Good morning,
honourable members of Parliament.
My name is André Picard. I am Vice-President of Public and Corporate Affairs for the Just For Laughs Group.
I would like to thank Mr. Paul Calandra, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Mr. James Moore, who suggested that I be invited to witness here today. I met him last week with my colleagues from FAME Canada.
FAME Canada--Festivals and Major Events Canada-- is a national organization that regroups festivals across the country, among them Luminato, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Stratford Festival,
the Québec Winter Carnival, the Festival d'été de Québec,
Ottawa's Bluesfest, and many more.
FAME's mission is to play a leading role in the economic and social promotion of the international-scale Canadian festival and events sector to the government, the media, and the public.
My presentation may not be exactly what I wished it be. It was the Hallowe'en weekend--we got called on Thursday afternoon and I appreciate the privilege--and maybe it's because I'm in the event management business, but my 18-year-old daughter asked me to organize her Hallowe'en party. It was almost a 12-hour event.