The member is absolutely correct on both points. First of all, attention is being paid to pirating. It's a very deep concern of our members, and we have been quite supportive since the announcement was made about legislation. I was in the Centre Block for that and answered media questions. I was invited to be there by Minister Oda, and I've already spoken with Ms. Verner about the piracy problem and the fact that we are encouraging law enforcement to crack down on this. As I said before, I don't have any statistics.
Thank you for raising the question of foreign workers. This has traditionally been something that we've been able to handle, because the HRDC did consult... I've been an actor for 30 years, and in my lengthy career I have been involved with ACTRA. I've been able to audition and get work in foreign productions that came to this country, and many of my colleagues did as well.
That is something that our union was able to enforce, because HRDC consulted with the union as far as work permits go for every role, not just the lead roles. For some strange reason that has not been explained to us, in 2007 HRDC stopped consulting with all unions on the issuing of work permits. It has become a serious challenge, because now we see non-Canadians being imported to play not only two- or three-day roles but single-day roles. This is a tremendous job loss to Canadians and the treasury of this country.
Thank you for that question, sir.