Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
My presentation will be in French. It's easier for me.
I would like to talk to you about the Canadian Festivals Coalition, which I represent. In fact, there are four representatives, one each for the Atlantic Provinces, Ontario, the Western Provinces and Quebec, in the last case myself.
We are currently concerned about the entire dynamic of funding for festivals in Canada as a result of two hard blows we've received in the past five years. The first is the complete loss of sponsorship from the tobacco companies under a federal act passed prohibiting the practice. I don't want to reopen the debate on tobacco. That's not the issue. The fact is that that act alone represents a loss of between $50 and $100 million for the Canadian sponsorship industry.
The second factor I want to emphasize is the federal government's sponsorship program, which was ultimately called the sponsorship scandal. I'm talking more about the agency scandal. The problem wasn't what the events received, but rather the intermediary between the government and the events, including the festivals. They've always spent the money very well. In this case, we're talking about a loss of $50 million a year.
We're asking you to listen to us carefully. My three colleagues from the other regions of Canada and I would simply like to go back to a program entailing standards and including basic criteria for events development, so that we can continue the economic development work we are doing in all regions of Canada.
You should know that there are major festivals in all ridings and all regions and that those events contribute to the economic and social development of those areas. To do this, we ask that these amounts — and we're not talking about new money here — be paid to us once again so that we can support between 600 and 800 festivals in Canada. I prefer not to use the word “event”. What happened 15 minutes ago could be called an event. We're not talking about that kind of event, but about festivals.
Our industry is being asked to participate closely in the tourist development of all our communities in the regions, but curiously the tourist promotion that is being done through the festivals doesn't benefit the festivals themselves. Only tickets bring in money. The rest of the money from those attending the festivals goes to hotels, restaurants, transportation companies, food services and souvenir retailers. All orders of government are asking us to take part in tourist development, but that doesn't help us.
We're requesting financial support that will generate economic impact. Every dollar invested by the federal government in events returns $8 to its coffers, not in the form of economic development, but in the form of taxes. Our request represents between 600 and 800 festivals, a contribution of $50 million a year. We are ready to review the criteria with all parties concerned. We are already prepared to file a concrete proposal. You may examine that in the summary that our group sent you a few days ago.
I'll close my presentation by telling you that this is a real cry from the heart. Our industry has suffered major losses, and that's the case everywhere, not solely in Quebec.
Thank you very much.