Look, there's no doubt. You can call it a rose; by any other colour it's still a rose. I totally understand that.
The committee invited me here to ask what some solutions would be. I could have come here just to state what the problems are and say, “Okay, here are the problems. You figure it out.”
I think the industry is looking for an ally. These are ways.... Look, there was an Ontario digital tax credit for innovation. It was helpful for a few years. I didn't hear a public uproar, asking “Why are we doing this for these companies?” We were in better shape when that was put into place.
All we're saying now is that maybe should look at that, because the state of affairs in the industry is much worse today. I'm not trying to paint an overly bleak picture. I'm painting the picture that's out there. I will tell you that within three years, there'll be many more closures in some of your own communities because of the state of the newspapers.
We operate about 180 newspapers in this country. Local newspapers provide local content for people who can't get that information in other places. That's not going to be available if we allow this to continue.
We have made cuts for years now. I've been back in this business for six years. We have done everything we can. We believe that merging with Sun Media.... We went to the Competition Bureau, and spoke to them, and said, “That gives us a little bit more runway”. The erosion of the print ad revenue has been so dramatic that even that runway is short.
Yes, you're absolutely right, an option for the government is to do nothing. You're our elected representatives. I commend you for even having this meeting. If you decide to do nothing, that's your call. I'm not trying to paint an uglier picture than what it is. It's ugly and will get uglier, based on the trends that exist today.