Canadian Heritage Committee on Jan. 31st, 2012

[Patrick Hadsipantelis]

Actually, I think we should probably offer to our members the opportunity to get our Mint catalogue so that you would have a good appreciation of all of our products.

We have 150 products in our plan for next year, so we do a wide variety about themes. We do it educationally, to mark historic moments, but also to try to engage Canadians and international customers--because we're very successful internationally as well--to try to resonate the appeal of the coin from a design standpoint, but also to share a piece of the story. I think that's one area we've tried to focus on to try to educate everyone.

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

Yes, but on the series for 1867, the individual animals, it almost seems like it's quite a “hey, look what I got!” thing. There was a wide distribution at the time, but they've been around for quite some time. A lot of people I know who collect coins have that collection from the centennial, but they didn't buy the collection itself. They got it through circulation. Would you consider doing one type of coin for the entire year for the entire country in mass distribution for 2017?

[Patrick Hadsipantelis]

Well, it's a bit early to commit to what we should be doing, but our thoughts are, again, to try to appeal to a wide range about national pride, about regional communities, and to try to create that connection with Canadians, but also, that series is iconic for us. So to some extent we think there's probably value in bringing that back, either through a commemorative program or.... But those are some of the things that we still have to flesh out. There are a lot of opportunities and probably more to consider, but we take a lot of pride in trying to connect with our history, as well—

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

Yes, I just wanted to put it in there to be mindful, because I think you're right: it was iconic. I think maybe 2017 would be the time to do that.

I apologize. I have more for you, but I want to get to the NCC.

I've always wanted to promote the idea that everybody in this country should see the national capital, given the fact that we spend so much money on museums and everything else, and on what you do, all for a good reason--don't get me wrong--but when it comes to 2017, there are two things.

Obviously there are the live events that would take place throughout the year: do you have anything in mind right now? Themes aside, the events themselves...? Obviously there are those centred around Parliament Hill, and Canada Day, and I get that, but through events like Winterlude...?

Also, what kind of outreach do you look at in doing this? You say you take pride in the 40% of visitors during the royal visit who came from outside the capital region. For me, I would love to see 60% to 70% of the people come from outside, because I think everyone should see what it is you're doing.

[Marie Lemay]

Maybe I could start by answering that one of the things we heard from Canadians across the country is that everybody should have a chance to see their capital, whether it's physically or virtually, because at one point we have to start thinking how we make the best use of this technology.

One of the areas on which we've focused a lot in the last little while is youth. When you're talking about some of these projects and trying to think of the year, a number of ideas have been floated.

There's maybe a two-pronged approach in the way we look at this. I'll call it the experience legacy, the part where people create lasting memories, so these are the festivities and what I was talking about in extending and maybe connecting with youth.

We even thought about whether or not there is some way that we could have special programs where we have youth travel to the capital. Or do we do something with youths who turn 17 in 2017? Are there things like that which we should be trying to tap into to kind of generate...?

Then there's the harder side, I'll say, of the legacy, or the more lasting legacy associated with the infrastructure type of legacy. It's another area in which there has been a lot of discussion about ideas.

But in terms of the reaching out, we have been very successful with the last consultation we've done, and we intend to build on that and the network we've built across the country in reaching out to at least 20,000 people one-on-one in the last little bit.

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

Do you advertise that “this is what's going on in the national capital and we want you to come here”? Do you link up with private hotels, maybe, and that sort of thing, to entice people to come to Ottawa? Or is that something you specifically avoid?

[Marie Lemay]

Well, thank you for the question, because it's always a delicate balance. We're not in the tourism industry. We promote the capital and we create the experience in the capital. We deliver messages. We use the festivities to be able to have the educational component. It's not just about the party part; it's about the message, about the educational, historical, and Canadian identity messages that have to come across.

But we do have to partner. That's why we've been so successful, I think, in developing partnerships: we have no way of succeeding in doing what we do without having those partnerships.

Guy, I don't know if you want to expand on some of them....

But that's our way of doing business. There's nothing we can do alone as the NCC. That's our mode of operation.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

Mr. Gill.

Oh, sorry, Mr. Laflamme, maybe for ten seconds. Then we'll move to Mr. Gill. I want to respect everyone's time.

[Guy Laflamme]

We work with national media properties. We work with federal partners as well as with the local tourism industry to leverage our investment and take advantage of their outreach opportunity, as well as private sponsors who will help us use their networks to reach out to Canadians to invite them to visit their capital.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

That's right on the ten-second mark. Well done.

Mr. Gill.

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Brampton—Springdale, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I want to thank the witnesses for coming out.

My first question is for the Royal Canadian Mint. You had a great physical presence in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics. Do you have something similar planned for the 150th celebration across the country?

[Patrick Hadsipantelis]

The answer to that is not yet. We're currently looking at our retail distribution strategy. We've earmarked a few cities where we intend to make some inroads. It's a balance also of making sure that the investment we put in place makes sense for us as a crown corporation with a for-profit mandate. But it's high on our radar currently to look at how we can actually make the Mint more accessible to Canadians, and being in their communities we think is a key piece to that success.

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Brampton—Springdale, ON]

Thank you.

My next question is for the NCC. On your website you have a document outlining your Horizon 2067, a plan for Canada's 200th anniversary. What influence will this have on your planning for the 150th in 2017?

[Marie Lemay]

As we embarked on this very important exercise we were very conscious that we were targeting a 50-year vision, but the reality is that we need a 10-year action plan, because this plan is normally renewed every 10 to 15 years. So 2017 being within that 10 years, we figured if we're going to go out and talk to Canadians about what they would like their capital to represent, we have to talk to them a little about their aspirations for 2017. So we've gathered a lot of really good information in the conversations we've had.

It will definitely influence and help us as we prepare for 2017.

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Brampton—Springdale, ON]

I would like to share my time with Mr. Hillyer.

[Jim Hillyer, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

Patrick, I want to ask what the technical or legal requirement is, not just to put forth a commemorative coin, but to actually change the standard or the official coin. Right now we have the loonie. So the first question is what are the technical or legal requirements to change it? Let's say we wanted it to be something else, like the Parliament buildings or something.

I'll follow that up with what it would actually take.

[Patrick Hadsipantelis]

I'll ask my colleague Ms. Lepine to answer that.

[Beverley Lepine]

If we're talking a change to a circulation coin, of which you have seen a number over the years, that requires a decision by Parliament in terms of approval process, and then a cabinet decision in terms of changing composition and/or approving designs. If we're talking commemorative numismatic or collectible coins, many of which Patrick has referred to, that requires a submission to our minister, who is the Minister of Finance, which then gets approved and that permits us to go forward. We do that, as Patrick indicated, with advanced planning in both of those strategies, obviously not trying to do one coin at a time, but putting forward a portfolio for a year.

[Jim Hillyer, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Are you involved with the paper money as well?

[Beverley Lepine]

No. We do only the coinage.

[Jim Hillyer, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you. That's all I have.

Do we still have time?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

You have three and a half minutes.

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Brampton—Springdale, ON]

I have a couple of questions for the NCC.

How do you plan on further developing your virtual capital and capitalizing on the technological trends, such as the social media?

[Guy Laflamme]

We have started a joint project with the Department of Canadian Heritage, involving over ten different government agencies, to develop a virtual capital project to showcase some of the key commemorations and commemorative monuments and to showcase national institutions present in the capital region.

We also have an extensive network with schools across the country. We can outreach up to 4,000 teachers; we did that through Canadian Geographic. We will often work with private sector organizations to outreach schools across the country. We also have a network with Classroom Connections that will have allowed us, over the course of five years, to outreach four million students across the country.

The virtual and online component is also very important. We have just completed the renewal of the NCC website, which is now much richer. It has fully embraced the Web 2.0 approach by having a lot of content provided by users visiting the site, and having a lot of interactive platforms on the website for people to be able to virtually visit the capital.

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Brampton—Springdale, ON]

Can you also talk a bit about how you are engaging private partnerships in the planning of some of these celebrations?