Mr. Speaker, first, if the member does not think the Conservatives hired journalists to be media managers, he quite clearly has never been a journalist working in the political field. Journalists of all stripes are hired by parties of all stripes to do the work that spokespeople do. This happens in Ottawa, trust me. Where did the Conservatives find Mike Duffy?
The issue is that this is not about content and has never been about content. There is no reason to worry about the independent professionalism of journalists. They are professionals and have all the integrity they need to ensure they make the right call on news stories.
This is about an industry that employs tens of thousands of people across the country. They are not all writers or journalists. Some of them sweep the floor. Some of them greet people at the door, such as receptionists. Some of them are people who work in the libraries or do research for us. It is about supporting an industry and an economy in local communities to ensure it survives and is there for the next generations, especially as technological change overwhelms that industry.
With respect to independence, as I said, we are not funding journalists. We are funding an industry in a time of transition. I would hope that as technological change washes over the industry, as new digital platforms emerge and as people become more comfortable with providing good information, we can get an industry back that can speak truth to power, that has integrity and that is unafraid to criticize a government. Clearly we are not afraid to be criticized. We can take it. We are grown-ups.