Canadian Heritage Committee on May 1st, 2018

[Adrian Burns]

We strive very, very hard with artistic direction to achieve parity, and we believe that we have done so in all of our programming. Our awareness of this is top of mind at the NAC. Five of eight artistic directors and three associate directors are women. All programming departments are fully aware of gender parity issues, and, without exception, they tend to strive for greater parity when it's needed.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Thank you.

Ms. Loewen?

[Christina Loewen]

As my colleague, Alexandra, has pointed out, in opera there's a similar trend. I reported that our parity figures for senior leadership among opera companies is actually quite good. I think the number was 43%, so we're approaching parity.

However, as I mentioned, those positions are all women who are leading the smallest organizations in Canada in opera, and this is also a trend that we're seeing trickle down. We see that trend with the next generation of incoming opera companies. We have a robust network of indie, or independent, opera companies in Toronto. They are also largely run by women, so again, we're seeing that trend being reflected among the small organizations. As we count the numbers, they might look good, but when we're actually talking about the larger organizations and the positions that actually hold power and influence, we're not seeing parity reflected in those figures.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Can you please explain to us why you think such roadblocks exist in 2018?

Anyone can answer.

[Christina Loewen]

I think there are perceptions and misconceptions that need to be addressed about what a leader looks like and what kinds of experience you need to run a larger organization, and how we're really addressing the pipeline. One of the comments you made was that it's a common theme. I often hear the comment from people who are conducting searches that not enough women applied, but that's just a myth or narrative. I would say that that's something that really needs to be examined as well. When when we're talking about research, that's some really interesting data. I'd like to really validate that comment because I hear it a lot. Let's study that. Let's actually see how many women apply for these senior jobs, so that we're actually dealing with facts and not sound bites that we say over and over again.

When we talk about achieving gender parity, let's be really clear that this is the low-hanging fruit in our discussions about increasing diversity in our organizations. We talk about wanting to be reflective of the diversity of the population of Canada. One of the easiest ways of doing that is to be reflective of the gender balance in Canada, and if we can figure that out for gender parity, that's the first step. It's very much the same conversation. As we talk about diversity, we're also talking about gender parity. This should not be easy, but it's the route forward.

[Adrian Burns]

Also, Madam Chair, it's in the messaging.

Here, I'd like to take a moment to tell you about a project that our orchestral department did called Life Reflected. We engaged three composers from across Canada who were female, with one male—I won't go through the names now, but they are very well known in that world—to create a large production. The story was about four famous Canadian women, Roberta Bondar, Rita Joe, Alice Munro, and Amanda Todd, the young woman who took her life. We created wonderful orchestral pieces around this and made an evening of it. We toured that across Canada to great acclaim. It was the creation of our senior management team in the orchestral arena.

We are trying to do all of that in our theatre departments and everywhere else, so I think that message is going out across Canada, Mr. Shields. Even though the building is here, we do take that messaging out and I think this was a very strong message on the position of women in the arts.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

How much time do we have?

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

You have one minute left.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Would you like to add anything, Ms. Badzak? Do you agree with Ms. Loewen that it's just sound bites when people say that not enough women apply to high positions or positions of authority?

[Alexandra Badzak]

I would definitely agree. That is an area of research that we should look at. Certainly, as I sit on CAMDO, the Canadian Art Museum Directors Organization, that's not the message we hear across Canada. That's not what my colleagues are saying at the conferences we hold, but certainly, it is a conversation that we should continue to have.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Who do you think is putting out such information?

[Alexandra Badzak]

I don't mean to blame all the headhunters of the world, but I think that's part of it. I think what we're often hearing from organizations is that they just can't encourage enough female candidates. Anecdotally, I don't believe that's true. Again, that's qualitative information. I think we do need some quantitative data.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Perfect. Thank you so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Thank you very much.

That was a great way to begin this study.

Thank you very much for all of your assistance.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Do we have time for an additional three minutes of questions, Madam Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

It would be to the Conservatives next and then to us. That would bring us right to the 45-minute mark, which would have us starting the next panel late. If there is an interest in doing a two-minute round, we could go to—

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

Let's go to the next panel.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

That would be my preference at this point just because we have two people joining us via video conference whom we have to get linked in as well, which causes some delays.

Thank you very much.

We'll just suspend for a few minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Why don't we get started again?

This is our final panel for our cultural hub study. We have two sets of witnesses joining us by video conference. We have Jack Hayden and Frank Nickel from Rosebud School of the Arts. We also have Johann Zietsman from Arts Commons. Here in the room with us we have Christina Franc from the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions.

We are also hearing from Martin Théberge and Marie-Christine Morin, from the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française.

Why don't we start with the people who are joining us by video conference, just to make sure that we have the link?

Could we please start with the Rosebud School of the Arts?

[Jack Hayden, Chair, Board of Govenors, Rosebud School of the Arts]

Thank you very much.

I'd also like to thank you for the opportunity to be involved in these discussions.

At Rosebud School of the Arts, we are unique and the questions that you ask are interesting, because I think they mean different things to different people. When we talk about a definition of a cultural hub, as an example, we are more than the hub. We're the also the spokes in the wheel. Our theatre and school are the reasons the community continues to exist. We're about an hour outside of Calgary in a hamlet with a population of about 100 people. Everyone in the hamlet is connected to the School of the Arts or to the theatre component, whether they be bed and breakfasts, RV camping sites, or all of those different things. Of course, the original intention of our group was the educational component, so our school for the students is why the theatre is there, and it raises funds so we can offer the educational opportunities to those people.

It's a transformational community. We completely change the lives of our students, and we also offer patrons an opportunity to enjoy culture and the arts in a rural setting in some really interesting historic sites like our opera house and whatnot.

We've been asked what role government can play. I think one of the important things we want to emphasize today—and I'm sure that you all have the notes and the background information—is that we are unique. Because we are unique, we're a little different from than a lot of cultural hubs, which sometimes can be identified as a pinpoint in an urban centre and could be subsidized up to around 60% to 70%. The funding we receive because we're in a rural community with a rural municipality is approximately two per cent of our budget. We spend a disproportionate amount of time raising funds to carry on. I think we do pretty well, because we've been there for 40 years offering education, professional theatre, and exposing our students to what's available there.

The dirty word of course is always money. This is one of the things that we talk about because we don't think the arts and exposure to culture is an urban thing. We think it's a Canadian thing. Our belief is that it needs to be made available to the students in rural as well as urban Canada, and it's very important that it be easily accessed.

I'm going to move along so I don't use up too much time.

The greatest obstacles of course are the funding, which I mentioned, but it's also hard to attract corporate sponsorship because we are not very visible. This is a very tiny community off the beaten path. I mentioned that we don't have the same type of funding opportunities, and we have to do our marketing to a broader audience. We have 30,000-plus people come to Rosebud Theatre in the small community, as I mentioned, but we have to draw from a large area to bring those people from the larger centres. There has to be a commitment to go there, because there are no transportation options other than people arranging it themselves. We've been very fortunate to have some wonderful patrons who have helped us.

The benefits of course are bringing the organizations together. We have a community now that is more than just a hub, as I said. The reason it is there is arts and culture. It brings a diverse group of people together and allows our students to see professionals at work. We draw professionals from all across the country for our productions, and it's a very rich experience.

Without going too much further into it, I look forward to any questions there may be.

Frank is one of our experts.

Thank you very much again for the opportunity to speak today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Thank you very much.

We will now go to your tablemate Mr. Zietsman.

[Johann Zietsman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Arts Commons]

Thank you, Madam Chair, and my thanks to members of the committee for this opportunity.

I'd like to mention that I have the honour of serving on the board of Rosebud, so you should underline everything that you just heard, plus more. I'd like to add as much pizzazz as I can to their presentation. It truly is a remarkable organization that deserves all the support it can get.

Some of you may or may not know Arts Commons by that name. It used to be the Calgary Centre for Performing Arts. At another time, it was called the EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts. For four or five years, it has been called Arts Commons. I'll speak a little bit more about that in a minute.

This facility was opened in downtown Calgary in 1985. It was three theatres for three resident companies, which really was a typical first generation performing arts centre, or, as we labelled it in our industry, a “palace” for the arts. It was somewhat exclusive, somewhat removed—or maybe a lot exclusive.

Since then, we've opened our doors. We now have seven resident companies. We have six formal performance spaces, two educational or community spaces, as well as visual and media art galleries. We have a theatre café, rehearsal and community spaces. We're now what I would call a typical generation-five gathering space.

In our industry, we track the development of these spaces and the different roles they play over time in communities, in the country, and in North America.

The heart of Calgary's creative district is exactly where Arts Commons is positioned. It's a five-minute walk from a number of cultural amenities. If you're familiar with the Walk Score company, which tracks walkability, Arts Commons' walk score is 97 out of 100. It is actually called a walker's paradise, which means it is close to the city hall, the central library, the Glenbow Museum, the Telus Convention Centre, the National Music Centre, the Vertigo Theatre, the Lunchbox Theatre, Theatre Junction Grand, the Olympic Plaza, the Plaza Theatre, and the Stephen Avenue Walk.

In an average year, we host about 1,500 events, and more than 200 community user-groups now use our facility on a regular basis, in addition to the six resident companies and our own resident company. We serve about 600,000 people every year. According to Deloitte, which did an economic impact study a couple of years ago, our annual economic impact is $87 million.

We're very proud of the fact that we reach more than 43,000 students with curriculum-connected programming, and we engage more than 1,400 artists annually. These are performing artists, visual artists, media artists, and others. And we employ about 234 FTEs. Our community invests about 23,000 volunteer hours, annually.

Based on all that I've just said, I think you'll agree that we are truly a cultural hub in a cultural or creative district. Our mission is to bring the arts to life, to be an inclusive and inspirational gathering place for all. Hence the word “commons”. This includes new Canadians, for which we have specific programs to welcome them into our city and our country.

Due to a city population that has doubled since the opening in 1985, the ever-expanding diversity in Calgary, and the increasing demand for diverse cultural gathering spaces and opportunities, we need to expand Arts Commons. This is a delightful dilemma to have. We need to revitalize Calgary's downtown urban cultural district. For that purpose, over the past two years, we have been working with all levels of government on an Arts Commons transformation and capital expansion project, or ACT. It will provide much-needed additional access, inclusion, financial sustainability, and a flexible multi-use gathering space for current and future audiences and users of all descriptions.

Some of the things that I think would help the development of new cultural hubs, and the sustaining of current cultural hubs such as Arts Commons, are streamlining, fast-tracking, and aligning various government application and funding programs; lowering the access threshold, especially for emerging and community arts organizations and individuals; and increasing predictable sustainability through multi-year funding for projects and the operation and maintenance of spaces.

Another recommendation we might submit is to develop a national certification for cultural spaces, cultural programs, and people who invest in such programs, such as developers, architects, designers, etc., and to identify them as such, in order to create incentives, a common language, criteria that we all understand, and a shared vision.

Another thing that will certainly help is to make it easier, through less red tape, to develop and implement new, innovative, and creative ideas, which are risky by design. This can be done through city planning, development, codes, permitting, funding, and so on, and making the process more seamless.

I have two more recommendations, if I may.

One is to try to remove a lot of the risk for emerging artists or for diverse and indigenous communities to launch micro-businesses in the arts and cultural field. The risk of doing that is huge for individuals and emerging groups. If the risk could be removed or lessened, through some government means, by some subsidy system, from something like a creative risk fund, it would certainly help this creative innovation to happen without undue risk to folks who don't do it for the money.

The final recommendation is to fund and finance developers of cultural spaces. My board chair is a very successful developer in Calgary. His heart is in the right place, but I think it will be very hard for him to develop a less-than-profitable cultural space without some incentive. I know he would do it with some incentive, for the common good. I think the investing in Canada plan is a good program, but provincial relationships and priorities are not always predictable. Such anchor institutions—which might take place with the proper incentives and motivation—have the economic potential to leverage their assets and revenue to promote local sector development and private artists, and to increase the social impact. Ultimately, this is what this is all about.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Thank you very much.

Now we're going to our witnesses that we have here in the room.

Could we hear from Ms. Franc, from the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions, please?

[Christina Franc, Executive Director, Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions]

Thank you for inviting me to speak today.

Today, in representing the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions, I am representing 800 fairs, exhibitions, and agricultural societies across Canada, from the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto right down to the one-day Havelock Fair in Quebec. Together, in total, we see about 35 million visitors each year.

Fairs are living reflections of the life and times around them. They hold deep cultural, traditional, and emotional connections to the people of their local area and embody a sense of community.

In fact, there are several examples of fairs that are older than Canada itself. There's the Hants County Exhibition in Nova Scotia, which is 252 years old. We also have the Williamstown Fair in Ontario, which is 206 years old, and the Lachute Fair in Quebec, which is 193 years old.

I highlight this point, because in a nation so young it can sometimes be hard to identify what is truly Canadian. We identify ourselves with our Tim Hortons, our diversity, our manners, and our hockey, but that just scratches the surface of our culture.

Fairs are institutions that have grown with their communities over decades of progress and development. I would therefore argue that fairs are one of the first cultural hubs to exist in Canada and one of the best reflections of Canadian culture. Our culture is shared in our collective history, but also in our evolving stories and values. In a short time in even the smallest rural community, we make a significant impact. Our fairs showcase local arts and entertainment, we educate the population on all sorts of topics, and we are also one of the few social gathering places that reflect the diversity of Canadians through the visitors, the food selections, and even the activities we bring to the table.

For example, this year the CNE has developed a unique program entitled “The Silk Road to the CNE” that will celebrate the cultures of the ancient trading route established by Marco Polo. They will feature the world's largest indoor lantern festival, showcasing characters from fables and children's stories from these countries. They will also have cultural cuisine, performing artists, and an Asian night market, as well as hosting a three-day business forum emphasizing global trade, with a particular emphasis on exporting to China.

In Winnipeg, the Red River Exhibition has made significant strides in engaging newcomers by specifically inviting them to the event and allowing them to picnic on site so that they feel welcome.

Several of you may have fairs in your own constituencies, so I am confident you understand what I am referring to when I speak to the vibrancy of these events. If you don't, I strongly encourage you to visit a fair this summer, because one of the best representations of our events is to experience them first-hand.

Our struggle, however, is that we are not often recognized as a cultural hub, so my main recommendation today is that the Department of Canadian Heritage actively recognize fairs and exhibitions as cultural hubs.

Arts equals culture, but culture does not exclusively equal arts. Culture is tradition, arts, and heritage—fundamentally, a broad and true representation of society. Cultural hubs are both permanent and temporary locations that reflect society. Fairs, therefore, are the perfect example.

In terms of how the government can help cultural hubs, I've been listening over the past few weeks to other witnesses, and I strongly agree with many of their points, including the ever-popular need for operational funding, the need to educate boards and volunteers, and the need for more flexibility in the language when it comes to granting and funding opportunities.

To that third example, there is funding specific to festivals. However, many of my members do not qualify because of the language used or the restrictions in place. Another great example is the Canada 150 funding. Several of my members applied for funding and didn't receive any, due in large part to the fact that they were considered an agricultural fair rather than a cultural event. As I have explained, we are much more than that one-dimensional agricultural fair.

My final recommendation is that the government help fairs and exhibitions by assisting us with collecting data about our events. This applies to cultural hubs as well. We were fortunate enough to have a funded study completed in 2008, but that information is now considered significantly outdated. A new study would help us defend our influence and impact. The 2008 study showed, for example, that 89% of fair visitors agree that fairs are a major social gathering for the community, 94% agree that events like these are important to Canadian traditions, and 88% agree that these events enhance the quality of life for people in the regions. These numbers have been extremely useful to us, but I'm confident they've increased, as too have the numbers of volunteers who have been engaged and our economic impact.

Overall, I commend the committee for taking on this study, as it is such an integral part of Canadian society. As one of the oldest and most modern cultural hubs in Canada, we at CAFE look forward to working with you throughout this process.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

I now give the floor to Mr. Théberge and Ms. Morin, representing the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française.