Madam Speaker, I am pleased that, finally, the members of the Liberal Party and the NDP, like the Bloc members, see the light. I am pleased that we are and still remain the only ones to defend Quebec culture in all its forms.
Today, I am 59. When I was born in 1950, very little was known about Quebec culture. It was invisible and seldom seen. When we listened to French-language radio stations, we heard French singers like Maurice Chevalier, Yves Montand and Édith Piaf. When we listened to English-language radio stations, we heard big bands like Guy Lombardo's.
In the early 1950s, when television first appeared—it is funny, I was just talking this morning with two security guards about this—the first TV program I can remember watching is Pépinot et Capucine. It was certainly not a cultural program, but as my colleague from Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles would say, it was amusing.
In the early 1960s, when Quebec was coming into its own and being recognized, there was an explosion of Quebec culture in all its forms, from dance to singing, rock to theatre.
Someone that our colleague from Beauport—Limoilou knows quite well, Denise Boucher, wrote Les fées ont soif, a play that has been acclaimed but at the time was dismissed as offensive. Yet that play is still performed today by many theatre companies because it is still current.
Our culture has developed so much and so well because we have taken risks and have had the means to do so. We made sure we had the means. In contrast to my colleague from Beauport—Limoilou, I will say that money and grants are not good or bad, old-fashioned or outdated, but means we give our artists so that they can explore and work on their art to the best of their ability.
Unfortunately, we have seen that culture does not have the same importance for the Conservatives. It is almost as if, just as they tried to muzzle women, the Conservatives are trying to muzzle Quebec culture, because more artists in Quebec than anywhere else are likely to suffer from the Conservative government's brutal cuts.
Unfortunately, the artists who keep at it, work and perfect their art day after day are not all like Guy Laliberté, the chief executive officer of Cirque du Soleil. He started out with very little money but was fortunate to have people who believed in him, unlike this government who believes in no one but itself. He was fortunate to have people who believed that he could export his art. Now, he is on stage throughout the world, from Las Vegas to Beijing. Throughout the world, Cirque du Soleil has fans because this man is a visionary, unlike the Conservative government which makes cuts to culture rather than giving it more money.
Putting money into culture does not mean spending it on the Olympic torch relay route. That is not what I would call putting money into culture. That is not putting money into structures. Putting money into culture means putting money into people, investing in them. It means investing not spending money.
Until the Conservative government understands this we will need people like my colleague from Verchères—Les Patriotes to introduce such motions. We need to force the government to do something and to reconsider its decisions, which are poorly thought out, ill-conceived, ill-advised and unacceptable to all citizens, both in Quebec and in Canada.
Earlier my colleague mentioned La La La Human Steps. It is true, there are many companies, groups and individuals who work hard every day to promote their art, and those people have had the rug pulled out from under them.
I very much doubt that the people who have had the opportunity and the privilege to travel abroad to present their art, performances and concerts think that that money was poorly invested. I also doubt that the various programs that were assessed were given the recognition they deserve. If they had been, we would have seen the results of those assessments. Perhaps we are not being shown those assessments because the results were not what the government was hoping for. Otherwise, we would have seen them. We know this government—perhaps a little better today than we did yesterday, and perhaps a little less than we will tomorrow, but we will always be a little surprised.
I hope that all members of the House will vote in favour of my colleague's motion because the only way we can grow is through culture, the only way we can define who we are is through culture, and the only way we can cherish the hope of one day becoming our own country is through culture. Culture is how we define ourselves as men and women, strengthen our roots and develop a sense of pride. Our artists make us proud everywhere they go.
We have artists like Céline Dion and artists working in film. Allow me to indulge my mother hen side for a moment and say that I have a son who makes films and wins prizes. I sure do. From time to time, he needs money too. He sure does. Filmmakers are not wealthy; they have a wealth of talent, hope and desire, but they have a hard time doing three things at once.
People who work five days a week and want to do creative work as well have a very hard time. People who want to be fathers, have children and lead a normal life, while making a living from their art, often find it difficult.
True, not all artists need that kind of support, but all artists, whether they are well-known or not, have the right to pursue their dreams. Childhood dreams, anyone's dreams, it does not matter what the dream is so long as there is an opportunity to achieve it. This is not a lot of money at all. The $45 million they cut is a drop in the bucket. A tiny drop.
We know that this year's deficit will be unprecedented in recent memory. We have not had deficits like this in 30 or 40 years. Yet, for $45 million, the government will be preventing people from doing their best, preventing hundreds and thousands of people from doing their work as composers and artists. The government will be denying people the opportunity to showcase what Quebeckers and Canadians can do in venues around the world. That is pretty shoddy treatment and smacks of disrespect for our artists, it really does.
I would just comment that the person who said it does not make sense was the only person pointing fingers this morning. Point a finger at someone else, and four more are pointing back at you. I would urge that person to take a good look in the mirror before saying anything at all about others.