I'll go quickly. Thank you.
The use of excerpts will continue to be a solution in classrooms, as shown by the many millions of pages that are copied in classrooms every year. To facilitate access to that content, we propose developing an online portal, which we're naming “the digital commons”, that can serve educators and students in a far more efficient manner than the current largely paper-based approach that predominates.
With the Association of Canadian Publishers, we have been conducting initial research into this concept, and we looked to Quebec for a model called “SAMUEL”, which we think is a very good starting point. We think it's an important step, this project towards normalizing the commercial use of educational content that has been eroded by lack of clarity in the current legislation.
However, a digital commons alone will not help without change to the legislative language. Many of us in the creative sector have proposed very specific solutions to that language, including as a first step the harmonization of statutory damages, which we've heard about. We would encourage the government to consider looking at those solutions, and we would also be happy to come back to this group with the legislative language we have proposed over the past several months.
In closing, we would ask this committee for a very specific recommendation in your report that compels the Government of Canada to support the publishing industry's call for a solution to our challenges by considering funding for the digital commons initiative and a resolution to the legislative situation that restores the commercial marketplace for educational resources.
Thank you. I'm very happy to take questions when the time comes.