Mr. Speaker, the Liberal leadership campaign is having a very disturbing effect on the government's activities: the Ministers of Finance and Canadian Heritage are passing the buck back and forth over the Canadian television fund.
The Minister of Finance says he will not be putting any new money into the fund, while the Minister of Canadian Heritage said last week that an announcement was imminent. But nothing has been announced yet, and this hesitation two-step is sending contradictory signals to the industry.
The chair of the board of directors of the APFTQ, Jacquelin Bouchard, said on Friday, “Thousands of jobs are at stake. The urgency of the situation puts a large part of next season's television programming in jeopardy”.
I urge the Prime Minister to put an end to this dilemma and announce to the House that the $25 million cut from the last budget will now be reinvested in the Canadian television fund.