Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I know he is doing a good job. His role is to represent the minister and to read the documents that are provided to him in order to defend her.
The minister has opted for the wait-and-see approach. When she goes to see people and writes a letter to the chairman of the CRTC, she is in wait-and-see mode. I believe she could do a lot more. Why? Because her role—and she has the power to do so—is to reverse a decision. So this is important to us and I totally agree with all my colleagues who have made this point.
We have to wonder about the definition of general interest television. We know the difference. According to the CRTC, “general interest” means a television channel that provides a variety of services, whereas “specialty” means that the licence is based solely on a particular theme. For example, the Family Channel caters to a young audience.
Therefore, “general interest” means a wider variety of services. However, we are left wondering if a general interest channel has to include a news component. Everyone knows as well as I do, including the Florian Sauvageaus of the world and Mr. Demers, a former CRTC commissioner who said so himself as reported in Le Soleil, it is inconceivable to have a general interest channel without a news service.
The minister has the power to respond and the ability to react. If she has the ability to react, it means to react to something. We want to know what that something is. In short, a general interest television channel has to have a news service.