Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member for Surrey Central said I was preaching. I certainly feel as if that is what I am doing today. I am preaching to people who have yet to be converted to just what it means to have an expression of who we are as a nation, to be able to share that with the world, to be able to pass it on to our children.
I do not understand the gist of the question as posed. To do anything but what we are proposing today would be to say let American culture rule the day; let us stamp out all of our unique expressions.
When it comes to the whole question of economics, we are not talking about wasting money and causing taxpayers extra burden. We are talking about the opposite. The member should know that the largest subsidy to the cultural life of Canada comes not from government, corporations or other patrons, but from the artists themselves through their unpaid or underpaid labour. When creative activity is diminished because many artists are unable to earn a decent living, something is lost to all of us and our entire culture fails to fulfil its promise.