Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to everyone who presented today. I want to ask the Independent Broadcast Group a couple of questions.
I represent the north. I've had a lot of opportunities to talk with the media in the north. More specifically, I have had many chats with the indigenous media in the north. I can still turn the radio on in the Northwest Territories and hear indigenous languages spoken on a regular basis. We have 11 official languages, nine of which are indigenous. I can turn on my TV and listen to people and watch them speak their language.
It's very important to have indigenous language shared and promoted through the use of media. I can also hear messages being passed on to people who are out on outpost camps, traplines and hunting. It's still a tradition that we use.
We've seen many challenges with radio stations. A number of smaller community radio stations have shut down. We had 33 community radio stations. We got to the point where half of them have closed because of new technology, and the cost is unaffordable.
I believe you have members in your broadcast group that are indigenous.
What challenges have you seen with the COVID outbreak? What has it brought in terms of new challenges to indigenous media that they've faced in the last little while?