The student seems to have surpassed his teacher. I don't have much time for joking around. I would rather ask you some questions.
First of all, allow me to make a comment. The specialized music program has a small budget but it met a real need. For us, $1.3 million is a lot of money. For this government, accustomed to spending in the billions, it is not the biggest program. The same applies to Canadian Heritage.
Yesterday, artists and musicians testified and really proved that there is a need. They say they need it, and that is what allowed them to launch their careers. Without it, they would still be making music on their computers, in their bedrooms. I would imagine that in your briefcases and bags, you have a number of examples of these types of artists who today manage to make a living from their art, but who, without access to the funds under these programs, would not have managed to pursue their career. They would not have had the means to make their talents known. You also say that the specialized music program is a type of breeding ground for commercial music. It is an R and D sector. You have spoken of know-how, creativity, research and expertise. These terms lead us to believe that people producing specialized music really are specialists in the area of music development and that they inspire those who produce more commercial music.
I apologize if this is taking me some time, but I really want to understand the situation. So, it is an R and D sector. A study was carried out in 2007, as we saw in Le Devoir this morning, showing that this program performed better than all other Canada Music Fund programs. Everybody was happy. It met an incredible need within the complicated music ecosystem that Mr. Fortin was referring to. Then, all of a sudden, on July 31, the Canadian Heritage minister, a Conservative minister, announced, for the second year in a row, that he was abolishing an important program in the area of music development, in the complicated ecosystem of the arts and culture.
I know that politics are not your cup of tea, but you are Quebeckers, you are artists, you are citizens. Do you not believe it is for ideological reasons that this government has slashed, for a second consecutive year, spending on programs where the word “entertainment” did not exist? They hit where it hurt. The government is only interested in entertainment. It confuses the arts and culture with entertainment. There are key words in this particular program, we know that it is not for the masses. It is not a program designed for popular music. These two aspects are not necessarily about entertainment, are they? This is not pop music. Is that why this government announced the striking of this program on July 31?