Canadian Heritage committee  I just want to try to make a very simple point for committee members. I think in debating these issues—and I realize some of them get quite heated—it's really important to appreciate that as Canadians we all have dual roles. We are consumers of these products, but a growing proportion of the Canadian population, particularly in our larger metropolitan areas, is employed in these industries.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'd like to add something on the cross-platform. I think it's really important to recognize that the dividing line between all the cultural industries is rapidly collapsing--television, film, and interactive digital media. So increasingly, producers in television, as part of their licences with broadcasters, are being expected to provide content for websites, for mobile devices.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you very much for the opportunity to appear. I'm delighted to be here. By way of background, I'm a professor of research at the University of Toronto. For the past 10 years, I've been studying industrial clusters and economic development in Canada and the role of research and creativity in promoting the growth of Canadian cities.