Madam Speaker, I have to say to the member opposite that I was a little disturbed by his remarks. I come from downtown Toronto where the largest employers are those directly or indirectly related to the motion picture industry. Many of these young men and women got their beginning in places like the National Film Board and the CBC. The programs and the apprenticeship training in these great national institutions that helped these young men and women to develop the world class skills which currently allow them to make movies.
In my riding there are close to one million square feet of motion picture studio space. Right now, 5,800 people are employed with good paying, quality jobs. They make films for Disney and companies from Germany and all over the world.
Quite often people are obsessed with looking into government institutions like the CBC and the Canada Council. They are so obsessed with deficit cutting they do not realize that these are incubators for great human development and ultimately serve the whole nation and allow for a variety of export potential.
I share the concern of the hon. member about waste and making sure that we are getting a good bang for the taxpayer's buck. All too often the contribution of Canada's cultural industry to the whole macroeconomic equation is viewed in a deprecating way.
We have to be diligent. We must keep our heads up and make sure that we never desert the cultural industry in this country because it represents a good part of our soul.