Thank you very much.
First of all, I want to thank all of you for being with us today. It is wonderful to have you here.
We are here to talk about the Trade Routes and PromArt programs. The Minister of Canadian Heritage has often said in the House that these programs are ineffective. He has also made that statement to journalists in several interviews. And yet, the only two studies that exist on the Trade Routes and PromArt programs praise them to the skies, saying as well that it was too bad more could not be done. I believe 95 per cent of respondents said that if they could, they would make more use of the Trade Routes program, and 70 per cent were extremely satisfied with it. All agreed that this program had allowed them to explore new markets.
It was the same for PromArt. Departmental officials said that the program was very good the way it was, but that it might be a good idea to add an additional component to it, whereby they could make proposals, rather than simply waiting for grant applications to come in. As you can see, we are far from the kind of ineffective program Mr. Moore is talking about.
Mr. Rodriguez asked if you had taken part in any studies or if you had been consulted. They response was a chorus of nos.
Is there any other program available through Canadian Heritage or another department that could make up for the cancellation of Trade Routes and PromArt?
Let's begin with Mr. Paré.