You've already heard from a number of witnesses who have helped diagnose the problems and proposed solutions. Absolutely vital is that the government does not give away either the Online Streaming Act or the Online News Act in trade negotiations. On the latter, in February, LITS filed an application with the CRTC to bring Meta under the Online News Act.
We have a number of specific recommendations for government. We also have commentary on each of these recommendations in our written opening statement, which we do not have time to read, unfortunately.
First and foremost, we ask you to support the CAB's request for emergency bridge funding of the ILNF. Going forward, we have three recommendations to build a viable and sustainable news ecosystem for all broadcasters. One, extend the journalism tax credit to broadcasters. Two, have the federal government commit to directing at least 25% of its advertising budget to trusted domestic professional news organizations. Three, eliminate advertising tax deductibility on foreign platforms.
In their earlier appearances, RNC Media and Télé Inter-Rives spoke about the urgency of the situation, saying that if support isn't imminent, cuts in news hours and journalists and ultimately station closures are all but inevitable. Thunder Bay's TV stations are at a similar risk, as are those of Miracle Channel and Pattison. We ourselves, CHEK and NTV have a bit more runway, but as things stand, news cuts are likely this summer or possibly fall. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians in smaller communities will lose a significant amount, potentially their only source, of local news. We are here to ask you to help ensure that this doesn't happen.
Thank you. We'd be pleased to answer your questions.