Sure. First, we travelled across Canada. We went very far. We went up north and into the provinces. We met with a number of groups and individuals, who often told us that local and regional media have disappeared, so there is no longer any representation of their lives and what is happening in their region.
It's all about democracy. We read a study in the United States that shows that when a newspaper disappears in a town, village or small city, a few years later, the level of corruption has gone up. The local journalist is the one who keeps a close eye on what is going on in the municipal council and sees if everything is being done properly. Supporting media is a fundamental issue of democracy. We were asked a question to that effect and we tried to answer it as best we could.
Ms. Yale spoke at length about the principles we hold sacred: media and journalistic independence, and freedom of expression. We have humbly made suggestions to try to find funding models. There may be local digital media, but we still have to have the means to support them. Paper is one thing, but there is also digital. Where I live, I can attend municipal council meetings via the Internet and see what's going on. You have to have the means to do that.
I think it's very important for everyone here to know that we were extremely moved and awakened to the realities outside of the major urban centres. For example, there are the firefighters that Mr. Blaney mentioned. There are farms that are trying to get modern equipment, but cannot because the Internet connection is unreliable. We were very much made aware of this, and you will see that we talk about it very frequently in all chapters of the report.