Thank you.
I find this discussion fascinating. We tried to set up this hearing to look at the opportunities of how we can start to reshape where we're going culturally. In terms of national digital strategies, there are a number of models out there.
In Brazil, they've gone bottom up. The great Brazilian culture minister, Gilberto Gil.... In the barrios they put in all kinds of cultural digital stuff, and kids in the barrios are creating their own culture.
Another model is England, where they've taken it out of the BBC, a well-funded public broadcaster. They've paid good money for really strong productions, and they market it internationally.
In Canada, it seems our thing was always “let's just hold our own”. We have two or three markets to sell television to in English Canada and two in Quebec. As long as we managed to have some Canadian content, it seems that made politicians and the regulators happy. As Bruce Cockburn says, “The trouble with normal is it always gets worse.”
I'm thinking that for years we've seen this continual decline in terms of commitment from broadcasters and what they're willing to put out. They feel that as long as they have something Canadian on, we're happy.
But you talk about the possibilities with the foreign markets now, as independents. Can you explain to me how you see, in a digital age, instead of being on the defensive all the time, we can actually go on the offensive and get some of our great cultural products out there in a way that was never possible before?