Mr. Speaker, Hochelaga is home to a large community of artists and creators who feed our souls and inspire our thoughts about our society. Today, I pay tribute to the visual artists who uplifted us with their creations during this pandemic.
I am thinking of Garbage Beauty, an art collective that writes poetry on garbage cans and transforms them into works of art; HLY, who beautifies our walls and alleys; and Louise Beaupré Lincourt, who painted one watercolour a day during the entire pandemic for a total of 372 paintings depicting Hochelaga.
Our government has provided direct support for the arts and culture industry with nearly $1 billion in emergency funding, including a $500-million fund for Canadian heritage, $100 million in insurance to get production back up, and $25 million for national museums and the National Arts Centre.
If we include the Canada emergency wage subsidy, the CERB and CRB, then we are talking about over $4 billion for the cultural industry and its workers across the country.
Thank you to all of our artists.