Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity this afternoon to speak on Bill C-103. I believe I will be one of the last speakers on the bill.
This is a symbolic time to be dealing with Bill C-103.
In fact, the bill we are debating this afternoon deals with Canadian culture and ways of preserving it. I know that some members opposite-and I am directing my remarks to Reformers in particular today-have it that certain Canadian cultural industries for example do not need any additional protection.
I have spoken about this before in the House, both generally and more specifically. At a Canada-U.S. interparliamentary group meeting, a United States congressman indicated that the motion picture industry in Hollywood and elsewhere was a bit upset with Canadians because we had what they believed to be rather restrictive policies in that sector.
I believe it was the former hon. member for Annapolis Valley-Hants, Patrick Nowlan, who responded to the congressman. He said: "How would you feel if in your country 97 per cent of all the films were produced in another country and you could watch television for a day or movies for a whole weekend and never once see a scene from your country? How long would you put up with it?" The congressman said: "I guess you have a point".
The measures we were using at that time were in reference to another cultural industry, but they made the same point which is the fact that immediately to the south of us is a cultural giant. It is not a matter of our saying that our cultural industries, magazine publishers and so on are not competitive. It has absolutely nothing to do with that. It has to do with being overwhelmed by the giant to the south of us.
My hon. colleague from the riding of Halton-Peel is an artist who has participated as an actor and performer in a number of productions. I do not say this disrespectfully, but the member for Halton-Peel surely knows a lot more about these kinds of issues than do many members of the Reform Party across the way. I am sure he would agree on the importance of protecting Canada's cultural industries.
I think there is something else, in the sense that some members of the Reform Party tend to give the impression that the cultural industry belongs exclusively to a kind of elite instead of belonging to everyone in our society. That is totally wrong. These people are trying to convey that idea, and I think that it does not reflect the Canadian reality.
Poetry, magazines, television programs, and music-how can I forget music-are all part of the Canadian culture, and in each of these areas there is a Canadian cultural industry, or at least a potential industry.
Today, we are debating this issue of periodicals, magazines published or produced in another country, electronically transmitted to Canada and duplicated in Canada in an attempt to circumvent Canadian legislation. Reformers say that cultural industries can do like other Canadian industries and operate without anything to protect them in case they have to compete with foreign products.
I see it this way. The members of the Reform Party are looking at the cultural industries as if we were strictly discussing a commercial product, in other words, whether or not someone can produce a hammer in Canada cheaper than in the United States. That is not the issue. South of the border there is such immense potential for news and for drawing advertising. There is absolutely no parallel in Canada. The economy of scale in those kinds of industries operate
very differently from what they do in other areas of human endeavour.
Members across the way just will not hear that kind of a proposition. They should because if ever there was a time in the history of this country where we should all rally around those instruments of Canadian culture that could bind us together, surely it is today. Surely today of all days we should be reminding ourselves of the necessity for keeping those instruments which enhance, highlight and make people aware of that which makes us different from other nations and which makes us Canadian.
It could be books. We have a number of very good Canadian authors. There are a number of very good publishing houses in Canada, many of them small. As a colleague reminded us a while ago, some of these small publishing companies have been assisted by what is commonly referred to as the postal subsidy. It has assisted small publishing companies in putting out very excellent works by Canadian authors. What is wrong with that? Why will members of the Reform Party not see that those things are important and especially important today of all days? They do not understand any of that.