First, I would like to clarify something. During my presentation, I actually talked about $46 billion— the official figure provided by Statistics Canada—in direct contributions to the GDP. The $84 billion includes the indirect impact, according to the Conference Board. I just wanted to clarify that, as the two figures are out there. They are not wrong, but they are in reference to different things.
I was trying to show something as quickly as possible. A substantial part of the cultural sector is made up of small businesses and individual entrepreneurs. I would like to quote the economists who are saying that lightening small businesses' tax burden is the way to create the most jobs. That's not a new discovery, as we've heard it said for many years. It stems from various studies conducted in Quebec, at the federal level or elsewhere in Canada. That's why we suggest that tax measures be adopted specifically for the cultural sector and self-employed workers.
It's interesting to note that creating a single job in the cultural sector requires an investment of about $30,000, while in the heavy industry sector, that figure is more in the neighbourhood of $300,000. If the goal is to have as many Canadians working as possible, I think these arguments are valid.