Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Welcome to the committee, Chair von Finckenstein, Mr. Hutton, and Ms. Cugini.
I'm actually very encouraged by your comments, Mr. Chairman. I think there's a recognition on your part that Canada is not an island and that we can't simply pretend that the global change that's occurring with respect to broadcasting.... You've correctly identified that this device I have here might pull up Canadian content, but it could also pull up content from anywhere in the world. That's the world we live in now. Broadcast is not limited to how far we can push an FM or AM signal, or indeed a television signal, from a tower. It's global.
I actually look at vertical integration as an opportunity. I think what's happening is very interesting. It's obviously happening very quickly. We've seen the purchase of Canwest by Shaw. Obviously, some time ago, Rogers bought the assets of Citytv. We see that Bell is purchasing the CTV assets. But this isn't just a Canadian phenomenon; this is occurring around the globe.
I actually see an opportunity here, because if we have these large, very powerful stages that will allow Canadian content to extend beyond simply our borders, then rather than broadcasting something five miles past Buffalo, we're actually broadcasting to the world.
Can you indicate to the committee the Canadian content rules we currently have in place? It is your intention that these Canadian content rules, regardless of vertical integration, will be steadfastly supported by the CRTC. Is that correct?