Helene Chalifour Scherrer, the new minister of Canadian heritage, made her first major address to the Canadian film and television industry during a Jan. 29 breakfast speech at the CFTPA/APFTQ annual convention in Ottawa. Here is an excerpt.

Made-in-Canada film and television productions are fundamental to Canadian culture. Canadians must be able to see their own realities reflected on their television screens and in their movie theatres.

And that can only happen when we have Canadian producers and Canadian talent making Canadian productions. But Canada’s film and television industry also faces serious challenges in serving the needs of Canadian viewers.

It is clear that our cultural industries toolkit requires further updating. This means:

* Ensuring that the mandates of the agencies and programs in support of Canadian broadcasting complement each other

* Modernizing the law governing Telefilm Canada, and

* Facing the challenge of reaching audiences for English television drama, an issue that the CRTC is examining right now. Let me be direct: English drama on Canadian television matters. We need to do a better job of attracting audiences.

I am well aware of the success that the [Canadian Television Fund] has had in revitalizing your industry. I know that it has invested more than $1.5 billion in more than 16,000 hours of Canadian programming.

These are some amazing numbers. I also know about the jobs it helps generate and the impact it has on our economy. But I am also well aware of the impact the cuts to the Canadian Television Fund had on your industry last year. I also know production was affected right across the country.

You can expect this from me: I will continue to work with my colleagues to find a solution to the major problems facing your industry.

However, the television and film industry is not just about dollars. More importantly, it is about whether Canadians have the opportunity to see a reflection of their own realities on their television screens. Government investment in the independent television production sector depends on the capacity of Canadians themselves to recognize why this investment is necessary.

So today, I ask for your help in explaining to Canadians the impact your industry has on their daily lives.

The federal government is taking all of these challenges seriously because they aren’t industry’s problems alone, or government’s alone.

As we tackle these important issues, it is crucial that industry and government work in partnership. We are in this together in the interest of all Canadians.