Canadian Heritage Committee on Nov. 15th, 2011

[Janice Price]

Another place where festivals can play a role is that we will indirectly, obviously, have a trickle effect through other festivals' arts organizations, up to and including individual artists, because we, at our core, work within a much larger ecosystem. Where we are located across the country we will have the capacity to have that kind of ripple effect by working with other artists. As I said, from Luminato's perspective, we have one goal or one program we're already devising, which is to have every single province represented in our program in that year.

I also think that the place where FAME can have a really helpful effect is in what I refer to as that lead-up opportunity. One of the great things about us is that we all happen at different times of year. Sometimes we overlap. But you basically get year-round coverage with a FAME kind of group, which I think could really be helpful for disseminating the singular theme.

I think one all-encompassing theme can be hard to manage. It could be hard to get everyone in that same box. But I think if you had enough voices around the table, and at least some large slogan or organizing principle, such as “Canada on the world stage” or something like that, everybody could figure out a way to work within one theme. I think through our organization, and obviously, if you add the NAC and others to that, we could be really helpful in a consultation for brainstorming those ideas.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Gaffney, we were just talking about this principle of the four seasons. I really liked your approach when you said that we need to find a vocation, for example. You said that the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, for example, was initially devoted to promoting the works of Shakespeare.

Do you think it would be good to have a theme related to our country? In England, they promote Shakespeare, a figure as old as the country. As part of Canada's 150^th birthday, could we present people, authors or poets who would be as relevant in Canada as Shakespeare is in England?

[Anita Gaffney]

I used the example of what they're doing in London, because what caught my imagination about that.... I visited the National Theatre, the Globe Theatre, the Tate Gallery, and the National Gallery, and what excited me was they had a big idea of Shakespeare. If you want to use Shakespeare in Canada, that would be fine too. But they use Shakespeare. What I liked about it is how they all interpreted it in their way that was suitable for their institution.

The theme could be Canada at 150, simple as that, and we could get arts institutions around that idea. As I said, Stratford's idea is to commission some plays about the big stories of Canada over the last 150 years. I think other arts organizations could take that same idea and get excited about it. But as Janice said, I also think it takes some discussion and consultation to package that big idea to get people really excited about it.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

You also just mentioned the idea of a travelling show, a 150^th birthday caravan. Do you think it would be possible for each of the festivals to participate in this travelling show, which would become a huge showcase that would let people see what will be presented at each of the festivals taking place to celebrate Canada's 150^th birthday? There could even be an international dimension, as Ms. Iley from the Banff Centre just mentioned.

[Anita Gaffney]

I would look to an example of the Royal Shakespeare Company, which brought five or six plays into New York this year, and they did an installation at The Armory. So you might look at that as a model, where you have a venue in a big international destination; you bring an opera, a symphony, a theatre, and a music festival--you bring a handful of festivals--and you call it Canada 150. You go into an installation within a community.

You may also be part of a festival. Something like the Edinburgh Festival is a wonderful international festival, and they may have a component that hosts all these Canadian activities in their different venues, because they've got many venues in Edinburgh.

I think the other concept is to embrace technology on this concept as well. The idea of filming our productions in 3D—that technology is really taking hold, and I think that's an opportunity. It doesn't replace the theatre-going experience, but I think it tantalizes the taste buds for having that experience at some point. But I think as close as you get is that 3D experience, so there's an opportunity to film some of our artistic activities and take those out into the world as well.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

Thank you, Mr. Nantel.

On to you, Mr. Simms.

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

Thank you, Chair.

I've heard some great quotes in the last 30 minutes or so: a new level of confidence in this country is a good way of looking at it; festivals and events can be a catalyst to discovering your own country; community engagement; the seeds of 2017 could certainly create infrastructure and create legacies that will be longstanding and very beneficial.

Thank you for that.

As a committee, I think our job is to provide the government with a study, with some ideas of how we can celebrate who we are at 150. This is such a broad thing to look at, whether it's sports or, in this case, arts.

First and foremost, as a catalyst, I think FAME is a fantastic organization. I've met with several of you in the past, and I find it's a great opportunity for decision-makers to sit down and flesh out some of these themes that I talked about.

But when it comes to, let's say, the MTEP, which is a very popular program...when we look at specific recommendations to the government and how we access government funds to promote this idea, I have no doubt there is going to be some type of fund you can take advantage of for Canada 150 and whatever theme there may be.

Where does the thrust of that funding go to? I know that's a hard question to answer because we're several years away, but give us an idea of where this funding works.

You talked about marketing, about infrastructure, bricks and mortar—the building itself. Do you put money into promoting your festival that people across the country can go to see, or do you take this festival and put it on the road, similar to what the Discovery Train was back in 1967?

I don't know where to start on this one...maybe I'll go from east to west. I'll start with Ms. Gaffney and then Ms. Price, and then to our guests on video conference.

[Anita Gaffney]

Funding is about partnerships, first of all, and using public funds to incent investment from the private sector as well. I think there's an opportunity around both marketing and product development.

On the marketing front—again, I can speak about the Stratford Festival because that's what I know the best—we're most focused on raising money to produce the works in Stratford. That's what our donors give to. That's what government gives to. That's what's important.

We are an asset that can be exploited to be marketed further afield. We have very limited marketing dollars that we allocate ourselves, but we're an enormous tourism catalyst. If there's more money made available to market this treasure and this asset, all the better for the tourism economy, and also for the reputation of Canada because we're bringing more people into the country.

From a product development perspective, some of the ideas we've talked about today, the notion of commissioning plays, of touring productions, would be things that could be supported in 2017.

[Janice Price]

I would add that we need the song, you know.... There are a lot of us here who are old enough that we could probably do the whole Bobby Gimby Canada song--I can. I'll leave it to Member Cash to come up with some ideas on that front.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Janice Price]

But that's not an entirely facetious comment. It's those things that layer together to create that sense of a unified celebration that everyone can come to--and who can't fall in love with a great theme song?

I think it is a layer of things. For festivals like Luminato, for example, that are already multi-arts festivals, we already present...on average, 70% of our programming every year is Canadian artists from Toronto, from Ontario, and across Canada, and yet we have very rapidly built a reputation as a festival of international arts as well.

Our founders had a big vision right from the beginning, about six and a half or seven years ago, that Luminato actually was meant to be a festival for Toronto, for Ontario, and for Canada, and was meant to be embraced and loved by all Canadians in the way that they are now proud of TIFF, after its almost 35 years versus our five years. But we actually aspire--as TIFF now has achieved--to be among the top three multi-arts festivals in the world, such that we're thought of in the same breath as Edinburgh or Sydney and people plan their calendars around it and so on.

When you take that kind of scope and thinking with the large festivals and events, what I would layer into it, whether through a new MTEP-like program or the celebrations...it is an ecosystem, and you will hear from FAME members.... In fact, some of the proposals on which we've been working with government are around equally supporting smaller festivals and events. There does have to be this whole kind of holistic approach, where perhaps FAME can have that trickle-down effect, as I said, or work with artists and organizations across the country. But we also believe that there are going to have to be entry points for smaller community festivals and events, because they equally can have huge impacts in their own community.

So I think it will be important to look at the whole ecosystem. Again, it's a place where we have a lot of experience in doing that, and we are certainly willing to expand upon that for you.

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

Ms. Amarshi.

[Fatima Amarshi]

Just to echo what Anita and Janice were saying, I think any kind of funding that comes through has to first and foremost support the development of content, the development of product. You can't market something that doesn't exist, so supporting the ability to commission new works or to expand on existing programs is really primary, and then additional support for the marketing of it is really crucial.

When it comes to commissions to be able to tour works, certainly that is a vital part of what it takes to develop new works and then to make the investment worthwhile enough so that it grows across the country. But that's not something that has to be borne as a burden by any individual organization. For instance, our festival doesn't necessarily have to carry that act throughout the country. We can work with our networks.

Jazz Festivals Canada is the national network of jazz festivals across Canada. Collectively, we could all commission a piece of work that is then showcased at all of our festivals, for instance, or we could even work with non-jazz festivals. Also, Luminato has a significant music component to its activities, as do a number of other multidisciplinary arts festivals. When we're talking about touring, just think about that kind of capacity that is built into it as well.

But first and foremost, the funding has to go toward the actual production of content.

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

Ms. Iley.

[Sarah Iley]

I would support everything that has been said. The commissioning piece is really key. We certainly are doing more and more commissioning. We almost never do it alone. We are always working with partners.

The content is really important, but I also want to go back to the notion that I think Parks Canada had. When we're talking about a much broader celebration, we want to engage and commission really wonderful artists, but I think we also want to encourage young people in particular to think about how they might express themselves.

I think the notion of actually putting some money toward those kinds of community engagement projects, where you are actually enabling people to tell their own stories as part of this whole celebration, is also something we should think about. So it's about commissioning really high-quality art but also enabling other people to think through the way they would use the arts to express their own love of Canada.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

Thank you, Mr. Simms.

Mr. Young.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for coming here today. Thank you very much, everyone, for informing this committee.

Madam Price, you said something that really grabbed me. You talked about a new cultural identity for Canada for 2017. Since back in the 1970s, we've been very good at celebrating our differences. Canadians are very good at that. You can go to any number of ethnic festivals and see dance and hear music from a hundred countries in the world. I just wonder if part of that new identity for 2017 would be leaning more towards what we share in common.

In the early years of Canada, to come across the ocean was risky. A lot didn't even make it. It was about survival. It was about dealing with extreme weather and great distances. Then it became peace, order, and good government. And then it became more about freedom and opportunity and defining Canada as a nation.

I wonder if you have any ideas about what a new cultural identity should be based on.

I'd like to ask you, Anita, to answer that afterwards, please. Thanks.

[Janice Price]

Thank you.

I was also really taken by the fact that we had such a focus, which was probably part of our natural life cycle as a country. I think of the 50 years since the centennial celebrations as being a time of incredible maturing for our country in terms of its own sense of identity on many fronts, as a member of the world community and of course culturally. Part of it has to do with having a sense of pride and being able to compete, as it were, on the world stage. I guess we need an “own the stage” program, or something like that, to have the arts equivalent of the sports initiative.

I do think there will be some natural tendency, desire, and necessity to celebrate--Sarah referred to this very well, and Banff is uniquely positioned to do this--and to make sure we take this as an opportunity to look back at the entire history of the growth of our nation as an identity.

I can say for Luminato that diversity is one of our three programming pillars. The others are collaboration and accessibility. That's where you get our blends of disciplines, over 70% of our free programming, and the incredible ethnic diversity that is reflected in our content. We think about it a lot. We think the new Canadian identity is that incredible mashup that happens between art forms and between cultures, which uniquely creates a new piece of work.

We have seen a moving away from--and I don't mean to be pejorative at all--that kind of caravan mentality of “I'll come and watch your folk dancing and then you'll come and watch mine, and then we'll be mutually respectful”, to instead figuring out how, when those things come together, there is actually a unique new piece of art created from cultures collaborating together, which can actually be described only as Canadian, because it couldn't happen anywhere else in the world.

There's going to have to be a balance between expanding upon those opportunities--and in particular, obviously, I'm speaking from the perspective of Toronto, where very close now to 50% of our residents were not born in Canada--and acknowledging and representing culturally all the parts of Canada and our Canadian history. We'll have to do that as well.

[Anita Gaffney]

I think it comes down to having a platform for being proud of what Canada produces today. Variety and diversity are some of the keynotes of Canadian culture. The difference is that for 2017 we should be yelling it from the rooftops and sharing it globally.

Before the meeting, Mr. Calandra commented that in 2017 we'll be seeing a lack of a workforce here in Canada, and we'll be welcoming people from other countries. I think that diversity is just going to blossom and grow. Canada can be defined as embracing that diversity. We articulate it and express it in our culture. We are proud of it and share it on a global platform.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

Thank you very much.

I'd like to ask, first, Sarah Iley how we can help to create productions. There was a reference to commissioning works of art. I wonder if you think it's doable or workable to have contests to commission songs, plays, operas, or dance to help tell Canadian stories. As we approach 2017, what is the best way to develop Canadian stories?

[Sarah Iley]

I certainly think commissioning is a very key way to do this. The Banff Centre has actually run something called the Banff playwrights colony for 38 years. We've had Canadian playwrights coming here and creating work for the past 38 years. In many ways, those plays already tell the story of Canada.

I'm going back to Anita's notion of the archives of Stratford. There's been a lot of work created over time. Every single piece is very much a creature of its own time. When commissioning, which we would be doing in 2017, we're looking to invite artists to interpret what Canada means to them now. In some cases, you're going to have people who, because of the ways they think and express their own artistry, are going to be doing that in a way that may not be a traditional history tale but will in fact incorporate the history of their particular area or the way they relate to things.

For instance, Tono, which I referenced earlier, was a co-commission between Luminato and the Banff Centre. It was a co-commission of a company called Red Sky. It was actually a collaboration of Cree and Mongolian artists, who come from very much a horse background. They were nomads. That very much informed the piece. The piece is about living off the land, as people who lived on horses. In a way, those artists were already expressing their own history.

The commissioning process is merely a way of opening the doors to artists' own interpretations of what they feel they want to express about Canada. I go back to what Fatima has said, which is that most commissioning should always be done in partnership, because when you're partnering you're giving other opportunities and other platforms for the work to be seen. They're automatically built in when you have a co-commissioning process, whether you're commissioning plays, dance, or opera. We've co-commissioned three operas, and all of them told Canadian stories.

Artists are terrific storytellers. Given the opportunity, we'd get some fantastic work.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

Thank you.

How is my timing?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

You are a minute over.

Thank you, Mr. Young.

Mr. Benskin.

[Tyrone Benskin, NDP, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Hello. Thank you all for joining us, especially you guys on the west coast who probably got up at an ungodly hour to be here with us.

There's been a lot of discussion--and this is out to everybody--about international impact, sending Canadian work out onto the international stage, which is...yeah, hey, hey. One of the issues we're still wrestling with—and this is on many levels, including transportation and so forth—is getting work out to Canadians. There are still far too many Canadians who don't know what we, as Canadians, have produced historically--George F. Walker and George Boyd. These are wonderful playwrights who have created works that Canadians don't know anything about for the most part, except for regionally. I, myself, have commissioned three plays as the former artistic director of Black Theatre Workshop. They are great plays, and two of them have gone on to be published. However, they've yet to be able to get out of Montreal, where they were born.

What kind of emphasis or initiative do you think could be implemented to get Canadians connected with the history of its art and its culture? Our music history goes way back to Paul Anka and doo-wop. Our film history goes back to the Donald Pleasence film, Wedding in White. Before that, our playwriting history goes back to way back when.

I was struck by Anita's reference to what they were doing in England with celebrating Shakespeare. Shakespeare, obviously, is a good thing for England. We do Shakespeare really well. I was with you guys for two years.

How do we take that same initiative and make it Canadian in terms of celebrating our Canadian artists throughout our history?

[Anita Gaffney]

I'll start.

There are a few really exciting ways to do that. One is encouraging the arts institutions to embrace the notion of Canadian artists, to commission and showcase the work of the very finest artists in 2017, and to really brand that under Canada 150 in 2017 and the years leading up to it.

I think there's an opportunity to tour, as I talked about—going from coast to coast, sharing and cross-pollinating the great work we do in Stratford, Shaw, the symphony, and lots of other places, and taking it from one province to another. I would build on that idea, not just touring the productions but thinking about residencies in these cities. Going to Calgary and having the artists go into the universities, the high schools, and the elementary schools to work with the students and teachers and really enhance their knowledge about the work that's coming into their communities.

Finally, technology can play a role. I think we should always be looking to that as one of the first things. There's a really cool contest that the Guggenheim did for their 50th anniversary. It was an international contest, so it could be at the international or domestic level.

They have a Frank Lloyd Wright collection, so they had a contest for people to design shelters that would house two people. Google developed the software, called SketchUp, so that people could submit their designs using the software. They had about 700 submissions from around the world, and they housed it so that these were the submissions from Canada, from Belgium, or from Australia, and you could explore it in that way. But a really neat thing was that they had a people's choice, and 100,000 people voted in this program.

It's a kernel of an idea that there could be that kind of contest, that kind of engagement for people to not just submit a picture, but to submit a song, a poem or a play. It could be adjudicated by a series of professionals or it could be adjudicated by people's choice. But what it does is it gets people out of the strict boundaries of their borders, gets them sharing their ideas in a broader way, and gets them engaged in culture.