Mr. Chairman, as far as consultations are concerned, I started talking to the heads of these organizations, Mr. Herrndorf, for instance, and Mr. Ben Simon.
I am still waiting. Two big building blocks were missing. The first one was the president of CBC-SRC whose mandate we just renewed and who was so graciously welcomed yesterday by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage . We are still waiting for a new Telefilm Canada president, who will likely be appointed shortly. We will start with these two building blocks.
In the meantime, I asked my department to do some research on various countries' cultural policies, at the international level, and compile this information. Usually the way things are done is that first we ask a group to do some research, develop principles for a cultural policy and present them to a ministerial committee, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage for instance, only then can the said committee start consultations.
In Quebec we carried out one of the most extensive consultation process in the history of Quebec with a view to developing a policy involving 22 departments. It must be said. The work of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage will be of paramount importance. We do not intend to reinvent the wheel. We want to look at the research, see what was done and integrate the results.
Yes, this is a long undertaking, but I am convinced that if we are all committed and willing to work for the good of the arts and culture, we will do it together. What matters is that such a policy is unanimously adopted, as was the case in Quebec.