Industry committee  Thank you for that question. Our members are actors. They are performers. They are in film and TV. They are on video games. They are very much subject to the deepfakes and abuses that are taking place. What we want to bring to light here is that when it comes to actors and performers, we are kind of on the outside looking in to the protections of copyright.

Finance committee  Thank you for that question. It is one of the greatest tools of our industry, which is also one of the greatest threats. You have individuals who have been victims of this, like Tom Cruise. I happened to be down in Los Angeles for the SAG-AFTRA negotiations, and I know that someone as big as Tom Cruise was very interested in what was happening when it came to AI and having protections.

Finance committee  Absolutely.

Finance committee  We have long talked about the importance of Canadian content and the importance of ensuring that we have the appropriate tenets in place in order to protect Canadian content. I'm very pleased that we got the Broadcasting Act revised—and thank you to the government and all those involved in ensuring that—and now we're going through the policy process of that.

Finance committee  Thank you, Eleanor. We commend the government for agreeing to review how artists can access employment insurance, based on the heritage committee recommendations to strengthen the Status of the Artist Act. We believe that EI must be available to self-employed performers and that the first $15,000 of a performer's income should be tax free.

Canadian Heritage committee  We can get you more examples, specifically of how the original content is promoted. There are other countries. I would say that in Great Britain the BBC has done a really good job of doing this. It's not usually the U.S. that is promoting it in that way, because it is the larger entity that has the well-known system.

Canadian Heritage committee  Can I add to that for just a second? We have to realize that the work we produce here in Canada, the body of work, is every bit as good as any other product from any other country. All I need to say is Schitt's Creek for us to recognize as Canadians the value of the work that we do.

Canadian Heritage committee  We have a history in Canada of protecting ourselves, whether it's through the regulatory system for broadcast or through trade, because we have that big country to the south of us—America. We've had to be very cautious about protecting Canadian content. We believe that we need to keep the protections as they exist today for Canadian content and Canadian broadcasters.

Canadian Heritage committee  Before any changes are made to the Broadcasting Act, we would first like to acknowledge that the existing act has both served us well and been remarkably technology-neutral. Therefore, we believe any changes to the act should only be made if they will help better support and uphold the fundamental purpose of the Canadian broadcasting system, which is to ensure that Canadians have access to Canadian stories and music, as well as entertainment, information and news programs.