Canadian Heritage committee  Here again I would have to decline to answer that question, Madam Chair.

Canadian Heritage committee  It would be all of those. The amount spent, the total volume of production, and the number of hours.

Canadian Heritage committee  That would be in the profile. We could get back to the committee on that. That information exists.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes. They include all periodicals, be they community newspapers or magazines. The La Liberté newspaper is included in the 1,083 titles in the community newspaper category. So the Canada periodical fund also supports the community newspaper you are referring to.

Canadian Heritage committee  When you say closures, there have been 22 closures in dailies in the last five years. It's about a 15% reduction in terms of the number of titles. How does that translate into jobs? We don't have that precise information.

Canadian Heritage committee  There's been a significant increase over the last 10 years in Canadian content productions. I don't have that chart here, but I would invite the committee to consult the industry profile which the Canadian Media Producers Association publishes every year. There are a lot of details there.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'm sorry, my answer to that is no.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. On behalf of the Department of Canadian Heritage, I would like to thank the committee for inviting us to appear as part of its study on the media and local communities. My name is Jean-François Bernier, and I am the director general of cultural industries at the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Canadian Heritage committee  Is it a concern? One could refer to those big corporations as “certain gatekeepers”. With technology, gatekeepers are under attack. There are other ways to get the content to people other than through CTV. Honestly, these guys make creative programming choices, but productions—at least what we finance at Telefilm, the Canada Media Fund, or with the tax credit programs—the intermediaries, or the producer, or the distributor....It's not CTV that comes to claim a tax credit.

Canadian Heritage committee  To a great degree the system is working.

Canadian Heritage committee  The benefit of an agreement is that it gives us access to the programs in other countries. The agreement does not have only privileges; it comes with certain obligations. For instance, a financial contribution of 20% is required for a France-Canada co-production. The Canadian producer or the French producer must provide at least 20% of the funding.

Canadian Heritage committee  Let me answer this question, which I think also has a catch. In the 1980s, there were no Canadian distributors other than René Malo perhaps. Canadian films were not out in theatres or shown on TV. It is as if, 25 years later, we are the victims of our own success. A distribution industry has developed.

Canadian Heritage committee  Actually, eOne is the largest independent distributor in the world. There are the major ones, and then there is eOne. There must be benefits for the Canadian products, but what about the disadvantages? I will let you check that with the producers.

Canadian Heritage committee  That is a good question, and I would be tempted to say no. I am trying to think of some policies. Industry Canada has regional development agencies. This is connected to the question asked earlier about British Columbia. A few weeks ago, Western Economic Diversification Canada invested almost $1.2 million to help the industry out west take on foreign markets and all that.

Canadian Heritage committee  If I may, it's true that it's fairly flat, but the productions that Johanne sees are more traditional film and television productions. We're not certifying video games. We're not certifying a lot of online material that is taking place out there, and that's good. This is Canadian content that is taking place and finding its way.