Thank you.
Mr. Minister, let me congratulate you on your position. I've congratulated you privately, but this is our first time at committee and I'm very glad to have you here. I'm very glad that we are discussing arts funding. I think it is very, very important.
When looking at what you're bringing forward today, I'm thinking of it as being sold as an economic driver, an economic stimulus package. That's my major question. There are a lot of opportunities for some excellent photo ops, and I'm sure that all members of the government side will be out this summer getting their pictures taken at all of the various festivals to show how much they love artists, but I'm not sure how much of the money being promoted as new is not just existing funds. For example, the Canadian Television Fund is at 1996 levels. The New Media Fund is basically the same.
When you're looking at economic drivers, your key drivers are going to be in areas like film and television. Those are areas that are facing a major economic crunch right now, because credit is drying up. Why was the decision not made to put more money there on a short-term basis, that is, into the Canadian Television Fund and New Media Fund, because we're basically dealing with 1996 dollars?