Canadian Heritage committee  No.

Canadian Heritage committee  Who would have imagined ten years ago that one could access, online, a music store and legitimately download thousands of songs to a device so small you can clip it to your shirt collar, or read your daily newspaper on your cellphone, or access a program online that you may have

Canadian Heritage committee  Over the past eight years, co-production has decreased a great deal. Approximately $390 million are being invested in co-production. In 2001, the figure was nearly $900 million. This sector has undergone a significant decline.

Canadian Heritage committee  There are several factors. First of all, our co-production treaties—many of them were signed a very long time ago—are no longer up-to-date. Secondly, in Europe, over the past few years, countries have signed co-production agreements amongst themselves. We have now reached a point

Canadian Heritage committee  It seems to me that several proposals have been made by a number of groups in Canada over the past few months, if not years. To some extent, I think it always come back to the issue of financing. With co-productions, a Canadian producer has to bring something to put on the table.

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely. Co-production obviously also depends to a great extent on the relations we develop with producers from other countries. It is not necessarily easy for a Canadian producer to go abroad—it is also expensive—in order to cultivate those relationships and develop projects.

Canadian Heritage committee  Could I add to that? I apologize for jumping in here. I want to share a very quick example of how we've gotten a bit cuckoo in the system. We have a member who has a show and has almost entirely financed his show with international money. The only piece missing to close it all o