They are doing five times as well.
Evidence of meeting #34 for Finance in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was research.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #34 for Finance in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was research.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:50 p.m.
National Executive Director, Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists
Yes, they are doing five times as well.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
Obviously in creating stars and being able to create an appetite to see Canadian films, they are doing five times better in Quebec than we are in English Canada.
4:50 p.m.
National Executive Director, Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists
Yes.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
One of the things in your recommendations is the cross-pollination between television and film and the Internet, but mainly it's that the regulation of some of the private broadcasters is not strong enough, so they don't necessarily do what they said they were going to do. Then we watch a lot of American content.
I think there is a need, obviously, in certain parts of Canada, to be employing people in making product for other countries. This is the finance committee, not the heritage committee; what would you want to actually see in the budget, other than the tax credit? Do you want orthodontists back getting tax credits and paying for our films, or do you think the government actually has a role to play?
4:50 p.m.
National Executive Director, Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists
The capital cost allowance structure that was in place in the eighties certainly created a lot of product, and not necessarily the best. Certainly, lawyers and dentists and accountants, as you said, made a lot of money, and not necessarily good films, in that process. We're looking for tax credits that encourage production, and encourage investment in this country. We're looking for private-public partnerships in the nature of the SODEC model that's available in Quebec, which has certainly encouraged production in that province.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
In terms of the CBC, do you think they should be showing Jeopardy instead of dramatic film or dramatic products?
4:50 p.m.
National Executive Director, Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists
Ms. Bennett, you hit on something that of course is an ongoing irritant for us, and it is Jeopardy and the Wheel of Fortune being used as lead-ins to the Canadian content that we find in prime time on the CBC. Certainly, we support the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and believe not only that its public support should be maintained, but it should, in our view, be increased. We would like to see more funding for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. That said, of course, we're not happy with some of that product that is there right now, and we'd like to see Canadian content replace it.
Thank you.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Thank you.
Thank you very much. You forgot The Simpsons, Ms. Bennett, as well.
4:50 p.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
You see, the chair can make a joke once in a while.
All right, we'll finish with Mr. Wallace, please.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Mike Wallace Conservative Burlington, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank our guests for coming on a Monday afternoon.
As you know--it was mentioned I think when we heard from the last group--this is the finance committee. We're not talking about the Broadcasting Act at this one. I have another committee I happen to belong to that had some discussion on that.
Just for clarification, we have the R and D groups here today, and I'd ask the biotech folks, are you members of this group, or are they members of your group? How does this work?
4:50 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, BIOTECanada
The short answer is, a number of companies that are a part of Canada's research-based pharmaceutical companies are also participating in BIOTECanada. Our membership is probably a little broader because we don't just have those leading global companies. We also have small, emerging Canadian enterprises in health, as well as industrial biotechnology, as well as agricultural biotechnology, and research institutes, in our broader platform. So there are very much similarities in the continuum.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Mike Wallace Conservative Burlington, ON
Okay.
My next question is this. As you all know and you've heard, part of my responsibility I think here is...we've gone through a difficult time, and we provided stimulus funding to try to get the economy going. We're looking at pulling out of that stimulus funding this next year, but we do have a deficit of $52 billion or $53 billion--it doesn't matter, but it's over $50 billion. We need to find ways to try to get back to a balanced budget. I don't think any of your companies operate in the red for long before the banker, or whoever, comes to see them to put them out of business. So we need to get back to balanced budgets. Can anyone here today, in this first panel, tell me where in your suggestions it saves us money? There are three places where we get our funds: we either raise taxes, which I'm not on for; or we reduce spending; or we have growth, which helps produce revenue.
I'd be happy if someone would like to volunteer--we have a volunteer down here--on how your recommendations help us get back to a balanced budget. I think there are a few hands going up.
4:55 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc., BIOTECanada
Honourable Member Wallace, that's a very good question, and a very difficult question, as you know. I'm CEO of a company, and throughout my career in 17 years I've had to fire people, I've had to make very difficult decisions about resource allocation, which you as honourable members do on a daily basis. My suggestion is that there are strategic areas of the economy that are both strategic currently and in the long run, and this might be a starting place for considering allocation of resources.
Certainly, in my bias in the area of health and therapeutic developments, again, I reiterate a point I made in my submission, which was that there are several tens of billions of dollars per annum of the expenditures that are related to education and health and research. It is the additional support and capture of long-term revenue on a world-wide basis that could contribute eventually to the balancing of that budget.
That certainly is my comment.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Thank you.
We'll go down the line. Madame Kenny, s'il vous plaît.
4:55 p.m.
President, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
My short answer is to continue investing in the partnerships you have with the francophone communities in order to fulfill those obligations under the Official Languages Act.
We are quite a bit cheaper than setting up your own shop, and the government has said it would work with organizations that are on the ground. Our base investment, since 2005, has been at $27 million; it was at $24 million for more than 10 years before that, and we have not had an increase. That was to provide services to 2.5 million French-speaking people outside of Quebec, so continue investing with us.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Thank you. We have a minute left for everyone else.
Ms. Shamian.
4:55 p.m.
Signatory, Canadian Caregiver Coalition
I have two very quick comments.
There are hundreds of thousands of Canadians who are not fully engaged in the labour market because of their caregiving responsibilities. If you help them, they will help the productivity.
Second, look at the home care agenda that is not being resourced and managed properly. We end up with very expensive acute care beds instead of doing it very cheaply in the home care arena.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Thank you.
I see more hands now.
Ms. Price, very, very briefly. We have 15 seconds for four people.
4:55 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Luminato, Canadian Festivals Coalition
Thank you. As you can see in the brief, we've made a case from our sector for economic impact, but we didn't speak specifically in our remarks to the diversified nature of our funding. For most of us in the festival events sector, particularly the not-for-profit organizations, we receive significant funding also from individuals through philanthropy and from corporate partnerships. That balance of diversified funding is very important.
4:55 p.m.
National Executive Director, Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Mr. Wallace, for the great question.
Each dollar invested in our industry creates green jobs. For each dollar invested you're going to generate seven dollars worth of investment out of that, creating good jobs for Canadians.
Thank you.