Mr. Chair, all together, we are going to make this sector a government priority.
The Tomorrow Starts Today program proved it. This was a sizeable investment of more than half a billion dollars, more specifically $700 million, made because we had finished the year with a surplus. This also reflects a government priority.
What carries even more weight for Quebeckers and Canadians is to say that this is a parliamentary priority. This is a priority for all parliamentarians in this place. This carries more weight, and that is the message that together we must send.
That having been said, again, let there be no confusion. Existing programs have undergone a review. This is a review based on what is called a reallocation. There are no cuts to the Arts Council, neither for this year nor for the next, in 2005. The corporations were asked to conduct administrative reviews, but no decisions were made. We are currently in negotiations, like all our colleagues, with those responsible at finance and revenue to implement an approach, a discipline. We all agree on this.
I want to point out, however, that, as part of the current reallocation process, nothing has been decided. The primary objective is not to affect artists and creators, producers and all those who make this Canadian cultural life such a vital and a strong one. That is number one.
And second, we do not talk about cuts but about reallocation. If, all together, we are convinced that we must reinvest in the cultural sector, then we are talking about reallocation, and reallocation can also mean increased funding. Who knows? It all depends on the outcome of future negotiations, the needs of my hon. colleagues and how careful the government wants to be.
The fact is that, if we are doing so well, it is because we have been careful during all these years.