Mr. Speaker, culture is what enables us as human beings to build a framework for ourselves, to construct who we are. It helps us to think on our own and to understand the world in order to make a positive contribution to changing it.
On the day after International Book and Copyright Day, the Bloc Québécois invites one and all to discover the architects of our cultural heritage, the talented authors the diversity of Quebec has engendered.
On the eve of the presentation of its first budget, we ask the Conservative government to raise the budget of the Canada Council to $300 million, to abolish the GST on books, to exempt creators from taxation on the public lending right and copyright, as is already the case in Quebec.
The collective health of our culture, of the solidity and viability of the structure of our identity and of the future of our creative persons depend on it.