Canadian Heritage committee  Sometimes there are technical questions from the potential investor. Remember, it's the investor who deals with us, and not the target company. So we talk only to the investor and not to the other parties.

Canadian Heritage committee  We would talk about some challenges. We'd talk about the net benefit test. Most of the time, these companies are supported by a law firm, by lawyers who are very well versed in the Investment Canada Act. But let's say you had a less sophisticated investor. We'd go through the net benefit rules.

Canadian Heritage committee  We would go through what's indirectly.... And I'm not commenting on any live deals here. The test in section 20 talks about creation of jobs and technology, so we would inquire into whether this was going to bring potentially more investment in technologies, whether this would create new jobs or maintain jobs in Canada, whether it would create synergies, and what percentage of Canadians would maintain ownership of it.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think it would be overstating it to say we have problems. In fact, most of them are represented by Canadian counsel who are well versed in the act. We have conversations, robust conversations, because of course we're trying to get more, and they're trying to get an approval but with the least amount on the table.

Canadian Heritage committee  In every case, it is up to the investor to show the tangible benefits.

Canadian Heritage committee  It is especially...

Canadian Heritage committee  It is more rigorous when you have policies in place that prevent the takeover.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I believe you have a deck or a short presentation that was distributed. You should have it in front of you. Apart from being assistant deputy minister of cultural affairs, I also wear a second hat as the director of investments under the Investment Canada Act.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, we're obviously following the file quite closely. We've seen it. You'll of course understand this is at the heart of the regulatory issue among the community channels, the cable licensees, and the CRTC. We're following the comments being made, but we are waiting because the minister can't interfere.

Canadian Heritage committee  It's a risk management approach whereby you're trying to balance it, depending on the facts on any given case and the track records of players. Even if you did decide to go multi-year with somebody if you've dealt with them year after year, every day we're balancing risk analysis and proper stewardship with service to clients.

Canadian Heritage committee  I don't know the specifics of that particular case, but perhaps we can speak about it offline so we can follow up. There were controversial events a few years back that have profoundly affected the willingness of officials, of program officers at all levels, in regard to taking risks.

Canadian Heritage committee  That occurs in many instances. I'll give the example of the endowment project. We have a set amount of money that we will match at the same percentage to everybody who's managed to get private sector funding, but you have to find out what the total amount is before you can apply that.

Canadian Heritage committee  With regard to program delivery as a whole, program officers do not set aside and shelve applications because of a missing document; they try to obtain the information. As my colleague said earlier, by further computerizing the exchange of information, we will be in a better position to immediately identify the missing elements of an application.

Canadian Heritage committee  It is not always possible to state, at that early stage of the process, that an application meets the requirements, and that goes for all programs. Earlier I gave the example of the Canada Book Fund. The funding of that program is based on previous year sales. Therefore, we can inform some applicants that they have provided us with all the information needed to do the calculations, but they will not receive an answer until everyone's information has been inputted into the calculation and we have applied the formula to the overall amount.

Canadian Heritage committee  With a number of programs, we stopped asking for audited financial statements because that represented an excessive burden, given the amount of the grant and contribution. We settled that problem by eliminating that requirement. That is why I said earlier that we were reviewing our corporate processes.