Canadian Heritage Committee on June 4th, 2019

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

When you referred to equity, if there was this pot of money and we said equity goes by population, what would the reaction be in the arts community in the country?

[Annemarie Petrov]

I can't speak for what it would be across the whole arts community, but I think it would be very defensible and very smart.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Would you suggest that people in Ontario and Quebec be willing to give up some of their funding so it could go somewhere else?

[Annemarie Petrov]

I can't speak for them, but I would tell you that it's a very defensible and progressive way to think about things.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Yes, I agree it's defensible, but you've worked in five provinces and you won't tell me what you think the arts community's reaction would be. I think you have an opinion.

[Annemarie Petrov]

I can't speak for the arts community, but I can speak for myself as an artist and being responsible for a pretty significant organization in this country, and say that it's a smart idea. So, yes, I agree with it.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Okay.

[Annemarie Petrov]

Also, I think I'd agree with that no matter where I lived.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I very much appreciate that.

Mr. Jackson, I will ask you the same question. Do you think the arts communities in other provinces would agree if they suddenly gave up a whole lot more dollars to Alberta?

[Jon Jackson]

I would echo that I think it's a defensible position. It's one that the government could stand behind.

As to how other provinces would react, I wouldn't be able to speak to that. I've lived in Alberta, and I've been employed in the arts in Alberta. What we in Alberta want is the opportunity to compete on an equal playing field. Right now, with only receiving 5% of the funding despite being 11% of the population, we're not able to. We're seeing an exit of artistic talent from Alberta to go to other provinces.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I would agree with that. I saw the Alberta Ballet with Joni Mitchell the other night at the National Arts Centre. That performance was incredible, to see how they're doing that, from Alberta, here. It was incredible to see that kind of performance.

I have one more question for the other witness.

Would you have an opinion on what the arts...? I know where the majority of MPs are in this country, so I know where the pressure is going to come from at the other end, but what do you think the artistic world would say if they had to give up money so it could go to Alberta?

[Joëlle Préfontaine]

Maybe we'd have some of our artists who moved away come back, which would be interesting, but I don't think that I can answer that either. I think it would be a bit of a tough transition, but I think that Albertans would be ready to accept the extra flow of money towards the arts. We'd do some great things with it.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Thank you very much.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Mr. Nantel, you have five minutes.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank all of our witnesses for being here.

Ms. Préfontaine can understand me well when I speak in French.

Mr. Jackson, you can hear the interpretation.

Ms. Petrov, you understand French, but you can also use the interpretation to English, no problem.

Ms. Préfontaine, your testimony shows all the importance of the theatre, especially when it comes to children. In addition, you provide surtitles, which is a very good idea. You are engaged in cultural mediation in the country in our official languages.

I must absolutely stop here to share with my colleagues my inability to understand the report on copyright submitted by the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. I will actually move a motion to that effect.

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

I have a point of order, Madam Chair.

I think the motion is out of order.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

It may be out of order, but I have already asked for permission to read it. Nice try.

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Okay.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

The report of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology does not mention our report at all, despite ministers' letters specifically asking that those reports take each other into account, especially the industry committee's report, as we submitted ours before.

In addition, there are major contradictions concerning the cultural community, and people from that community are outraged. They were all very happy with the report we submitted. However, most of the issues they are facing have been ignored by the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. So I feel I have an obligation to move this motion:

That the Committee express its dismay that the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology has chosen to ignore this Committee's report on Remuneration Models for Artists and Creative Industries, in addition to ignoring the reference letter to the Industry Committee from the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, specifically requesting that this Committee's conclusions and “relevant policy considerations” be “accounted for in (their) final report” on Copyright; and that the Committee regret the Government's mismanagement of the mandatory Copyright Review, leading to two contradictory reports, four months before an election, two years late, with no Copyright reform legislation in sight.

I am convinced that people from the creative community can understand that certain things like these, unfortunately, must be done in a committee. As a lover of arts and culture, of Canadian content and of Quebec content, when I see that people feel poorly served by an organization as central as the Canada Council for the Arts, it is definitely disturbing.

Mr. Jackson or Ms. Petrov, changes have been made to the structure by reducing the number of programs and by grouping them into six large programs. To what extent are your problems directly related to that restructuring?

Have you received any signs from the Canada Council for the Arts that the situation would be remedied?

[Jon Jackson]

I will speak to my experience specifically.

From a core funding perspective, it hasn't made a difference. We have been at the same level of funding now with the Canada Council since 2013. On the project funding, which is task-specific or initiative-specific, we were contacted by the Canada Council and encouraged to apply for the digital strategy fund, which is one of the projects that they are really pushing, so we did. We spent about 100 hours on the application only to receive a letter after it had been adjudicated to say that due to our standing on our core grant, we were not eligible to succeed on this grant.

We were told, “Here's an opportunity for you to apply for funding to get better and to improve the quality of your work”, only to be told, “We're not going to give you the money because you're not good enough.”

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Ms. Petrov, what do you think about the situation I just described?

[Annemarie Petrov]

You said a lot.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

There was a big part that was not directed towards you.