Official Languages committee  It received $31,366.

Official Languages committee  It may be so. I think it is a fair statement. The other thing, though, is that in our formula, since we base it on the number of copies sold, the value of a copy sold inside Quebec or outside Quebec is exactly the same. If you have 5,000 readers for a French newspaper outside Quebec and 5,000 readers for an English language newspaper inside Quebec, and they have both sold 5,000 copies, they should receive exactly the same level of support from our program.

Official Languages committee  I believe that was Ms. Robinson's comment, and she was referring to community radio. Now, that's a separate branch than ours. That's broadcasting. I can't speak to whether there is a program there. I can say that with us, we do have a specific program--collective initiatives--that funds industry associations like the QCNA, like l'APF, like Magazines Canada, specifically to provide them with support for their members and support for the development of the industry.

Official Languages committee  It certainly is. That's not reflected in our support. It may refer to government advertising through the public works department, which I can't address. Through our support, it is probably one-third and two-thirds, and that's simply because there are more paid circulation French language newspapers outside Quebec than there are English language community newspapers inside Quebec.

Official Languages committee  This is the distinction between 500,000 and 250,000 once again...

Official Languages committee  Yes, 5,000 copies. Thank you, I think I need a coffee.

Official Languages committee  We fund such an incredibly wide range of titles and such a large ecosystem. We fund very large magazines, which also provide the best pay rates to writers and artists, and we fund a large number of very small titles. When we set the 5,000 copies per year, one of the reasons was that we had a summative evaluation of the PAP, our programme d'aide aux publications, a few years ago, and it said that administratively we were spending far more time and money administering small amounts of money than it was worth.

Official Languages committee  I was very interested in Mr. Bakoyannis' presentation on that. I could say that's certainly not true for our programs. I have no knowledge of whether it's true for the advertising program run by Public Works and Government Services Canada. For our programs, they receive exactly equivalent support.

Official Languages committee  We think the vast majority will receive more than 100% of their previous funding because of the funding we have freed up by putting the cap on large publications. The only reason why they might fall below that is the way a formula works, you check the eligibility for everybody. Once they're in, you mathematically divide the funds.

Official Languages committee  The minimum for most titles is that you must sell 5,000 copies a year.

Official Languages committee  That was actually one of the major questions during our policy review. Our old programs were set up that way. They were only for paid circulation magazines and community newspapers. During our consultations several groups asked, what if we expanded it to free circulation papers?

Official Languages committee  Well, that's true. I could look at a back door option. But given the reality of limited budgets, we decided that the best way to spend our funds is to invest in the choices Canadians make for their reading material as shown by the money they spend.

Official Languages committee  In terms of the sales?

Official Languages committee  Thank you. I understand the question. My apologies for misunderstanding. There's not a minimum set currently for it. As a practical reality, most titles coming in will be at 10% to 20% circulation, but even then, and this is where it does tie in to what was said earlier, they must sell at least 2,500 copies a year.

Official Languages committee  It's a recognition that with these communities, official language minority communities, aboriginal and ethnocultural, you have much more restricted advertising, you have more restricted populations. It's a side example, but when I look at aboriginal communities, there are some newspapers that serve communities with 90% unemployment.