Mr. Chair, I thank the member very much for his question, but I must say that I do not understand it. I believe that all of Quebec easily understands that our culture must be exported and we are happy to do so. We have had a great deal of success internationally. I will not even name the artists as it would insult the member's intelligence. We are all familiar with Quebec's cultural success stories. That is why the Government of Quebec provides a great deal of financial assistance—through subsidies—to the arts, the artists, groups and theatre companies so they can tour the world.
The same cannot be said for the Canadian government, especially the Minister of Canadian Heritage , who cut two excellent programs, TradeRoutes and PromArt. In doing so, he literally cut the legs out from under dozens of artists' groups, who can no longer tour internationally to promote Canadian culture.
However, Quebec culture is alive and well. Our desire to protect and promote it led Canada, and Quebec, to sign the UNESCO treaty on cultural diversity. Perhaps it is not clear to the member, but according to this international treaty signed under the aegis of UNESCO, every state and country can protect and promote its own culture, something we would no longer be able to do without such an exemption. That is the important point here. Culture would fall under the rules of free trade and a state would no longer be able to subsidize its artists, art, and culture. It is because we want to help our artists and promote our culture that we want Canada to respect the treaty it signed—