Canadian Heritage Committee on May 15th, 2014

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for being with us today, minister.

I noticed that approximately one-third of your comments concerned sports. You mentioned the support provided to the Sochi Olympic Games, the Grand défi Pierre Lavoie and the Pan American Games. Before, during and after the 2010 Games, which were held in large part in the electoral district I represent, we wondered what heritage those games would leave behind.

First, I would like to ask you how you view the connection between sports and heritage.

By the way, I was with Laureen Harper last week. She is

the honorary patron of the Trans Canada Trail,

which is a non-governmental organization, but in the private sector.

I would like to know what agreements there are between the government and private businesses for the purpose of developing heritage through sports.

Lastly, if you have the time, I would like you to tell me what role sports will play as a factor in unifying Canadians during Canada's 150^th anniversary.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

That is a lot of questions. Tell me if I forget any and I will go back to them.

Sports are really very important in Canada. As I previously said, they keep us in good health. They also unite us and are fun. It is important for our government to support communities wishing to take part in sports and hold celebrations for our athletes. That is why we invest in the Olympic Games, the Pan American Games and so on.

As I said in my presentation, events will be conducted by Special Olympics Canada, an organization with which we cooperate and which is working very hard across the country. There is also the Grand défi Pierre Lavoie. We work with those people to organize events designed to encourage Canadians to keep fit.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

We have to support great sports champions and people who are part of our heritage like Pierre Lavoie.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Yes.

The Olympics were an opportunity for us to be proud of our athletes and to introduce them to the entire world. I am thinking of all the medals we won. I am thinking of Jennifer Jones and her curling team. That was both an athletic and a unifying experience. The event brought all our communities together. Canadians were very proud.

Our deputy minister will tell you about the funding available for sport. I will hand the floor over to him.

[Colleen Swords, Deputy Minister, Department of Canadian Heritage]

Just to add a little bit on the Pan Am Games and the legacy, obviously, a large part of the $500 million that the Canadian government has promised will be going to the infrastructure, so that infrastructure will live on. We're also providing $65 million for a legacy fund, which will allow the operating costs of some of those buildings to continue for a number of years. In relation to cultural strategy, you're absolutely right that culture and sport often go together, and there's an additional $3 million that we'll be providing for a federal cultural strategy to allow the Pan Am Games to be experienced throughout the country through sort of a torch facility and some cultural activities connected with Pan Am.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Some of us believe Canada should be the fittest nation on earth, and maybe you've heard that before. Do you see some collateral benefits from what you're doing in encouraging sport, not only at the high-performance level but also for all Canadians?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

I don't know if you know this, but I played soccer for a very long time before becoming a parliamentarian. I spent 14 years coaching soccer in my community, and I'm a referee of soccer as well. It's really encouraging to see the impacts that the funding has in our communities. I think about a high-level soccer program that's actually running out of Glenlawn Collegiate in my own riding that the Government of Canada has been happy to participate in.

There's a huge link between sport and well-being and health. There's a huge link in the way we feel about ourselves and how we feel about our communities. That's why sport is so important. It really is a part of our Canadian identity that unifies us and will be celebrated for many, many generations to come.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Minister, I would say there are perhaps even economic benefits—

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Oh, yes.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

—in terms of the cost savings for mental and physical health problems. Would you care to comment on that?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Absolutely. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This really applies when we're talking about sports, because to be active and healthy means that you reduce the risks that are associated with things like heart disease and other forms of disease that impact the health care system.

Of course, there are also jobs involved in the sporting industry. When I think about our coaches and our physiotherapists and so on and so forth, I mean, sport is a huge economic driver, along with protecting us against these ills in the health care field and of course, as I said, unifying the country.

I know you're a champion of sport and I want to thank you again for that. Keep doing what you're doing, because we should be the healthiest country in the world, and with your help maybe we'll get there.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

And Pierre Lavoie encourages how many people? I heard it's a huge number of volunteers and others. So the small amount of money invested has a huge impact.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

It is huge.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

So, long may you run.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you very much, Mr. Weston.

We're now going to move to Ms. Mathyssen for five minutes.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to share my time with Monsieur Nantel.

Minister, I'm going to ask you two questions in two key areas, and if you would, a written response would be appreciated.

The first area has to do with APTN. As a minister from Winnipeg, a Métis woman from the Red River Settlement, you of course know that APTN is the world's first truly national aboriginal television broadcaster. They're experiencing some real difficulties. Last year the Canada Media Fund cut APTN's English envelope by 55% and the French envelope by 42%. This was a huge financial hit, so the answers I would like in writing from you are: what are you doing to ensure that APTN receives sufficient revenues from the Canada Media Fund so they can meet the conditions of their licence in the programming genres as well as language and the other requirements?

Would the government consider increasing the aboriginal language funding to help offset the losses experienced? Would you, Minister, consider the aboriginal language fund be reserved exclusively for APTN?

My second area of concern has to do with Library and Archives. I have heard from Canadians across the country, and they have expressed concern about Canadian government library closures. Would you be willing to consult with the archivists, CLA, and provide a more thorough description of the process taken to review collections and have a more transparent process for the management of these valuable, publicly owned collections? We're not sure where these collections are going. Will they be properly preserved? It is very important.

I thank you for those responses, Minister, and I'll turn it over to Monsieur Nantel.

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

That is good. We are asking you for answers in writing.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

I won't remember if we—

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

Those questions will go on the record.

In any case, I can see the extent to which Ms. Glover—

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Those are two very long and very important questions. With respect to APTN, I know that people want to know a number of things.

If you ask me six questions that I never get an opportunity to answer,

We won't do it justice.

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

We can put them to the officials again after you have left.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Okay, APTN is great. All right.

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

Mr. Dion asked you a question a little earlier, and I understood that you were partly detaching yourself—there is a kind of ministerial solidarity—from the decisions that were made. From the very start, I thought you were the right person in this government to handle heritage issues because of your nature, your concern for those issues, your delicate approach and the fact that you come from a francophone minority community in Manitoba.

Having said that, I dare hope the decisions that were made can be corrected, changed or altered thanks to a person like you, who brings her own judgment to certain issues.

For example, a little earlier I was talking to you about cuts to the CBC, which are a major concern for us. You seemed surprised by what I said about the reports this committee has tabled. For example, we worked I do not know how many weeks on the music industry report, but it was definitely three months in total.

Could you assure us that you are committed to maintaining the funding currently allocated to the Canada Music Fund?

People mentioned how happy they were with it and said it was working well, particularly the funding allocated to FACTOR and to similar organizations such as MUSICACTION. Can you commit to maintaining that funding and to properly considering the report we will be preparing after so many weeks of study?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

I was not surprised at all, but I was surprised that you said we had overlooked the report, which is false. We take all your reports very seriously. They inspire us and give us ideas. I simply wanted to be clear; I was not surprised at all. In fact, we did not overlook the 150^th anniversary; we are simply asking for some patience since it will be a celebration for all Canadians.