Mr. Chair, first, it is a hard act to follow my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. However, many may well know that I had the opportunity to work with her when she was the secretary of state for multiculturalism and the status of women. Therefore, I know that she knows this department intimately. When she said that she wanted to talk about how important the department was, I only have until 10:30 tonight, so we have to cut our comments short.
I concur with everything she has said. However, sometimes I think a lot of us forget. We talk about how important the arts are in terms of defining who we are. We talk about how important the arts are in terms of our communities. When my hon. colleague asks what our commitment is, just look at the Speech from the Throne. We talked about the arts being the essence of our communities. It is the cultural soul of our communities. It is what builds our communities.
There is also another thing that we sometimes forget when we dispose of or think that the arts are fluffy.
I had an opportunity to travel with the Governor General and artists to Chile many years ago. We met artists from Chile. We travelled with Émile Martel, who was the head of P.E.N. Many may recognize the Martel name as Yann Martel who won the prestigious Booker Prize; a Canadian artist winning the Booker Prize.
I talked with President Lagos and with people of Chile. I heard how important the arts were and how they had missed it at the time that Pinochet was there. What is the first thing countries do when totalitarian governments take over? They throw out their artists. Why? Because the arts are an essential element of democracy, and that is why it is important.
I want to pick up on some specific things about which my hon. colleague spoke. She talked about Factor. I know that the hon. opposition critic talked about Tomorrow Starts Today and Factor is a part of the Canadian music fund which is part of Tomorrow Starts Today. When she talked about the people who define who we are, let us not forget about Diana Krall. It is not just the pop stars. That fund has helped to create our artists today.
I am sure many of the members know that Factor saved Canadian music. I know that this minister and this government are committed to saving Canadian music.
When we talk about Tomorrow Starts Today--