Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thanks to all the witnesses. Their testimony was very eloquent.
I think the most eloquent of all, and the most crucially important for every one of us, was that of Ms. Doyle, which I found very moving.
This is a situation to which I have devoted nearly seven years of my political life. Ms. Doyle is an artist who has come to tell us she can no longer earn a living from her work. Everyone of us—and I have no doubts about everyone's good faith—everyone must let that sink in. That's why we're here. We are the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. We are here to ensure that our heritage stays alive for future generations.
I appreciate the good faith of my colleague Mr. Shields, who asks questions about radio. Incidentally, I invite him to check La Presse+, which we're discussing a lot, to learn about the not-for-profit structure model organized with the federal government by the officers of that media player so they can find a way to survive, since the government's doing nothing.
There's an article that claims the radio industry is doing very well. I think we can take it for granted that this exemption should be lowered to zero. It's a temporary measure, and I don't think the people at Bell, in Toronto, who wear clothes worth $8,000 need any help. I think it's Ms. Doyle who needs help in paying her early childhood centre, or ECC, and for education services for her children, as do all Canadians who have a job, who love that job, and who contribute to society.
I think the document you've submitted as a group, as a coalition, demonstrates its own value since everyone has signed it and everyone agrees on the major points.
Do you think every one of these recommendations stands a chance of being well received and interpreted by a committee such as ours? I'm sorry the committee isn't an ad hoc committee struck specifically to study the issue. The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage and the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology have been assigned that task. I think that's troubling.
Let me ask you this: don't you think it would be interesting—I know I'm completely ignoring the committee's rules here—to prepare an interim report. We've started a process that will take several months. We'll be leaving for the summer, we'll take a break, and we'll lie out on the sand instead of drinking the glasses of sand that the copyright review represents. The fact is that, for everyone here, even for me—Ms. Drouin was explaining to me how well acquainted I am with these issues, which leaves me very emotional—this is very dry and very complex. Everyone here is wondering who does what. What are SOCAN and Re:Sound? Everyone of us thinks this is a very complicated issue. It's complicated, but it's extremely important. I think Ms. Doyle's testimony is distressing.
I'm going to take a break and let someone else speak, but, before doing that, I would like to raise a point. Would you have liked the Conservatives from Quebec to ask you a question? Here we have representatives from the Union des artistes du Québec and the Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo.
It would be good to hear the Conservatives talk about culture. Would you have liked Mr. Bernier ask you a question?