We address you today as members of a distinct and vibrant local community located at the very centre of Canada: Winnipeg, Manitoba. Our city and our province contain many of the diverse cultures and voices that define our country, and we've developed a mature production industry that has brought those voices into our broadcasting system.
With our unmatched financial incentives—our tax credits are the highest in Canada—our internationally renowned production companies and crews, and the strong support of the province and the city, we're able to offer broadcasters top-quality, original regional programming at bargain prices. Regional independent producers are part of the solution to the economic difficulties of conventional broadcasters. We do not accept the argument that Canadian broadcasters should carry less Canadian and regional content as a means of relieving their current economic problems.
The purpose of the Canadian broadcasting system and of these hearings, as we understand it, is to build a healthy production and broadcast industry that can create and deliver Canadian content to Canadian audiences, as decreed in the Broadcasting Act. The independent production community from across the country provides content for that system, and the broadcasters deliver it to Canadians. We are a partnership dependent on each other for the overall health and quality of our service to Canadians.