Canadian Heritage Committee on March 9th, 2009

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Lavallée, please.

Don't forget to look my way. Then I can let you know that you're getting to the end of your time.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Yes, right.

What I was saying earlier, during Mr. Rodriguez' speaking time, is that I am surprised they don't know you, Mr. Péan, given that you are a major Quebec author specializing in literature for young people. I was just teasing my friend, Pablo.

Mr. Péan, I am going to go quickly because I have wasted some of my time making jokes. Can you give us an example of one author you represent who has sold several thousand copies of his books in Quebec and was subsequently able to go abroad and sell many thousand more copies, thanks to a small grant from the federal government?

[Stanley Péan]

There are the two authors I referred to earlier: Gil Courtemanche and Gaétan Soucy. That is what happened to them. I could also talk about Yves Beauchemin, Marie Laberge or Arlette Cousture. They have written books that have travelled around the world.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

How many copies of the book by Gil Courtemanche Un dimanche à la piscine à Kigali were sold in Quebec?

[Stanley Péan]

In Quebec, about 30,000 copies.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Fine. And abroad?

[Stanley Péan]

Well, we would have to multiply that number by a lot of different markets. At the present time, Gil Courtemanche has been translated into 26 different languages for a variety of markets. The book is considered an international bestseller. As you know, it was also turned into a film—a co-production with a foreign interest. So, we all know about the success of Un dimanche à la piscine à Kigali.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Very good. I would now like to address a question to Mr. Hamel from the INIS. You referred to the National Training Program in the Film and Video Sector, a program with a budget of $2.5 million. Four training schools were funded under that program, including the National Screen Institute in Winnipeg. Since then, additional funding has been provided to the National Arts Training Program. Additional funding of $7 million is being made available for 2009-2010, and an additional $13 million for 2010-2011.

Why not make use of that grant program?

[Jean Hamel]

The National Arts Training Program already existed. It funds training institutions such as the National Theatre School, the École Nationale de Cirque and, I believe, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School--

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Go on, I have only one minute left.

[Jean Hamel]

One possible solution suggested by the authors of the evaluation done of our program was to merge the National Training Program in the Film Sector with the National Arts Training Program. We think that could be an attractive solution. However, for the time being, our ability to apply under that program has not been confirmed. We are theoretically eligible, but we do not yet know whether our application would be accepted and analyzed.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

What is the deadline for applying?

[Jean Hamel]

Under that program, the deadline for filing an application is June 30.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

In other words, last June 30.

[Jean Hamel]

It is the 30th of June that precedes the fiscal year. Therefore, we would theoretically have had to file our application by June 30, 2008 in order to be eligible for funding in the 2009-2010 fiscal year. That year is going to be particularly difficult for us, because it is the year when the cuts will be applied to our budget.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Mr. Pomerleau.

[Roger Pomerleau, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be very brief.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

You have about a minute and a half.

[Roger Pomerleau, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

I want to extend my very sincere thanks to all of you for appearing today to comment on cuts to the programs we are currently reviewing.

My question is addressed to all of you, but particularly to Mr. Péan, because I really have no choice but to choose one of you.

All the witnesses who have appeared before the committee, without exception, have used the terms, in one form or the other, “irresponsible”, “illogical”, “incomprehensible” and “ideological”. No one has clearly explained why these programs have been cut. The witnesses all said that in the short, medium and long terms, this decision would jeopardize many different sectors of our cultural industries. They all talked about cuts that were not based on studies and of which they had not been informed. Indeed, no one was consulted on this. Similarly, committee members have never seen such studies.

When you consider the amounts of money that are at stake—$2, $3, $5 or $6 million—it is clear that we are talking about peanuts. We are meeting here to talk about peanuts. Government budgets are in the billions of dollars—not millions. In English, there is a lovely proverb that goes: “penny wise, dollar foolish”.

Mr. Péan, do you not have the sense that we are considerably more penny wise than dollar foolish?

[Stanley Péan]

Yes, I do. These small amounts of money are vital in all the different disciplines, whether we are talking about theatre, dance or literature. That is particularly true for literature. As for the programs we are discussing now, literature was affected little, but the role of these programs was critical. The examples are there to prove it.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Angus asked if Mr. Davies could answer after the Conservatives today so Mr. Davies can get himself a bit around what's going on at this meeting.

It's my understanding that the next questioning will be split between Mr. Uppal and Ms. Glover. Mr. Uppal, please.

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Edmonton—Sherwood Park, AB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

And thank you, everyone, for coming.

I know the opposition continues to use the word “cuts”, but this is reallocation of taxpayers' money; it's just a reallocation of funds. Nothing has been cut. It's actually been invested. We've actually invested $276 million on top of what there was before. It's $540 million in total. That's a huge investment into arts and culture.

It's interesting that there are a number of groups--I have a whole list who are very pleased with how the government has invested into arts and culture. Magazines Canada said it is delighted with this decision. The Canadian Conference of the Arts said this represents good news for the Canadian arts and culture sector. There's the director of the National Ballet of Canada: “We're really thrilled that there's a strong minister and that there were [two] pages in the budget devoted to the arts, which is a first in my history.”

In the Toronto Star, Mr. Knelman called the $25 million investment for the Canada prizes “a huge breakthrough for the arts”. Opera.ca said that “the federal budget speaks eloquently to the place of culture in Canadian life”.

I have a question for Mr. Péan. Is the fact that we've invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the arts and culture in this country a good thing for the arts sector, really showing how much the government values arts and culture in Canada?

[Stanley Péan]

Yes, it is a good thing, but the redistribution you referred to left holes in the budgets of certain parts of the industry. There is nothing new about programs being cancelled, but we now have to be told where we should go for assistance when we are planning a tour or need funding to host a writer or a foreign theatre company, for example. That is the question the government cannot quite seem to answer. We applauded—and I myself did this in a number of interviews—what was positive in this budget, but we have an obligation to criticize what is bad.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Thank you very much for coming today. I'm very glad to hear Monsieur Péan acknowledge that our government has done a number of very positive things for arts and culture, and probably more positive than artists have ever seen in previous governments.

I want to take a moment to address the collaborative opinion of all of you that the Canada Council for the Arts should be responsible for perhaps allocating some of these finances. I want to tell you that the Canada Council for the Arts has received an increase of 17% over two years from our government. In fact, Joseph Rotman, who is the chair of CCA, in Le Devoir last December said exactly this: proof exists that the federal government supports the arts through its funding to the Canada Council.

So I just want to go through a couple of facts about the Canada Council for the Arts. In the 2007-08 period, $182.5 million has gone to CCA. Out of that, Quebec received $51.7 million in funding, which represents 31.4% of total funding. Of that, because I know--

when you talk about writers, Mr. Péan,

writing and publishing, out of the travel grants to professional writers, they received $117, 379. I can go through a number of places where we are investing in international travel.

I'll do that right now. Dance: international co-production for dance, $277,500. Inter-arts program: travel grants to professional artists, $78,000. I'll go to some larger numbers. Music: music touring grants, $1,472,615; music travel grants to professional musicians, $162,977. It goes on and on. Theatre: theatre touring and special incentive program, $1,093,000. Again theatre, travel assistance for theatre, artistic directors, presenters and administrators, $75,900. Theatre: theatre international programs, $1,017,000.

There are a number of others. The total funding for travel assistance, I have to say for the people in the room who were here with the previous witnesses, is $9.5 million from CCA and not what we heard from a previous witness earlier when he presented a chart that was, as he said, conservative. His numbers added up to just under $3 million, and I'm telling you it's $9.5 million from CCA.

So I want to thank you for acknowledging our government's commitment to arts and culture, and I want to thank you for coming here today. I wish you all the success in the future.