I understand why the government, like everyone else, wants to go digital. No one disagrees with that.
First of all, the idea of a digital shift can mean several things. All media organizations at least have a website, but they have to take an extra step to begin a genuine shift. Others are well engaged in the process, in particular L'Acadie Nouvelle and Le Droit, if I'm not mistaken. However, the model has apparently not proven profitable for them.
In my view, the current model is not viable for the media in general. I don't think there is a media organization in the world that has achieved a lot of success and made profits on the Internet. Media organizations in Canada generate revenue from their paper versions, partly as a result of advertising. The cost of online advertising is very different from that of advertising intended for paper versions.
Consequently, instead of deciding to invest in media organizations that have proven they can make go digital, let's provide the necessary support instead to all those that would like to do so.
We should also not put all minority community media organizations on the same footing as all other media. They perform very specific roles in those communities in addressing specific needs. Once again, the idea is to provide assistance—which may be asymmetrical—to help those organizations survive and thus contribute to the vitality of the minority communities.