It has also reduced its purchases almost as significantly, in fact by about 75%. We make the same presentations to encourage the provincial government to place its advertising with francophone media organizations, since they rely on that revenue.
A few months ago, I was amused to read that the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star were talking about the cuts in advertising placed in the print media by both levels of government and how that put them in a difficult situation. If those two papers were in a difficult position, what does that mean for a small francophone weekly in a remote part of the province that publishes every week, every two weeks, or every month? The impact is enormous.
There is no more fat to cut right now, and media outlets have been down to the bone for some time. Several small media companies continue to operate thanks to the passionate people who work there and who want the francophone community to stay alive and vibrant.
Here's an example from our part of the province. About a year and a half ago, L'Express d'Ottawa shut down. A few months later, a francophile leader who had made a promise to his grandmother said he wanted to start up something in French.