québécois is here making that very clear statement of support, that the substantial investment of more than $2.3 billion that our government is making is having a profound impact.
I also enjoyed listening to what Ms. Nash had to say. She talked about commercialization and distribution. She talked to artists and producers. We have to take a look at a number of things.