Madam Speaker, I particularly would like to thank my colleague from Parkdale--High Park for her accurate and laudatory remarks about our position on funding for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which she seems to think is absolutely indispensable in holding together the country.
Perhaps she would like to take a look at the ratings of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in virtually any market of the country. In virtually every single market, commercial CBC television is in the basement in terms of viewership. What does that tell us? It tells us that private broadcasters attract more Canadians and do more to inform Canadians and that more Canadians choose to be informed by private broadcasters than by CBC. In my own city of Calgary, for instance, out of 100 points of market share I think the CBC has a market share of 8%, that is to say, 8 out of 100 Calgarians choose to watch the CBC.
I am all in favour of a national broadcaster, but we in our party believe that we can provide national, quality broadcasting more effectively by raising private funds to properly capitalize that kind of venture rather than leaving it to the discretion and generosity of the government on our behalf.
I would like to ask the hon. member this question. She lauded the $500 million in the budget for arts and culture investment and said it is essential to keeping the country together post-September 11. However, in the same budget the finance minister gave the defence department, when we net out the new mandates of that department, only a net $200 million a year for defence. Does the hon. member think that maintaining our national sovereignty is more likely to be affected by $500 million in culture spending than by $200 million in supporting our men and women in uniform? Is that the message she wants to send to our men and women in uniform, that producers at the CBC and television and film producers are more important than our fighting men and women? That is the message sent by the budget.