Mr. Chair, I want to tell you at the outset that I will express myself in the language of Molière, in which I am more comfortable than in the language of Shakespeare.
In response to the question of the hon. member, the Conservative Party heritage critic, with respect to the importance of the Tomorrow Starts Today program, she is in fact right. The federal investment in this program is one of the largest since the creation of the Canada Council for the Arts in 1957.
Government intervention in arts and culture affects a lot more people in all regions of our country. So, when I am asked what amounts went to creators, I could say that the whole of those amounts has gone to creators, to authors and to those who support them.
For instance, in 2003-04, Arts Presentation Canada funded 569 arts presenters, who also serve creators. Festival Saison has reached 212 communities. Almost all of them are represented here, which means a 247% increase compared to 2001, that is, before we had the Tomorrow Starts Today program.
In its first three years, Cultural Spaces Canada invested $75 million in 216 projects in over 100 communities, and an additional $466 million came from private sources, both provincial and territorial.
I must say with regard to this program that a federal-provincial meeting was held three weeks ago in Halifax with the provincial ministers responsible for culture, and all provinces unanimously brought forward a motion requesting that the government renew the Tomorrow Starts Today program.
Tomorrow Starts Today has made available 600 new Canadian collections and exhibitions concerning Canadian culture on-line. There is also the Trade Routes program which allows small and medium-sized businesses to increase their export capacity on the international market, which means that we have an 80% increase in the export of cultural goods and services.
All this to say that--