Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for being here today.
I want to pick up on a couple of things you and my colleague Mr. Nantel were talking about, because you mentioned ideology and an ideological difference, and you brought in sincerity. You know, sincerity is that the things you say match the things you do, and on that account we don't see sincerity coming from you.
And in terms of ideology, we know that the Conservative government has loved to hate the CBC, but they've got you, and you are like a knife I have in my kitchen. You know, I've got some blunt knives that don't do a very good job, then I have a beautiful knife with a nice handle and it's sharp and big. You don't feel it sticking in at first, but it cuts nonetheless. And you cut. You cut. You say that you love the arts, you say that you love artists, and yet you cut. You are James the Knife. You've cut at the CBC, you've cut art, you've cut funding for artists, Minister.
When you cut 175 hours of programming in prime time on the CBC, you're cutting funding to artists. You're cutting funding to actors, to musicians, to directors and producers, to writers. You know, you mentioned Christopher Plummer, and I know you love to be around all these guys, but what you're doing is you're cutting the very foundation that nurtured these artists. I don't know if this government really understands how artists make a living.
Now, with respect to the parliamentary secretary, it was you who mentioned copyright here today, and I wanted to pick up on something you said there. You said the main issue with copyright is that we have to deal with the piracy and that's going to help artists. How does piracy and a loophole that allows broadcasters to not pay a royalty to artists connect at all? It's like saying you've got to go the dentist to fix your tooth, and when it's being fixed he's going to break your legs at the same time. He only had to fix your tooth. It makes no sense. That argument makes no sense.
On the subject of the CBC, you also say that allowing a large crown corporation with a billion-dollar budget to have three years--let's say three, let's not say ten--of budget certainty is not prudent government. How is that a fact when about every large corporation in the country needs that planning time, needs to plan in advance?
Now, what you did say was that the CBC has some certainty in terms of what has been cut over the next three years. So are you saying that there are going to be no more cuts other than this $115 million from the CBC? Is that what you're saying today, that that's it for cuts to the CBC?