Canadian Heritage Committee on April 13th, 2010

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

That's just an example...

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

And a fine example at that, Minister. There is no denying it

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Give me a chance to respond.

In fact, the members of Musication, FACTOR and SOCAN requested this. Musicians everywhere requested this to meet their needs. We listened to them and gave them what they asked the government for. That's one example.

Secondly...

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

Excuse me, but they never asked for funding for specialty music to be withdrawn.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Yes, they...

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

They asked you to withdraw funding for specialty music?

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

I attended those meetings, but you did not.

That's one example.

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

No, but I'm happy that you told me.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

I can give you a second example. A total of $310 million was invested in the Canada Media Fund. The total amount in the Fund is now $350 million. That means $40 million more on the table for creating Canadian content, including electronic content, which is important for the future and for Quebec.

If you really want to portray yourself as the defender of Quebec's creative community, you should look beyond Quebec's borders and to the world where you will find a huge market for Quebec, francophone and Canadian culture. We have established government policies and made investments to create new markets for Quebec content.

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

You did away with programs such as Routes commerciales and PromArt which were specifically designed to market our cultural products abroad. The Quebec government was forced to spend an additional $3 million to help Quebec artists sell their cultural products to foreign markets.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

With all due respect, I think you do not have a clear understanding of the issue. This money was invested elsewhere to assist our artists internationally. Among other things, we increased funding to the Canada Council and increased its capacity to help our artists internationally. We are not just talking about airline tickets, but about the international market, which also includes the electronic market. We have taken effective action in this area, with the support of Quebec artists.

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

That's all well and good, as he describes it, but...

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Thank you. Your time is up.

Mr. Del Mastro, please.

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Obviously, we jumped around a little bit there. Madame Lavallée is well aware there was a five-year extension of, as well as a dramatic increase in the overall funding of, the Canada Music Fund. Of course, FACTOR did appear and talked about its support for specialized music.

I'd like to pass off to Madam Glover, who I know has a question for the minister.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Welcome and thank you for joining us again.

I for one am very pleased to hear you say that you are focusing on the national scene. I am from Manitoba, which is home to a large francophone population. Manitobans enjoy listening to Quebec music, so I thank you. This envelope must never be reduced, otherwise, as francophones or francophiles outside Quebec, we will be adversely affected. I do not want to see this happen in my lifetime.

I would like to talk a bit about the Olympic and Paralympic Games that wrapped up two months ago. The Games were a resounding success—everyone says so—not just in terms of the sporting events where Canada won 14 gold medals and a raft of other medals, but also from a cultural perspective. I have a question for you about the cultural side of these Games.

During the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Cultural Olympiad showcased some amazing artistic talent. Could you describe for us how this program worked and name some of the artists who performed during the Winter Games?

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

The Cultural Olympiad was a resounding success. As you know, some of the people seated at this table were opposed to the idea of the government investing in the Olympic Games. Be that as it may, the Cultural Olympiad was a great success. The Olympic Games were not just a sporting event. They were a Canadian event and for that reason, it was vitally important to include culture. Vancouver and the greater Vancouver area played host to over 300,000 visitors. They were able to attend hockey games during the day and show their pride in our team. We wanted visitors to be able to see Canadian productions in the evening. The whole event was a resounding success and it really did not cost all that much. I believe some 600 or 650 artists gave 2,500 performances in the region in January and February, and in the case of the Paralympic Games, throughout the month of March.

It was an extraordinary event. I saw performances by Dallas Green, Alexisonfire, Yann Perreau, comedian Louis-José Houde and Mes Aïeux. The Cultural Olympiad benefited from our investment in the Place de la Francophonie. The government made a commitment to the Olympiad. The idea came not from VANOC or from organizations, but from Vancouver's small francophone community. Members of this community came up with the idea of setting up on Granville Island, in close proximity to the athletes' village, a venue for showcasing Canada's francophone community during the Olympic Games. Close to $8 million was spent on setting up this venue, which was an overwhelming success. Francophones from across the country and francophone athletes attended performances in French. There were Acadians, Franco-Manitobans, Quebeckers, Franco-Ontarians, and so forth. It was a truly special event.

In my view, the Olympic Games gave everyone in Vancouver and the surrounding area an opportunity to see firsthand the excellence of the francophone cultural community across Canada. The francophone presence in Vancouver is minimal. Yet, I know for a fact that many French CDs were sold during the Olympic Games. People bought francophone and Quebec CDs. It was a great success. I am just as proud of our cultural successes as I am of our victories in the field of sport.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

A number of French-language media were also in attendance. I was very proud to see our French-language media so well represented thanks to FrancoMédia funding. After the Winter Games were over, people reported that they were very pleased with the francophone media's coverage of the event. I hope you had a chance to hear the francophone Métis from Saint-Boniface. They were amazing.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

We have to conclude on that. I think you can probably respond somewhere down the line.

We will go now to Mr. Simms.

I'm sticking quite tightly to the five minutes.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

Is a fee a tax?

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

What are you talking about? Do you mean your iPod tax?

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

No, I'm just saying a fee. I don't care if it's a driver's licence or a gun licence or whatever it is.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

It is a kind of tax then, sure. It depends. To the consumer, it can be a tax.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

The fee is a tax, then. All right.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

It depends.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

What does it depend on?