Thank you very much.
Thank you, esteemed colleagues, for inviting me once again today, this time to speak to the Main Estimates 2024–2025. I want to thank Isabelle Mondou, deputy minister of Canadian Heritage, and Thomas Owen Ripley, associate assistant deputy minister, for being here with me.
This is an important moment in terms of choosing our investments. Our budget focuses on urgent issues such as housing, the cost of living and fighting climate change. It also recognizes the fundamental importance of the arts and culture. We will be increasing our support for festivals, performances, music, the audiovisual sector and the protection of our news ecosystem, which is in jeopardy.
I would like to begin with a few key points on choices I think the committee will be interested in. The CBC/Radio‑Canada has been the subject of lively debate at the committee. It is a priority for me, and let me explain why.
The public broadcaster is the only dedicated, reliable, sustainable, independent source of news, information and entertainment that is uniquely Canadian from coast to coast to coast.
Our broadcaster is the only media outlet in Canada that serves Canadians in both official languages and in eight indigenous languages. It also covers regions that the private sector does not serve and does not wish to serve because of a lack of profitability. The CBC/Radio‑Canada helps Canadians make decisions and face crises and urgent situations together, such as those related to the pandemic and the impact of international conflicts on Canada.
Like the other six G7 countries, our government understands the role of a public broadcaster, especially in a world dominated by digital platforms and web giants. We also understand the importance of content that is produced at home, by us and for us.
With the private sector going through financial difficulties, journalists being laid off and newsrooms closing, we need sustainability for CBC/Radio-Canada. It would simply be irresponsible of a government in a democratic country such as ours to defund and shut down the most reliable and stable source of information.
So we have a choice to make, whether to let the free market reign and be invaded by foreign content, or stand up for Canada's voice. In view of the $42 milllion invested in budget 2024 and the current review of the CBC/Radio‑Canada's mandate, which I will talk about in greater detail in the coming months, we have made a clear choice.
Let us turn now to support for the arts and culture.
Our need to access information and content made locally is why we passed the Online Streaming Act and the Online News Act. Canadians want to see their experiences and communities reflected on screen, in what they read and in what they listen to.
As a sovereign nation, we have chosen to force foreign web giants to contribute, which benefits the work of Canadian creators, our culture and ensures that they play a role in promoting Canadian content. Despite the obstruction of our legislation, Canadian creators will be able to enjoy success in a competitive digital market since we have levelled the playing field.
As a Quebecker and a Canadian, I recognize that we have a distinct identity. In a world guided by American culture, our duty as a government is to act and to make sure that we always have our own cultural references. We are not American. Our heritage is important to us, and Canadians do not have to make do with American content.
That is why we have made landmark investments in the arts and culture since 2015, following the massive cuts made by the previous government. Every time we had to make a decision for the arts and culture sector, we chose to support it.
The same applies to our news ecosystem. You have surely noted, as have I, that the crisis in the news industry is having a serious impact on our social fabric and on our ability to exchange different points of view and obtain fact-based information. Numerous experts have shown through their work that the spread of fake news and conspiracy theories can undermine confidence in democratic institutions, polarize society and compromise the quality of public debate. These findings are alarming, and we are concerned. That is why local independent journalism is more important than ever.
We recently enhanced the local journalism initiative in budget 2024, and thanks to the passage of our Online News Act, Google will soon pay nearly half a billion dollars over five years to news organizations for their work.
While our cultural and informational ecosystems must overcome these major disruptions and changes, it is our responsibility to defend Canadians’ access to information and everything that helps build our identity. I remind you that in 2023, culture represented over $63 billion of our nominal gross domestic product, or GDP, and it supported over 705,000 jobs all over the country.