Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Waugh. You didn't say what you were buying, but I think the inference was clear.
I want to thank all the panellists and witnesses for being here. You're obviously showing your dedication and your passion, which is much needed in an industry that's working so hard to just recover. The arts are so hard hit. We know this. They're the first to be affected and the last to come back, so I appreciate that.
I'm happy to say that the Minister of Heritage visited us in my riding virtually. We put together round tables and had discussions. Even before that, I had ongoing panel discussions with our arts community, because there are big sectors, and then there are small grassroots ones like the ones we're talking to.
I was hoping to direct my questions to Mr. Mitchell and talk about theatres. We have the Drayton Theatre in my riding. It's one of the largest theatres in the country. We also have those small community theatres: Elmira Theatre Company, The Community Players of New Hamburg, KW Musical Productions, MT Space and Kitchener-Waterloo Little Theatre. These little theatres really become hubs for emerging artists.
In our last panel, I didn't get a chance to ask questions, but we talked about cultivating and incubating artists and how it's so difficult to have people stay in the arts. Many people are leaving the arts right now.
Mr. Mitchell, can you give some examples of how we can keep people, maybe with a bit of mentoring? How can we support artists? How can we help the next generation to get in? Right now these stages are dark.