Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Official Opposition doth protest too much, but I want to thank him for his short course in pop culture in the form of a quote from Astérix.
The hon. member opposite must know, and I told him so earlier, that this is not about criteria that must be applied regardless. In fact this is not about criteria at all. There are no prerequisites. We respect the freedom of the artists, that is quite clear.
What we have here are simply objectives. One of those objectives is diversity. The hon. member opposite mentioned another one. Is he against cultural diversity and cultural excellence?
I believe that Mr. Léveillée, that Edith Butler and many others are excellent examples of this cultural diversity in Canada. And I hope my hon. friend will agree that these people excel in their field.