Mr. Speaker, I wonder on which planet the hon. member for Saint-Denis lives, given what she said about subsidies being given to French speaking communities everywhere. She should reread this blue document called the budget. She will realize that there are cuts, year after year, and that the assimilation rate keeps growing. It is time the hon. member woke up.
The hon. member claims that her government provides many good things in its budget for culture. Let me just remind her of a few facts which she does not appear to have figured out: the CBC, cuts totalling $150 million and close to 5,000 jobs eliminated; Telefilm Canada, cuts of $19 million; the National Film Board, cuts of $10 million; the National Archives, cuts of $11 million; the writing and publications program-books are important, our authors tell our story-cuts of $14 million; heritage programs, cultural development, cuts of $22 million.
Please, wake up. These are cuts, not support. These are cuts and when cuts are made, it results in a reduction, not an increase, in production and in the number of jobs.
It is time to wake up and realize that the budget tabled in this House does not promote cultural development and does not in any way support one of the main recommendations made in the Juneau report, which provides that we should not only ensure the recognition of our cultural institutions such as the CBC, Telefilm and the National Film Board, but also their long term funding. Not only does this budget not follow up on these recommendations, which have gained unanimous support, but it also cuts everywhere, thus creating losses of jobs and services, while jeopardizing cultural development as a whole.