Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to begin by thanking the hon. Minister of Canadian Heritage for joining us today. You are right in saying that the work we do here is important. It is a privilege to sit on this committee. I also want to congratulate you on all the meetings you have held since the beginning of your mandate. That's a good message to send to people from the cultural world.
You answered the question of my colleague Mr. Young by saying that there was an economic side, but that identity and Canadian pride were also major considerations. This is something we cannot do without nowadays.
You said earlier that this committee's work is very important. No witness could understand better than you that this committee must discuss certain topics. Speaking of committee work, I would like to use the first minute of my floor time to give notice of three motions. You will find that it would be very appropriate for the committee to consider them.
The first notice of motion is the following:That the Committee invites the president of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to appear before February 7th, 2014 for a two hour televised session to present the Commission's approach to the future of Canadian television to the Committee, including measures taken to solicit Canadians' participation in the Let's Talk TV consultation.
The second notice of motion reads as follows:That the Committee undertakes a study before February 28th, 2014 on actions taken by the Canadian government to implement the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and that the Committee invites representatives from the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Department of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Development, experts and civil society organizations to appear in this context.
The third notice of motion is the following:That the Committee holds a two hour session before March 7th, 2014 to update us on preparations for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation in 2017. That it also invites representatives from the Society of Celebrations of the 375th anniversary of Montreal in 2017 to this session to present their work to the Committee.
I am making this recommendation because I have met with some people from Montreal, and I thought their approach to consultations with various sectors was inspiring. The imagery of the identity and figurative aspects was very relevant and inspiring.
Ms. Glover, you probably know that we have proposed motion M-445 on resale rights in visual arts. At a recent auction held by Waddington's Auction House in Toronto, the works of 18 Inuit artists were sold for a total of $84,700. Had there been any resale rights, the artists would have received $4,235 of that money. It is time to address that shortcoming by integrating resale rights for artistic works into the Copyright Act, as over 69 countries have done. Do you have any plans when it comes to this?