Canadian Heritage committee  Does your association help with the grant application process, or do you give any courses to help out? How far do you go with your association?

Canadian Heritage committee  Going back to the northern communities, how many members come from isolated communities, like further north in the Northwest Territories, the Yukon and those sorts of areas? How many members are there?

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you. My next question goes to Mr. Palmer. You have a unique sort of workshop. Where do you get your funding from, primarily? Do you get municipal funding, funding from industry or commercial funding? What percentage of your budget is from the grant application or from th

Canadian Heritage committee  I've heard many people say that it's a challenge just to start to get funding. The application is difficult and they're not really sure how to write the application. After you get your first grant, does it become easier to secure funding in the following years, or is it the sam

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to thank the witnesses for joining us here today. My first question is going to Mr. Stacey. In my community, it's quite diverse. We have bigger centres, smaller centres and some northern communities. It seems that the more successful groups i

Canadian Heritage committee  I have 15 seconds. You mentioned merit and excellence a number of times. Is that the arts council's definition?

Canadian Heritage committee  Okay, thank you.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to thank the witnesses who are joining our study. This is very frustrating from the perspective of me and my colleagues. There is an inequity from coast to coast to coast. It seems that the money migrates one way and it's usually communities li

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you. At this point, is the art form of being a comedian not recognized as an art form?

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you. My next question is for Sheri. In your experience, you've seen a lot of talent and amazing performers coming through the doors. Have you seen a migration of performers moving to where the money is? How is that hurting communities such as yours?

Canadian Heritage committee  A lot of them are very intimidating.

Canadian Heritage committee  A lot of them are—

Canadian Heritage committee  We have a lot of people not applying just because—

Canadian Heritage committee  —they're familiar with the old system.

Canadian Heritage committee  Then how has the application process changed? What have you changed in the application process to make it more user-friendly? A lot of groups have professional grant writers. They are way above everyone, else but the northern communities don't have that luxury.