Canadian Heritage committee  That's a very good question. I don't know.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'm sorry; I apologize. It's not an area that I am an expert in, but I will endeavour to get back to you on that.

Canadian Heritage committee  Could the member repeat the question? I'm sorry.

Canadian Heritage committee  Is the member referring to the convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting?

Canadian Heritage committee  Well, the whole issue of vertical integration is the subject of an upcoming CRTC hearing, which makes it difficult for me to comment in terms of any concerns we might have.

Canadian Heritage committee  I could speak to the Canada Media Fund, because that's where those things tend to come together and that's where we have some evidence. The Canada Media Fund, in fact, does provide support to independent producers. It now also allows for broadcasters to do in-house production at

Canadian Heritage committee  First of all, in terms of meeting the needs, it's one piece of the puzzle in terms of the funding for the creation of content. It is a fund that typically grows every year. The CMF board for 2010-2011 has decided that about $322 million will go into the convergence stream and abo

Canadian Heritage committee  Sales are definitely going down. There's no evidence yet that the increase in sales of digital is making up for the decrease in sales in physical format. The dominant business model is not clear. In terms of replacing the revenue from CD sales, what's going to emerge is not cle

Canadian Heritage committee  The CBC and the BBC...?

Canadian Heritage committee  We look very closely at what the BBC and other public broadcasters are doing around the world. That is always part of our analysis in any advice we provide the minister on our public broadcaster. We have not yet studied in detail the plan that was released by the CBC yesterday. T

Canadian Heritage committee  We have studied the BBC in great detail, along with Australian public broadcasting and public broadcasters around the world. The circumstances are all different. BBC is funded by citizens. It's done through taxes here, through government funding. It's an amount per television.

Canadian Heritage committee  That would be me again. I don't have any empirical data with me and I don't know if any is available. I can speak to you anecdotally, if that's acceptable.

Canadian Heritage committee  We have visits from other countries on a regular basis. They are there to learn from us, whether it's about the Canada Media Fund, the other initiatives, the CBC, the private broadcasting system, our whole regulatory framework that ensures the creation of content, or the fact tha

Canadian Heritage committee  It's part of our policy. We always look at how the money flows and where the money is coming from and how that might be impacted by the changes. In terms of the Canada Media Fund, I understand the concern that the member has expressed, but so far it is a fund unlike most other fe

Canadian Heritage committee  The member raises a very important point. At the risk of repeating myself, I can say that the investment in the CMF represents a significant contribution to the creation of Canadian content. The LPIF was another initiative. They are part of a broader ecosystem, and that's the s