On September 1, 1996, Parliament declared Charlottetown the birthplace of Confederation, and if Parliament said it, it must be true.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's really a pleasure to be here in front of this committee. I've had some counterparts speak to you over the last month or so and I was very envious of their ability to get in, so thanks very much.
I'd also like to thank you for bringing this group together at the table, because Peter, Deborah, Paul, and I have had a chance to connect, and we're also exploring ways to work together as we think about 2014 and how it connects to 2017.
Prince Edward Island is extremely proud of the fact that Charlottetown was declared the birthplace of Confederation, so much so that we have a lot of “Confederations”. We have the Confederation Centre of the Arts, the Confederation Trail, the Confederation Bridge, the Confederation Centre Children's Choir, Confederation Lincoln Mercury, and Confederation Realty. You name it, we have Confederation on it.
In fact, as many of you know, the Confederation Centre of the Arts was opened on September 1, 1964. It was Canada's national gift for the meeting of Confederation 100 years before in Charlottetown. I am honoured to have been the centre's CEO for the last 10 years.
Fifty years later, plans are afoot in P.E.I. to showcase the role that Prince Edward Island played in nation building, and I'd like to share a little bit about that with you.
In August of this year, the provincial and federal governments agreed to form a company called Prince Edward Island 2014 Inc., of which I was president and CEO for about three months before I moved into the deputy minister role. However, I retain some of my responsibilities.
The vision of that organization and the partners is to create an unforgettable 150th anniversary year in 2014 that will serve as the catalyst for the sesquicentennial of Confederation in 2017. It will unify, inspire, and serve as a source of pride for Prince Edward Island and for the country.
There are five pillars of activity that have been outlined in the draft plan being presented through a series of public engagement pieces, starting on Thursday. They include celebration, which is the party side of any anniversary. That's really important for people. I know that you've talked to Peter Aykroyd and Helen Davies, and they both talked about the importance of celebrations to the public.
There's also commemoration: creating stamps and coins for 2014, public awards, and public recognition.
Hosting is an important element. The first ministers conference will be held in September 2014 in P.E.I. We've challenged every organization, every group, every minister, and all federal counterparts to bring their conferences and meetings to P.E.I. in 2014. We also met just last week with people from the Juno Awards, the Canadian Country Music Awards, and the Gemini Awards. We're negotiating with the East Coast Music Awards about being in Prince Edward Island that year. That's the hosting side of things.
There'll be a large marketing piece, which will be national in its scope. We'll be working closely with the 2017 organizers across the country to connect the Charlottetown conference and the values that shape it with the rest of Canada. That marketing program will be very much national in scope, as will all the elements.
The last piece is legacy. We often talk about legacy in relation to creating new buildings and leaving behind that type of infrastructure. We're not so sold on that in this case.
We think that an idea was created in Charlottetown and later in Quebec City in 1864, and that this idea ultimately became Confederation in 1867. We're challenging ourselves and you and folks across the country to think about ideas that could change the country, the world. What kinds of things can we do in 2014 to connect with 2017?
The other piece is public engagement. We have a couple of pieces planned for public engagement. On Thursday, we are hosting about 100 people from across P.E.I., from all walks of life, to come and look at a draft strategic plan designed to help us shape the vision for 2014. We're fortunate that Deborah is going to join us, because we've been in talks with the Trans Canada Trail about possible partnerships for 2014 and 2017.
We also have, in February and March, a national forum planned under the leadership of Peter MacLeod, who spoke to you from Toronto. Peter has been engaged by us to bring together national leaders to talk about 2017 in Charlottetown and how we can connect the fact that it has been 150 years since the Charlottetown conference.
I'll speak briefly about the governance. We're proposing a national advisory trust to lead the 2014 celebrations, with a board of directors and a project review committee that would be made up of Canadian Heritage, which has been designated the department responsible for 2014, ACOA, the provincial government, and P.E.I. 2014. We work very closely with ACOA, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, in the region on the tourism and economic objectives the celebrations will have.
Turning to money, we've developed a budget. It's kind of been an interesting process, because we've been asked to think about what it would take to do that, so of course it's a chicken-and-egg process when we don't have the programming solidified, which we do not want to have until we have public engagement. But we have developed a budget, and the Province of P.E.I. has stepped up to the plate and committed to a total of $40 million over the next four years, both from provincial coffers and also from the municipal and private sectors. So that's an objective. We also have a request in to the federal government for $30 million, to be started next fiscal year, and we've been in discussions with Canadian Heritage folks on that.
The biggest objective of the funding would be to develop what's called a P.E.I. 150 fund, which we would develop criteria for and groups would apply for. We've looked at examples like Vancouver's 125 and the Quebec 400, which groups and communities and citizens are eligible to apply to in order to develop their dreams. Again, getting back to the philosophy, we're not necessarily about creating new buildings and infrastructure. We're about supporting and strengthening the existing, from coast to coast to coast, as part of 2014.
I understand that you've had a large number of witnesses here. I was looking at the list of some of them. Colin Jackson is a predecessor of mine at the Confederation Centre of the Arts, and we've talked about the work he's doing in Calgary. As well, you've had Peter Aykroyd and Helen Davies.
The year 2017 will be and should be a very, very special year in this country. The vision we have for 2014 and the 150th Charlottetown Conference is no less ambitious and should serve, as it did in 1864, as the catalyst for 2017, a celebration of Canada evolving as a nation, of considering all things possible as we reach for 2017, and it should serve as a time to reflect on the values that were shaped in Charlottetown in 1864.
Thanks for your attention. I look forward to your questions and comments.