I call to order the meeting of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
I want to thank our witness, Mr. Blais, for coming. As you know, we're going to have a two-hour session. Mr. Blais, you know how committees work. You have 10 minutes to present to us, and then we will have an interactive question-and-answer session with you.
As you know, the committee is studying the issue of local media, access to local news and local content and to Canadian content across Canada and in the regions, what the role of media consolidation has been, and its impact positively and negatively. We are looking at all platforms, including the role of the digital platform, which is a relatively new one, and what its impact has been. What can we as a committee recommend to the government to deal with some of the challenges we're currently facing to be able to achieve access?
Please begin.