Canadian Heritage committee  The market which we organize allows us to provide programming to presenters in Quebec and Canada, and also to send artists abroad through the invitations we send out to foreign presenters. This year, we will run a deficit because the PromArt cuts were announced when it was already too late for us to change our plans.

Canadian Heritage committee  As far as we are concerned, the numbers are very much like the ones mentioned by Mr. Paré. As performance presenters, there is one thing that has not yet been mentioned, but should, in my opinion. As presenters, we know that hosting foreign presenters here allows for a lot of sharing among people with different kinds of professional expertise.

Canadian Heritage committee  --I prefer to let artists associations talk about specific numbers.

Canadian Heritage committee  The international component of the Bourse RIDEAU, the $16,000 contribution from Canadian Heritage and Trade Routes, represents about 10 per cent of the budget.

Canadian Heritage committee  Presenters of multidisciplinary events are not part of the Canada Council's client base. We have to find another way of working. We fully agree that Canadian Heritage should be given a budget to manage for the purpose of meeting the needs of multidisciplinary presenters.

Canadian Heritage committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. My name is Colette Brouillé. I am the Executive Director of RIDEAU, the largest network of French-speaking presenters of artistic events in Canada. I would like to thank the committee for agreeing to hear the views of an institution from the performing arts sector.

Finance committee  No. Most of the presenter organizations are non-profit organizations. Some are part of municipal structures. Most of the members of my network are non-profit organizations.

Finance committee  No. I represent those who present the artists to the public, in other words the performance presenters, the people who buy a show, market it and provide the organization so that there are people in the room to see the creations. They're what are called the “presenters”, en anglais.

Finance committee  No, because the Canada Council subsidizes creation; it directly subsidizes the artists and the creation of works. It's somewhat the same thing in Quebec. The artists are subsidized by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, whereas the presenters are directly subsidized by the Ministry of Culture.

Finance committee  Absolutely. I know that submissions have been made by, among others, the Canada Council for the Arts. The voice of artists is often widely heard because they have the support of the media. The voice of people who work in the background—as we do, in presentation—often doesn't reach as far.

Finance committee  I won't answer on behalf of the artistic community. Unfortunately, I don't represent creators. We therefore aren't directly supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Finance committee  We come under the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Finance committee  There are two ways of doing things. Sometimes funding can come from the Canada Council. However, in multidisciplinary presentation, which includes our network of presenters, which includes all artistic disciplines—because there are specialized presenters who deal with specific disciplines—our federal funding essentially comes from the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Finance committee  The funding that we receive directly from Canadian Heritage, in this case, is in the order of approximately $3 million for presentation programming support. For presentation as a whole, that corresponds to approximately $7 million, if you include the major presentations and events.

Finance committee  Yes.