Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you for being here to take our questions.
In the last election campaign, your party announced that it would implement a museums policy. I would just like to quickly lay out the facts I have been made aware of.
Over the last two years, the Museums Assistance Program has seen one third of its budget cut. Furthermore, several days ago, on November 27, an article in Le Devoir stated that the Exhibition Transport Service provided through the Canadian Conservation Institute will no longer be available as of April 1, 2008. Consequently, the museums will have to deal with the private sector, where costs are much higher. At the same time, the museums' budgets have shrunk considerably.
In my opinion, this is not a new museums policy, but rather, a kind of demolition project aimed at Canadian museums. It particularly affects small regional museums.
Do you intend to take any action, first of all, to restore the Museums Assistance Program's budget by increasing its funding? Also, will you maintain the ETS, which is absolutely critical for our museums, to ensure that their wonderful exhibitions can travel all across the country? Will you bring in a museums policy?