Thank you, Rathika.
That's an important question. Support right now for touring internationally comes directly from the Canada Council's international touring program, and as I said earlier, it's just not well-subscribed. The program just doesn't have the budget to respond to the number of requests and applications they receive.
It's very interesting when you tour abroad. In the same way that people want to know about Canadian cuisine, they want to know what Canadian culture is. That's a very important part of what we need to express as a nation, namely, that we are a very diverse nation and that our identity comes from first nations first and foremost—their cultural identity—but as much as that, from all the other diverse cultural communities that also live and work across Canada.
I do believe there is a ripple effect from the Canadian commissions in the various countries also providing support to Canadian artists touring abroad. We seek their support, but their budgets are also very limited when it comes to supporting the performance of a Canadian artist in the city where they're located or across the country. So in my case I would speak about the Canadian High Commission in India. They've always been very supportive in marketing our programs, but they just have no other way of supporting artists who come to travel and perform across India. I give that as an example only.