Mr. Speaker, my reason for rising in the adjournment debate this evening is that I repeatedly put questions to the Minister for Canadian Heritage but never got a satisfactory answer.
Today again I asked her what she intends to do to remedy the situation, yet she failed to make any real commitment. Tomorrow perhaps, with the Minister of Finance, she may announce the various measures that will be taken to set things straight.
The television production industry is going through a crisis, because the government announced in its last budget $25 million in cuts. If we substract $25 million from the $100 million allocated, this leaves $75 million in funding, and this measure applies not only to the current year but also to the following one. Broadcasting will therefore undergo cuts two years in a row.
Again today, the Minister of Canadian Heritage was unable to be specific about how she intended to deal with the situation. While she has said that an announcement will be made on Thursday by her colleague, the Minister of Finance, and herself to make up for this loss, the crisis shows how the Minister of Canadian Heritage has failed to defend the funding with the Minister of Finance. Given how little he cares for culture, it is no wonder that $25 million was cut in the Canadian television fund budget.
This is a fund that was established in 1997, specifically to support television production in Quebec and Canada. We have been told that several private partners, as well as the federal government, provide funding for television production.
To give an idea of what this fund is all about, in 1996-97, Canadian Heritage contributed $100 million, while satellite broadcasting companies contributed $48 million and Telefilm Canada, $45 million, for a total of $193 million, or nearly $200 million.
Afterwards, satellite broadcasters contributed more to the fund as the number of subscribers went up. It is prorated to the number of subscribers. The share of satellite broadcasters has nearly doubled.
In 2002-03, there were $260 million in the fund. In 2003-04, the fund was cut not by $25 million but by $25 million plus a further $4 million, as the CRTC established new rules for cable operators that were supposed to contribute to the Canadian television fund a certain percentage of their revenues, namely 4%.
But now the CRTC has asked cable operators to put all this money into community television networks because they are managing them. So the fund is now short $30 million.
These cuts hurt a lot. They are unjustified. Who is paying the price of these cuts? Both greater Montreal and the regions. The regions were getting $2.1 million of the $76 million earmarked for TV production in Quebec. This means that this year there will be no money for TV production in the regions.
The government is sending a confusing message. It says TV production must increase so we can have Canadian content, and I would also say Quebec content, but as a result of these cuts there will be less Canadian content on our various networks.
That has hurt artists a lot. It means hundreds of hours less of work for artists. Jobs will disappear. People in this field have every right to be worried. I met with these workers several times during the past few weeks.
I asked these questions several weeks ago. The Canadian heritage minister said Liberal members had been lobbying her, but I must say that, as the critic for Canadian heritage, I have been doing my job and I have urged the minister to act as quickly as possible in this file.