I'll do my best to answer them in a yes-no fashion.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ladies and gentlemen, members of the committee, I am very pleased to be appearing before the committee once again.
With me are Judith A. LaRocque, Deputy Minister; Pablo Sobrino, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy, Planning and Corporate Affairs; and Jean-Pierre Blais, Assistant Deputy Minister, Cultural Affairs.
It's been almost a year since I was last here. In the last few months, our Government has been working tirelessly on many cultural issues, and today I want to share our accomplishments with you.
The most visible cultural and sporting event to take place in this country in the last decade was the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic winter games. The games brought with them incredible events--the Olympic and Paralympic torch relays, the opening and closing ceremonies, and of course the sporting competitions themselves.
This also included Canada's Cultural Olympiad, which featured approximately 650 performances and exhibitions. More than one quarter of the artists featured were from Canada's francophone communities. Our artists set the bar extraordinarily high, both entertaining and inspiring Canadians and people around the world.
This was a once-in-a-generation event that brought Canadians of all ages and all backgrounds together. These were truly Canada's Games—exceeding the standards of the International Olympic Committee and uniting Canadians in cheering on the remarkable athletes who made us so very proud.
Our government understands the vital role that arts and culture plays in the lives of everyday Canadians and the contribution it makes to vibrant communities across the country. We also understand the economic importance of the arts in Canada. Arts and culture in Canada represents over 650,000 jobs across the country. Its economic impact for our country is $46 billion, almost 4% of Canada's GDP.
Throughout the last year, our government has been carefully charting a course that will allow our creative industries to become even stronger. Our economic action plan is investing in Canada's long-term benefits and strengthening our economy, particularly our creative economy. In the first year of this two-year plan, we delivered an unprecedented level of support for arts and culture in Canada. Since April 1, 2009, we have invested over $53 million for 113 economic action plan projects in communities of all sizes across the country.
This includes $1.3 million in support for the National Theatre School in Montreal, so it can remain a world-class arts training school; $1.8 million to the Vancouver East Cultural Centre to help renovate its 1911 York Theatre, which is about to turn 100 years old; approximately $1 million for La Troupe du Jour to create a first-rate centre for its high-quality French theatre production—La Troupe du Jour is the only professional French language theatre company in Saskatchewan; the Garden of the Gulf Museum, located in Montague, Prince Edward Island, will be able to better display its artifacts and complete important renovations as a result of investments through our Economic Action Plan.
Moving forward, we're investing $335 million in arts and culture, which includes cultural infrastructure, new arts facilities such as those of the Quartier des spectacles in Montreal, new investments in historic sites such as the Fort York Visitor Centre, the birthplace of urban Toronto, and renovations such as that of the Royal BC Museum, one of the oldest and foremost cultural institutions in Canada. These are just a few examples.
Through these projects we are providing our creative economy with a much-needed shot in the arm and building arts infrastructure for future generations. Last month's Speech from the Throne built on our commitment to Canada's arts and culture sector. It makes note of the several historic anniversaries that will bring Canadians together to celebrate our rich and diverse heritage. Plans are already well under way to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Canada's first English settlement, at Cupids in Newfoundland and Labrador; the bicentennial of the War of 1812; and the Queen's diamond jubilee, the sixtieth anniversary of the ascension of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. We're also honoured that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will be in Canada during the summer of 2010.
The Speech from the Throne also repeated our government's intention to launch a digital economy strategy and to introduce legislation to strengthen laws governing intellectual property and copyright to encourage new ideas and protect the rights of Canadians whose research, development, and artistic creativity contribute to our prosperity and well-being.
Creators need the right tools to compete in global markets and build new business models. That's why our Government recently revamped and modernized several programs to assist the industry in this time of change.
Last month, I attended the launch of the Canada Media Fund, a public/private partnership which I am proud to say will invest about $350 million in the production of Canadian content in this year alone. This means more choice, more Canadian programming, and more support for the future of digital entertainment in Canada.
We also announced renewed support for Canadian periodicals, books and music. This investment will ensure that Canadians have more access to Canadian cultural content than ever before. Our goal for these programs was clear: to cut down on red tape, and be more efficient in supporting community newspapers and magazines, more Canadian authors, and more Canadian artists across the country.
The result is this: magazines and non-daily newspapers now have a better program, which supports them in bringing quality Canadian stories and opinions to Canadians in the titles they choose to buy; independent artists and small labels will have more access to more market development funds for their music than ever before; fans of Canadian authors everywhere will continue to have access to a wide range of Canadian-authored books.
While we have increased funding for the arts in every one of our government's budgets, we have now renewed and stabilized funding for arts and culture programs for five years, until 2014. That's more support for festivals, for theatres, for museums, youth programs, and training programs for our future artists than at any time before in our country's history. This renewal was something arts organizations had asked for in order to allow them to plan their activities for the longer term. In uncertain economic times, our government fully supported this need for stability, which is unprecedented.
In total, our government invests more than $2 billion every year in arts, heritage, and cultural programs. This includes a record amount for the Canada Council for the Arts and for the CBC, which also has benefited from the highest level of funding in its history. Today I am delighted to announce that 64 arts organizations have been granted $14.9 million to leverage close to $21 million in private sector donations to their endowments. With this announcement, since 2006 our government's investment of $59.5 million in arts organizations' endowment funds has leveraged more than $93 million in support from the private sector for arts and culture.
We're providing support for organizations such as L'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Le Festival international de Lanaudière, the Vancouver Symphony Society, the Manitoba Theatre Centre, and the Canadian Opera Company. This is in addition to the 41% increase, from $17 million to $24 million, for the Canada Arts Training Fund, support that goes directly to the 36 schools across the country that have demonstrated that their training is the key factor in the success of their graduates.
As we make these new investments, we continue to manage tax dollars in a responsible way. This year, the Canada Council for the Arts, the CBC, the National Film Board of Canada and Telefilm Canada undertook strategic reviews of their direct program spending. Our government concluded that the programs delivered by these organizations were found to be in line with the priorities of Canadians and of the government.
In particular, the National Film Board has been a leader in terms of taking advantage of modern technology. Last year it put the better part of 1,500 films online for free via nfb.ca and also launched its free iPhone application. Early on, our government made the deliberate decision to increase funding for the arts in each and every one of our budgets. The initiatives I've outlined today illustrate our government's historic and continued commitment to supporting arts and culture in Canada. We recognize that rapidly changing technologies have implications for arts and culture and we've been charting a course that will allow creative industries to navigate this changing landscape with support from our government.
Thank you. I look forward to responding to any questions you may have.
