Thank you Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Merrell, for giving us more information on the subject.
I found it touching to hear you say that although you aren't normally in favour of government intervention, there is currently a problem. The writing's on the wall. Your media sector is in danger.
I believe the Glacier Media Group, whose representative will speak to us later, is part of the entity that owns the St. Albert Gazette. A consolidation occurred, and that's very good. It's important to band together to remain strong and stay in position. However, currently the giant is larger and comes from the Internet.
I think you want to say that we have, in a way, two choices. We can either support at a loss—at the government taxation level—a system because we believe it's valuable to our communities, to local merchants, to the life of smaller communities, and so on, or we can embrace change. Embracing change means we consider the Internet the new workplace, the new battlefield. Investments therefore need to be made in that area.
I still remember GoGaspe.com, a group of local media, community radio and television stations, small privately-owned television stations, and newspapers.
Do you think a government incentive to create a hub that groups together the media in smaller communities would be a good idea? Can it be done?