Mr. Speaker, I would say to the hon. member that we will be pleased to hear him right after Question Period, even though we know that his objectivity is sometimes questionable; however, that does not stop me from being on very good terms with him, as I have been for a long time.
The Bloc Quebecois supports this bill. As I said on second reading, it is the result of three years of negotiations. It began under the Conservative government and continued under the present government between the Department of Communications, Treasury Board, the Department of Finance and Telefilm Canada. It finally meets the expectations of the creative community. It is pretty much what the stakeholders concerned wanted.
I will be very brief in explaining the support that we want to give because I think this is not the time for speeches. The parties gave their positions very clearly on second reading. We are at last finalizing this issue and ensuring that Telefilm Canada will have the wherewithal to support the creative artists but not to stray from the goals for which it was created.
Remember that its purpose is to help not only more commercial productions but also more specialized creative work with narrower appeal that still falls within the principles which the House of Commons defended when Telefilm Canada was founded.
At this point, I have only one question about this bill, namely that this very important aspect of more limited and specialized creative work is overlooked and too much emphasis is put on subsidizing big commercial projects and that with the funds made available by this borrowing authority, the part that is too commercial could be favoured.
I would point out that Quebec's SOGIC worked in the same way, trying to promote equity between commercial and documentary productions. I hope that Telefilm Canada will take the same course as Quebec's SOGIC. Bill C-31 will be a healing balm for producers in Quebec and Canada who are waiting for the government to bring forth another essential measure for the survival of this industry.
As I said last time in my speech, this measure is a tax credit to replace the current tax shelter for depreciation. A tax credit would directly and totally benefit Canadian production of films and videos, unlike the present tax shelter.
It is estimated that only 7 per cent of the cost of this tax measure is reinvested in actual Canadian production and the tax credit requires no investment of additional funds. So, I urge the government to take heed of this request concerning the tax credit. It would not cost anything, it would not require any additional funds nor any guarantee, and it would ensure that this change concerning support to Telefilm Canada will provide a lot of funds to a corporation which represents us so well and which produces a lot of quality work. As I said earlier, we hope that it will not neglect the type of documentaries which it has produced so far; indeed, it might be tempted to get away from such production, given the measures announced today.
The tax credit, which was created in 1990, is a real success story and it truly serves the interests of the Quebec film industry. Once again, I want to congratulate the minister responsible and the government for dealing promptly with an issue which had been pending for three years. Instead of creating a new committee, as is so often the case, the government started with the solid base already in place and added the last element to provide a concrete solution which meets the expectations of Telefilm Canada.
We should have proceeded like this with several other issues. We could, of course, find other possible amendments. However, I will conclude by reiterating our support and by hoping that this bill will be passed as quickly as possible. For this reason, I think that once the three speakers representing the government, the Reform Party and the Bloc are finished, there will be no point in discussing this legislation any longer.
The people at Telefilm Canada expect a concrete measure before we adjourn for the summer, since this will have an impact on their activities in September. Consequently, we should deal with this bill right away.
I will be the last speaker for the Bloc Quebecois regarding this issue. I think that the Reform Party will also conclude, and we expect the government to do the same, so that we can proceed with the vote as quickly as possible.
Once again, I wish luck to Telefilm Canada and I hope that the government will take into consideration this aspect of the tax credit which is really a success with the Quebec corporation SOGIC.