Canadian Heritage committee  Yes.

Canadian Heritage committee  I will answer you in English.

Canadian Heritage committee  No. We trust government to do the right thing in this circumstance, and sometimes difficult decisions take time to evaluate. We trust that through consultations and with the recommendations of the CRTC, we will reach decisions that are good for documentary filmmakers, although obviously there are a number of other stakeholders that have an interest in seeing the Copyright Act service them.

Canadian Heritage committee  My quick answer is yes. I think that because we exist as a minority within a very complex media landscape, there are unintended consequences with changes of policy that affect the documentary community in a way that's probably disproportionate. I think there are many changes and many conversations that are happening that are really tailored around a feature film.

Canadian Heritage committee  That's a good question. Again, we are users and rights holders in that scenario, so fair dealing in particular affects our work. In terms of fair dealing, documentary filmmakers are able to take content from copyrighted material and use it within their work. What happens, practically speaking, is that once they go to the insurance companies and speak to their lawyers, they still have to pay a number of fees to purchase the copyrighted material, because the exemption isn't necessarily well understood by the landscape.

Canadian Heritage committee  We've commissioned a number of reports over the course of the last 10 years. I've been in my job seven months, so I can't speak exactly to those reports. However, we've commissioned a number of reports that were graciously funded by a number of agencies as well. We've worked with partners across the country and different agencies on those reports, which educate the entire population on the work of documentary filmmakers.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, it's a big question. I think it depends on the filmmaker. Some filmmakers have certainly adapted more quickly to the changing landscape, and some of them rely on broadcasters to continue to commission their work. With fewer broadcasters and fewer buyers in the market, there are diminishing funds.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, members of the committee. My name is Mathieu Dagonas, and I am Executive Director for the Documentary Organization of Canada. DOC is the collective voice of independent documentary filmmakers across Canada, a national non-profit arts organization representing over 800 directors, producers and craftspeople from all provinces and regions of the country working in the documentary genre.