Canadian Heritage Committee on Nov. 25th, 2014

[Graham Flack]

The world expo. I do not believe that we are.

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

Do you have any idea why?

In 2010, in Shanghai, the results for Canada were excellent. We expected about 5 million visitors and actually saw 6.4 million. It was under budget. I think there's been a great deal of interest in Canada, given that track record of excellence. I just wonder why we're not going to Milan.

[Graham Flack]

Yes; I was at the Shanghai expo.

My understanding is that this was one of the program cuts that was made, the funding for the international exposition.

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

Okay. So it was just simply a matter of cutting.

Finally, you talked about the lead-up to the 2017 celebrations and how we're going beyond 1867, which is admirable. How much is being spent or devoted to first nations milestones? I'm thinking particularly of the 400th anniversary of the Two Row Wampum and the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation. I mean, we have hockey and we have other heritage anniversaries, military anniversaries. Are these anniversaries that connect to our first nations people also being celebrated and noted?

[Graham Flack]

Yes. I don't have a breakout of the funding, but perhaps I could give an example of a crossover between the two.

Ontario will be celebrating the 400th anniversary of the first francophone contact, Champlain's visit, which was really facilitated...and not only facilitated; the discovery was really enabled entirely by the first nations people who facilitated all of this. We've been working with Ontario. In fact their deputy minister was up a couple of weeks ago looking at projects that would highlight that multipartite historical cooperation that allowed Champlain to introduce French for the first time to Ontario, which will be celebrating the 400th year.

We are very conscious of finding as many opportunities as possible to celebrate the diversity and, as Mr. Dion had indicated, are very conscious as well that Canada's history well predates 1867. It's important that in any celebrations in the lead-up to 2017 we reflect the richness that goes back well over 8,000 years in terms of recorded settlement in the country.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you, Mr. Flack.

Thank you, Ms. Mathyssen.

We'll move now to Mr. Dykstra for the last questions, for five minutes.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

I have one question, and I know that Mr. Weston has a couple more.

Earlier on, when the minister was presenting, there was a little bit of a debate between Mr. Dion and the minister regarding the percentage of revenue the CBC received from advertising. The minister indicated it was 39% and Mr. Dion indicated it was 45%.

I'm wondering if you could clarify what the exact percentage of revenue is for the CBC from advertising.

[Graham Flack]

I believe the committee had asked, at one of the previous meetings they had, for a split of the appropriated revenues versus the commercially generated revenues. A table was provided to the committee. That's the table that I have been reading off. It was in response to a question at I think the last appearance the minister had. The table goes back to 1969 and shows the split from then until now.

Which year would you like me to focus on, in terms of the question?

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

I think the minister was referring to the last fiscal year.

[Graham Flack]

The challenge with 2014-15 is that there are estimates. The actual advertising revenues will not be known until the end of the year. For 2014-15 it shows, in terms of that, that 39.3% is the commercial revenue the CBC is generating and 60.7% is the appropriated revenues from the government.

But the table that would have been sent around to committee members, I think not long after the last meeting, shows that going back to 1969. It has varied over time. It's not all in one direction. It has moved in different directions. It is now near the high end of where it's been in terms of the revenues coming from commercial sources.

It's not just advertising; they have other forms, such as co-branding. This would be all revenues, not just advertising revenues. It could be anything generated by the CBC. It could be leases they have on their buildings, for example.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Thank you.

I'll turn the rest of my time over to Mr. Weston.

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

As someone who wears his bike not on his sleeve but on his lapel, I am very intrigued by the support for the Grand défi Pierre Lavoie. Can you tell us anything about that? It's $500,000. Can you tell us anything about how it came to be, how the money will be spent, and what it is designed to accomplish?

[Graham Flack]

This is another one that got picked up in the budget 2014 announcements, and that's why we're asking for the appropriations in supplementary estimates (B).

Le Grand défi, as you're aware, is really quite a fascinating project that has moved well outside its home province, with activities undertaken now in seven different provinces: Alberta, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and New Brunswick. They estimate that, to date, about 237,000 children in Canada have participated in the Vehicube school activities. That has leveraged about 1.4 million Canadians across the country to take part in the Get Up and Move! contest, which rewards children for becoming physically active.

In terms of the funding we're seeking, this would be two years' worth of funding at $500,000 per year. What's caught here is just this first year.

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

Is there anything else you can tell us? I know about its origins in Quebec and how it was started by Monsieur Lavoie himself, but can you tell us more about what's happening in B.C., for instance, my home province?

[Graham Flack]

I can't, actually. What's remarkable, I guess, is that often these initiatives start in one jurisdiction and it's difficult to have them scale elsewhere; there are barriers. They can't get into the education system, for example. What I find quite remarkable about this one is how it seems to have transcended those barriers, and in quite a rapid format, to be able to get into seven jurisdictions and have that reach.

I'm sorry, I don't have a breakdown of the specific activities in each province, but certainly from our view it looks to be a highly promising project that seems to have hit escape velocity, if you will, in terms of its reach.

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

That's great. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

I have a few more minutes than I thought I had, so I'll give Mr. Stewart 30 seconds for one question.

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, for your indulgence.

Mr. Flack, you were talking about Canada's celebrations. The theme here is pre-Confederation. Now, at the same time the Franklin expedition was discovered and announced, there also was found the earliest sign of human habitation in Canada, a weir from 14,000 years ago up in Haida Gwaii. This was the first time that humans had touched the land we call Canada.

Is there any possibility of including that in the celebration? Is there any funding from Heritage to celebrate this, or even in fact investigate it further?

[Graham Flack]

I think it's a great suggestion. Maybe to help us in that, I'm delighted that we've convinced Andrew Campbell to come over from Parks Canada to help us with the work on 2017. It was among Andrew's responsibilities at Parks Canada to help manage the team that ultimately found the Franklin ship.

Andrew has already brought to bear the Parks Canada perspective on this, which includes these sorts of historic finds that you're talking about, that haven't always been connected with the rest of our activities. We're hoping for an extraordinarily inclusive approach to 2017, one that reflects the huge diversity of the country. As we come across new artifacts that allow Canadians to really experience that in a direct way, I think those offer tremendous opportunities to do that.

But as the minister indicated in her speech, she is very much hoping that all members of Parliament and all Canadians will actively engage in terms of suggesting what are the appropriate things that we should be celebrating, and leaving it very much to communities to be able to drive that agenda.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you very much, Mr. Stewart.

I'd like to thank our witnesses.

We will now move to the votes on supplementary estimates (B).

CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS

Vote 1b—Payments to the Canada Council for the Arts under section 18 of the Canada Council for the Arts Act..........$1

(Vote 1b agreed to on division)

CANADIAN HERITAGE

Vote 1b—Operating expenditures..........$7,256,295

Vote 5b—The grants listed in the Estimates and contributions..........$86,125,128

(Votes 1b and 5b agreed to on division)

CANADIAN MUSEUM OF HISTORY

Vote 1b—Payments to the Canadian Museum of History for operating and capital expenditures..........$170,000

(Vote 1b agreed to on division)

CANADIAN RADIO-TELEVISION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Vote 1b—Program expenditures..........$1

(Vote 1b agreed to on division)

NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE CORPORATION

Vote 1b—Payments to the National Arts Centre Corporation for operating expenditures..........$1

(Vote 1b agreed to on division)

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Shall I report the supplementary estimates (B) to the House?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you very much.

The meeting is adjourned.