Canadian Heritage committee  The Quebec media were protected from the crisis for a long time by the size of the market, by a combination of assistance programs, and, in particular, by the language barrier and cultural identity. However, we are increasingly seeing that changing; I would just mention the use of the big streaming platforms, for example.

Canadian Heritage committee  However, that is not necessarily the case in every province and I am more concerned for other regions of the country. I do not want to say that everything is fine in Quebec and you should not help us. That is certainly not what I mean.

Canadian Heritage committee  I gave a few of my conclusions in my opening remarks, but I do not have the document with me. This annual survey, which contains a lot of data, is carried out in collaboration with the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism in Oxford. From year to year, we see a decline in people's trust and interest in the news, as your colleague said.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, I am.

Canadian Heritage committee  There are measures that depend more on regulation in Europe, in particular, in other contexts that you are certainly familiar with. In those cases, they tend more to address the role of the major platforms, rather than trying to legislate in a specific way. Germany, for example, orders that content be removed.

Canadian Heritage committee  In fact, I do not think that regulation in the form of oversight or censorship would be the solution. I think we have to work upstream, which the government has been trying to do for several years, to support a quality information ecosystem, rather than trying to silence or censor voices that we may view as problematic.

Canadian Heritage committee  Young people consume social media because they grew up with social media and digital media. They never knew the era when television, print media and radio were the main sources of information. Social media make up the environment their generation lives in. So it is entirely to be expected that they will turn to those platforms.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, certainly. I see my students every week and we discuss these issues. They are of their generation, they are looking to the future, and they have all sorts of reasons to be optimistic and interested in the transformations of the digital media environment. Obviously, they are worried about job prospects, because, as I was saying earlier, even paid internships are getting harder to find, particularly outside urban centres.

Canadian Heritage committee  Do I still have 30 seconds left?

Canadian Heritage committee  Okay. This could be increased support for local and regional news media, including community media, both print and broadcast, to ensure that everyone has access to local information. It also takes targeted support for efforts by the media and other civil society organizations to bring information closer to the interests and consumption patterns of target audiences, especially young people.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you for inviting me to contribute to your reflection on the state of the media in Canada and their future. This issue has been at the heart of my work as a scholar and educator at Université Laval for over 20 years now. Since 2020, I have chaired the Independent Advisory Board on Eligibility for Journalism Tax Measures with the Canada Revenue Agency.