Yes, of course.
This is a point that comes up often in the field studies I do with stakeholders in the cultural sector. I make a comparison between France and Quebec. That gives us a picture that's much broader than strictly what's going on in our country. Obviously, the connections to the rest of Canada as well are absolutely valuable and important.
Participants in my studies tell me that they're increasingly under pressure from their audience, but also from their patrons, those who fund them. However, there are political requirements that sometimes complicate their relationship with their audience.
I mentioned two completely different examples. I talked about the Conservative culture war. I also talked about progressive struggles. The people I'm interviewing don't necessarily have the same positioning with each other. They talk to me more clearly about self-censorship. I'm thinking, for example, of the pressure being put on libraries to cancel invitations for drag queens to come and do readings in libraries, requests for the removal of texts that talk about gender issues or issues of racism. In those cases, librarians are asking for protection so that they can continue to carry out the activities that are important to them. I'll leave it at that.
However, this time, there's a desire for self-regulation on other issues that people in the cultural sector are generally much more in favour of. Take, for example, the decolonization of art, the fight against discrimination in the art sector. In those cases, they will instead seek to regulate themselves and acquire tools to be able to react, let's say, to these various problems.