Canadian Heritage committee  Canadian drama is the linchpin of popular culture. It is the one thing we all turn to. It is the voice that can go from one end of the country to the other. It is a voice that joins us. It is our humour, our fears, our hopes, and our dreams. It's all encompassed in Canadian drama

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, I'd like to say that there is a way out of this cycle. We see it more and more. As soon as we have an opportunity, as soon as the broadcasters take it seriously in their license renewals that it's time to put a little money and effort behind a Canadian show, we see enormous

Canadian Heritage committee  It's interesting to note that the average income of a union member in 1999, before the policy took effect, was $15,000 a year, so obviously we're not in it to get rich. Since the policy has been in effect and because prime-time drama has dropped off so precipitously, the average

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes.

Canadian Heritage committee  So instead of taking responsibility for their mistakes, the private broadcasters are seizing on what they call a crisis to hold us hostage on the issue of fee-for-carriage, to leave communities without newsrooms, and to free themselves of regulations that perhaps they never wante