Clearly, when Canada Post announced that 25% cut, which is perhaps relatively normal, we all thought the big magazines like Macleans and L'Actualité could absorb it, because they have a certain number of subscribers and they can manage. However, the smaller French-language and English-language weeklies that normally have access to that funding will no longer have access to it.
If that program is not restored and not knowing how the Department of Canadian Heritage will allocate funding, that could mean a shortfall of $10,000 for Le Franco this year. These figures are published on the Canadian Heritage website. If the Department drops out in 2008 and if the program is not renewed, that represents a shortfall of $40,000. Can a newspaper survive under those circumstances? That's the question now being asked.
We are looking for alternatives, but that's a lot of money. That support is greatly appreciated and very important, but it will no longer be there starting March 31.