What I understand about the cuts to public diplomacy funding that were announced ten days ago or thereabouts--the $11.8 million in public diplomacy funding that is gone--is that a portion of that will indeed, as best we can tell, have an impact on tours that have already been planned, budgeted, and contracted for.
A number of our member groups that have been putting plans in place for many years, as they need to in order to incorporate touring into their schedule of activities and to build the depth of relationship necessary with international presenters to gain their confidence, are in a very difficult position right now. They have been told by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada that all the requests are currently on hold until the department knows the impact the cuts will have on cultural touring funding.
These are tours that are actually coming up as early as this spring. The potential impact on Canada's reputation, on relationships that have taken many years to develop.... We have always seen these as an important pillar of Canada's international public diplomacy. This is in fact a very difficult situation. I can't say that it's not difficult, and there's an enormous amount of concern out there.