Canadian Heritage committee  I think Bart's idea of the half hour in each region.... That gives us a chance to have a go at it, so we see the best of what we can get out of each region. That, historically from Newfoundland, is how we have produced national icons, by starting small, by getting the word out, and it becoming a national show and producing stars.

Canadian Heritage committee  The institution has changed, but we talk about reflecting our culture, and the culture of Newfoundland and Labrador is very different from the culture of New Brunswick, which is very different from Toronto. So maybe you're right, maybe the mandate should be clarified and maybe we should talk about exactly what we mean by the region and exactly what this means in the mandate so that we know.

Canadian Heritage committee  New technology is a mystery too, but I know it's there. I know we have to tap into it. It's a growing concern, so we have to be on top of it. Marlene.

Canadian Heritage committee  At breakfast we were talking about cross-pollination and trying to incorporate both. We give a little bit of what we want to the kids, and the kids give a little bit of what they have to us so we all get on the same wavelength, pardon the pun. We need to bring it together somehow.

Canadian Heritage committee  I don't have numbers, I'm sorry. I know what people are watching on TV, and I hear what people say about what they're watching. When they turn on the CBC, sometimes they're watching American programming—and Coronation Street too. We struggle to produce shows that reflect us, and we turn on the TV and see American culture.

Canadian Heritage committee  That's true.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think the CBC is pretty much a big player in this region. If we didn't have it, I don't know where we would go.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think Paul and Lynne commented on this, but from my own personal experience, there was a time when we could go down Prince Philip Drive, pitch a story, and get funding to help that happen. What I see in the region now is our young artists who are writers, who are good writers, going to Toronto to pitch.

Canadian Heritage committee  Well, it's where you're most comfortable, too; it's when you can speak more clearly. I don't know about anybody else, but when going into the Toronto office, you're not at home, you don't speak the same way, and you don't speak as clearly—I wouldn't, anyway, speak as clearly—as here, when you're on home turf.

Canadian Heritage committee  I do. I think region is, as Mr. Scott said, to be defined as.... How do you define regionally? We in Newfoundland and Labrador are isolated. This is our region.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you. ACTRA supports the CBC and the current mandate. The ACTRA Newfoundland branch expresses its support for ACTRA's national submission made on March 15, 2007. In addition to ACTRA's national presentation, we feel it is important to focus on the regional significance of the CBC.