Indeed, I do not play any role in that, since it is the government that makes the appointments.
However, I was myself vice-chair of the board of directors of the Canada Council for 10 years, and so I am very familiar with the council's perspective. When I began my mandate as chief executive officer, I was able to start work on the first day, because I had been vice-president for 10 years.
The board of directors has a governance role. The people appointed to the board are not there to manage the activities of the Canada Council; they are there to ensure that there is real oversight, that some healthy skepticism is brought to bear, and that the right questions are asked.
As we speak, the vice-chair of the council is Nathalie Bondil. She is in my opinion one of the most eminent specialists in the cultural sector. She comes from Quebec. Our director Pierre Lassonde is from the world of arts philanthropy. So there are still people on the board of directors of the Canada Council for the Arts who have a very good knowledge of the area and do their work very well.
We will see whom the government will appoint next. I hope it will try to represent the country's diversity and complexity, and appoint people who have an interest and a passion for the advancement of the arts in Canadian society. The Canada Council has always to my knowledge had very strong boards, regardless of the government in power, and very competent teams. So we await these appointments. That said, the work must continue to go forward.
As for our influence on the sector, the cultural economy in Canada, it needs to be said, amounts to almost $50 billion. The Canada Council for the Arts, despite its budget which will reach $310 million in 2021, remains a modest player in the sector as a whole.
Increasingly, whenever we intervene we try to analyze all of the inputs in the system and to see where we should intervene. We must act to further the situation of creators and artists. We do not seek to change the laws nor the industrial models that are broken; we cannot do that, it is outside of our purview. However, we have an irreplaceable power to act on all cultural industries and the cultural sector overall, and to ensure that we continue to support, value and fund creators who have the necessary time to reach excellent levels of creation that will allow Canada to continue to shine. That is our mission and that is what we are attempting to do.