A colleague says that I will not get a satisfactory answer this evening. I will nevertheless try to obtain one. I believe in the work I do and if those opposite are cynics, they will have to live with that reputation.
I explained in my question on November 20 that there was an outcry when it was announced that $45 million would be cut from arts and cultural programming. The former Minister of Canadian Heritage said at the time, in an awkward attempt to restore calm, that there would be a review and new programs. When the new Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages arrived, he said that it was a done deal, final, that he had decided. He said that studies had been conducted but we have not seen them. I will speak of this later. The Minister of Heritage, alone in his office, comfortably ensconced in his chair with his iPod earphones on, decided that he would not revisit the decision.
I asked him to explain to us why he kept on depriving the arts and culture sector of resources even though that sector is dynamic and essential to the economy. The Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages responded that during his Conservative government's first mandate, arts and culture spending had increased by 8%. He is mistaken. That was not spending on arts and culture. That was the budget for his whole department, which has a number of responsibilities. The Minister of Canadian Heritage is responsible for arts and culture, which is a big field. He is also responsible for sport, amateur sport, the Olympic Games, francophone communities, la Francophonie, and national parks. He said that he increased spending by 8%, and that is true, but what did he spend that 8% on? He spent it on the Olympic torch relay. He said so himself:
We gave that money to the torch relay so that francophone communities outside Quebec could be involved in the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages gave the artists' money to the Olympic Games, to the torch relay. He said so himself. The minister does not understand the difference between entertainment and the arts. That is the problem. The minister does not like artists. He does not understand that, while the arts can be entertaining, they are not just for entertainment purposes. This government does not understand a thing. It gave artists' money to the torch relay; it robbed Peter to pay Paul. The government's attacks on culture and artists are undermining the very foundations of the Quebec nation. What is more, arts and culture have a significant economic impact. In Quebec, the sector accounts for 314,000 jobs. In Canada, it represents some $85 billion, which is 7.4% of our GDP.
The minister also said:
We, a national party, are the ones who understand Quebec, who understand Canada, and who understand francophones—
In my opinion, the minister misled the House. In Quebec, 78% of Quebeckers voted against this government. Moreover, the ideological—not economic—statement that his Prime Minister delivered in this House did not demonstrate any understanding of Quebeckers, artists or francophones.