Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage. In its foreign policy statement, the government clearly indicated its intention to make culture the cornerstone of this policy. Yet, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has cut Canada Council funding for the visiting foreign artists program, which will be replaced with an exchange program with the U.S. and Mexico exclusively.
Does the heritage minister recognize that redirecting this program towards the United States and Mexico will have a direct negative impact on francophone artists, whose main market is found in French-speaking countries around the world?