Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'm very pleased to be here today on behalf of the New Democratic Party. I come here this afternoon to bring the voice of artists from the city of Toronto.
I had a round table meeting with arts organizations this morning, and from that group of writers, producers, distributors, actors, various participants in the cultural sector, I want to say how devastating these cuts are to the arts community. There's no question that there were massive cuts during the 1990s, but I can tell you that these particular cuts that affect the commercialization and distribution of the arts, especially on the international scene, are absolutely devastating and ask us all this question: what image of Canada do we present, and do we care about Canada's international reputation when it comes to the arts? I can tell you that the groups I met with today were quite fearful that this is the tip of the iceberg and that there are more cuts to come, as difficult as these cuts are.
Mr. Del Mastro says that the Conservatives care about the arts. I'm sure they do care about arts and culture, but they care about the kind that they sanction. They want to be able to pick and choose and decide themselves who gets funded and who doesn't get funded. I don't believe the government should determine which films get made, which writers get supported, or which arts organizations continue to survive. I believe in arm's-length funding for arts organizations, and I think that's our democratic tradition.
The message I want to convey from those I met with this morning and from the many artists I have spoken with--people who have e-mailed me, phoned me, or contacted me since these cuts were announced--is to communicate, first of all, that the arts matter to Canadians. They're a part of who we are as a country, they're part of our sovereignty, they're a key part of our economy--I know that in the city of Toronto they're a huge piece of our economy—and certainly they're an important part of a healthy democracy. What has been so offensive to people is not that there is a review of arts funding--there's no disagreement that periodically you evaluate and decide that some programs will not be continued--but it is the arbitrary fashion of these cuts, that they were done in secret, with no consultation, with no public review. I can tell you from the people I met with this morning that it felt very much like a silencing of their voices. I think it's very damaging, not only economically but to a thriving, healthy arts community.
I want to add my voice to say that we should have hearings and a good public consultation before any action is taken. If there's nothing secret here, if this is about good accountability, then it should have a good process, and that process needs to restore faith in an arm's-length funding process that's in line with a clear arts policy for Canada, which today we do not have.
There's talk about good management and putting more money into things. I want to caution that we will continue to have writers who write and people who do their best to make films and create other forms of art, but if no one knows about it, then we will not be successful.
You can look at hugely successful cases like the Cirque du Soleil. When Monsieur Laliberté was just starting out, if he hadn't had a bit of help at the front end when he was just beginning, he wouldn't be so successful at this point with the Cirque du Soleil. How many people are there like that who get that support, that funding, that help, that boost, at the beginning of their career, or even throughout their career, that helps them develop their cultural expression, which then we can present to our country and to the rest of the world? So this kind of funding is absolutely essential.
Again, I want to reaffirm the need for a strong public process. We should have hearings. We should hear from the arts community themselves, and we should hear why the government is targeting certain programs where the problems are and if there are perhaps changes that could be made as opposed to a complete cancellation. So I would argue that there should be hearings and no cuts until we've had these hearings, and that we reaffirm a clear process for arm's-length funding and a clear arts policy for Canada.
Thank you.