Canadian Heritage Committee on Dec. 4th, 2020

[Martin Théberge, President, Fédération culturelle canadienne-française]

Good morning, esteemed members of the committee.

Thank you for the invitation to appear before you today to present the main impacts of the pandemic on our artists and cultural workers in the Canadian and Acadian francophonie.

My name is Martin Théberge and I am the president of the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française, or FCCF. As already mentioned, I am accompanied by Marie-Christine Morin, our executive director.

We are the political voice of arts and culture in Canada's francophone minority communities. At the outset, I would like to say that the pandemic is currently threatening more than 40 years of artistic and cultural development as well as our people's access to their language and culture.

When an organization like Les compagnons des francs loisirs in North Bay, Ontario, dies, it means that there are no more French cultural activities in this community, except those for students, at school. This is also true in Whitehorse, Yukon, St. John's, Newfoundland and everywhere else in the Canadian and Acadian francophonie.

The linguistic and community vitality of our communities is at risk without coordinated support for arts and culture. Knowing that the arts and culture are a refuge for the well-being of individuals and society in general, the issue is all the more serious for our local French-language communities. Thank you for taking action.

Our focus today is to ensure equity and inclusion for the Canadian and Acadian francophonie. Among the rest of our peers in the arts and culture sector, they too should be able to experience resiliency, recovery and revival from this pandemic. Outside of Quebec, the GDP from the francophonie culture sector accounts for approximately $1.1 billion per year, the economic spinoffs are approximately $1.2 billion per year, and there are more than 26,000 jobs. We present today with the intention of improving the rollout of government pandemic supports to our members while addressing historical systemic inequities that place further limitations on access.

As with all organizations in the sector, our groups are under enormous financial and personal pressure.

[Marie-Christine Morin, Executive Director, Fédération culturelle canadienne-française]

Here are a few figures that show the particularly devastating effects of the pandemic on artists, creators and cultural workers in our communities. The number of hours worked in October is almost one-third less than the same period in 2019. In the performing arts sector, approximately three out of four jobs were lost compared to 2019. All indications are that the crisis will continue into 2021. This is not a very reassuring picture for the health of the sector.

The FCCF gratefully acknowledges the government's support for the arts and culture sector to date. We have worked diligently to ensure that our ecosystem has access to the support measures announced by the government. Nevertheless, we have faced significant challenges in ensuring equitable access to supports.

In order to reach our communities effectively, we need to consider the precise way in which our organizations are funded. Initially, the funding envelopes targeted for the distribution of emergency funds for the cultural sector did not target the official languages support programs on which many of our organizations are largely dependent. For the few organizations that were able to benefit from the funds granted in phase 1, the amounts were minute. Our groups are under-represented and underfunded in the arts and culture program envelopes, even at the Canada Council for the Arts.

The phase 2 offer of emergency funds at the end of August, which proposed a specific envelope based on equity, partly stabilized the patient. FCCF wants to ensure that the lesson learned on how to reach groups in the Canadian francophonie will be incorporated into the way we proceed in the future, during the pandemic and beyond. The government needs to maintain this focus in order to provide equitable support to our groups. French-language arts and cultural services are essential in minority language communities. The linguistic and cultural vitality of our communities is at stake.

It is therefore necessary to ensure the rapid availability of funding for the arts and culture of the Canadian and Acadian francophonie in all regions and in each discipline, in order to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, encourage recovery and continue to move towards equity.

The FCCF will work with government to achieve all of these goals. The strong and consistent support of your committee is invaluable to us.

Thank you for your attention.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Thank you, Ms. Morin.

If I had to pick two of the largest parties or cultural icons this country has ever seen.... We heard in the last hour from Carnaval de Québec. We're honoured today because the second one is definitely the Calgary Stampede.

Mr. Peers, you have up to five minutes, please.

[Dana Peers, President and Chairman of the Board, Calgary Stampede]

Mr. Chair, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to address you today.

As one of Canada's premier community gathering spaces, the Calgary Stampede is rich in Canadian heritage, arts and culture. Stampede Park is a gathering place that connects urban with rural, educates on agriculture and agri-food, and for over 100 years has celebrated the sacred mutual gathering space of the five first nations of Treaty No. 7. It has also cultivated and showcased excellence in performing youth arts and been an annual celebration of western culture, welcoming more than a million local, national and international guests.

Our iconic brand represents a unique community spirit that differentiates Calgary and the surrounding region from anywhere else in the world. A not-for-profit organization with a unique business model, there are no comparatives in Canada. Many think of the Stampede as an annual festival like the CNE or PNE; however, the Stampede has many year-round operations, including a $35-million meeting and convention business. As well, the Stampede operates year-round programming for youth, culture and the arts, agriculture and indigenous education.

The Stampede does not receive municipal support for any of our year-round programming or operations, including the annual festival. The financial statements include a provincial operating grant, which supports community-based programs.

The Stampede's year-round activities are further supported by 2,500 passionate volunteers who dedicate their time and efforts to bring western culture to life for our community and guests. Pre-COVID, these operations included 350 full-time, 850 part-time and 4,000 Stampede-time employees. It's the last organization of its kind in Canada, and as such, finds itself in solitary territory as a result of the pandemic. Unlike other festivals and convention facility comparators, the Calgary Stampede has operated independently for more than 100 years, contributing annually $540 million to the Alberta economy and $700 million to the Canadian economy.

Stampede Park is situated on 206 acres of land and is largely leased from the City of Calgary, with many sizable facilities, such as the BMO Centre, the grandstand, the Nutrien Western Event Centre, the Big Four building and the youth campus, all of which are used for arts, culture and sports presentations.

At the onset of the pandemic, the Calgary Stampede took immediate action and made the difficult decision to initiate significant financially prudent measures. This included laying off 745 employees, of whom 154 were then placed on CEWS, terminating 227 employees and cancelling almost 4,000 jobs due to the cancellation of Stampede 2020. The remaining 10% of our workforce all took pay reductions. Despite these actions, which commenced in mid-March, we continue to face a reality of ongoing expenses against zero revenue. In a regular year, the Stampede's annual celebration and year-round event business brings in revenue of $150 million annually from more than 1,800 events.

Over the past nine months, the Canadian emergency wage subsidy provided some relief. The support enabled us to stay connected and to then bring back 600 people in September. This week's announcement to extend CEWS is hopeful.

Unfortunately, it is the lone federal support program that our organization has been able to access, so we are challenged. The Stampede is recognized as an organization that perseveres. It has successfully persevered through world wars, the Great Depression and natural disasters, including the flood of 2013 in southern Alberta. However, the ongoing impacts of the current pandemic are truly great, and as such can only be overcome with assistance.

Through the continued efforts to repurpose facilities, we have been able to see a slight improvement in our original year-end forecast, and for 2021 we are budgeting for a further decline as we try to bridge to a more normal 2022. This budget does plan for a Stampede 2021, with considerable adjustments as we try to anticipate what COVID-19 restrictions may be in place next July.

Management continues to actively work with both federal and provincial government partners on the most appropriate mechanisms to provide financial assistance.

We deeply appreciate the time and opportunity to address the committee today, and I look forward to answering any questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Well, sir, we asked you for five minutes, and you gave us exactly five minutes. I've never seen that before. Good stuff.

Now we go to Mr. Pfeifer from Nunavut.

[Pitseolak Pfeifer, Executive Director, Qaggiavuut! Nunavut Performing Arts Society]

Good afternoon and thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, committee members.

On behalf of the Qaggiavuut! board of directors, chaired by Ms. Terrie Kusugak, we would like to thank this committee for extending the invitation to us way up here in Nunavut.

Ms. Kusugak, some of our board members and many of our artists are located in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut, which is currently experiencing a massive COVID-19 outbreak, given the small resident population. As of yesterday, Nunavut had a total of 198 confirmed cases, with 75 active cases. Our hearts and thoughts are with the families affected.

With our very limited health care, crowded housing, epidemic of depression and suicide, and meagre social and economic supports, the threat of this virus has put a disproportionate stress on our communities. We have only recently come out of a complete territorial lockdown, which has heightened the impact on our arts sector in Nunavut.

To set the stage, I am asking you to envision how cultural traditions have been a means of survival for Inuit as a people, historically sustaining us through times of crisis and times of joy. I am asking you to envision how the otherwise necessary public health measures have prevented performing arts from being the lifeline for many Inuit youth. It is the platform through which we all, up here, get inspired to pursue healthy choices and contribute to the well-being of our communities.

At Qaggiavuut!, we constantly ask ourselves how our elders' songs and stories can continue to be guarded and passed on to future generations via performing arts in such a crisis and its aftermath. Our culture and way of life is at risk for many reasons, even beyond the present global pandemic. Our not-for-profit society is guided by a focus on Inuit-led healing and wellness to preserve and promote our language and culture and to bring life to our communities through performing arts.

Our impact is beyond our communities. Our artists have brought their talent, Inuit stories and performances to Canadian art stages like the National Arts Centre and have gained accolades internationally.

The investments in the Inuit artists and performing arts put Canada on the global stage and serves a larger cultural purpose. Inuit have played a key role in Canadian cultural diplomacy and identity. Even though this role is greatly admired and appreciated artistically, for the most part it has been undervalued financially. Nunavut is the only jurisdiction in Canada that still does not have a performing arts centre, for example. We hope that in the post-pandemic context, we will see federal funding to address this inequity, to build the Qaggiq Hub performing arts centre, to train emerging artists through Qaggiq School of Performing Arts and to continue developing professional touring productions for the world stage.

The name of Qaggiavuut! has gained recognition, and we have become a source of collaboration and partnership. We have grown quickly and built a reputation of being a responsible, action-oriented, inclusive and diverse organization founded by a grassroots movement of Inuit and non-Inuit northerners together. This has shown in how we have fundraised over the years to advance our mission to strengthen, promote, advocate and create space for Nunavut and Inuit performing artists. From ordinary Canadians to celebrities to community members and territorial and federal stakeholders, we are grateful to all who have contributed to the cause. Through their giving and our COVID-19 special fundraising efforts, we were able to put money directly into the hands of our community members. Yes, we can call them artists, and rightly so. Throughout this past summer, we mobilized and created our artist emergency fund. We continued to adjust our programming to the new conditions.

We must transform the current pandemic challenges into an opportunity for economic recovery through arts and culture. The post-COVID world will be one with an increased appetite for the performing arts. We realize that now, more than ever, Inuit need the space and the support to create art at home and contribute to the economic recovery of Canada.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

I asked you for five minutes and you just gave me exactly five minutes. These are great witnesses today. This is really going well, beyond the content that you bring, which has been very important and very good.

All our witnesses are virtual, so I'd like to ask my colleagues before we start if you could just point out the person you're questioning and direct your question to a particular person so that they know.

We're starting with Mr. Shields for six minutes, please.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here today. We very much appreciate your participation.

Mr. Peers, it was probably 1953 when I remember sitting on the sidewalk for my first Calgary Stampede. It goes back a ways.

We're very familiar with the Calgary Stampede in many ways, but could you talk about the arts and indigenous participation and the effect that COVID has had on those two elements of the Stampede, so that people understand the arts and indigenous participation in the Calgary Stampede and what difficulties COVID has created?

Could you expand on this subject, please?

[Dana Peers]

Thank you for the question. To give you a little more insight into specific programs related to the arts and the indigenous community, I might just mention a few specific ones.

We have an indigenous youth program. Approximately 124 students in 2019 went through that educational program. I would certainly draw attention to such programs as our Young Canadians School of the Performing Arts, which again had about 131 students. We have our show band and our 4-H programs. All of these are affected.

Most people aren't aware that about 50,000 kids a year in one way or another come into contact with our various educational programs and other programs that are offered here at the Calgary Stampede.

As we, again against zero revenue, continue trying to work with the creditors to be sustainable through this period, inevitably that debt inhibits our ability to offer these programs.

I hope that answers the question.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you. I very much appreciate that in this day and age, urban students can access knowledge about agriculture, which is what you do year-round, but also extensively during a Stampede festival.

We talked about where you stand financially. For 2021, what kinds of numbers are you looking at? Are you looking for concessions? Are you looking for dollar amounts?

What are you looking at in terms of what you may need?

[Dana Peers]

At this point in time, the Calgary Stampede will be seeing a loss of approximately $28.6 million in 2020. That will increase dramatically in 2021, by approximately another $11.7 million, as we try to form a budget, which will go to the board here on December 8. That budget will hopefully show an opportunity for us to bridge across 2021 to Stampede 2022, when we hope that more normal circumstances will prevail and we'll be back to our regular generation of revenue.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

As we understand, the Calgary Stampede is probably the peak performance for many people in that particular profession, but as a feeder system it also supports many athletes and communities outside of your organization that feed into it because it is the peak.

What effect do you believe this pandemic may have had on the grassroots feeding into your world-class event?

[Dana Peers]

You're absolutely right. I'll just point to 4-H and the 4-H Rodeo. These athletes have of course been unable to perform and participate.

All of those programs are in jeopardy. I'll even draw a bigger line to our own Stampede ranch and of course to the bucking stock and the equine athletes that support the Canadian rodeo athletes. The industry has been virtually devastated throughout the pandemic.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Looking toward 2021, if things change enough, you will be looking to provide the full Stampede festival by June and July of 2021, will you? Will you be able to recover enough?

[Dana Peers]

It's certainly our hope. We're looking at several scenarios currently. These scenarios take into consideration what might or might not be possible because of the COVID pandemic. The organization is working hard to see what we can provide for 2021. We certainly are in the planning stages.

As we were with the conventions and meetings sector, we were leaders in helping Alberta Health Services establish the guidelines for reopening, We'll continue to work with Alberta Health Services closely as we talk about Stampede 2021 and what might be possible.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

There's one last thing, just quickly, and that's the volunteer base. A couple of friends of mine have spent every summer for 30 or 40 years volunteering for the Calgary Stampede. That's their summer holiday.

You mentioned the volunteer base. Do you want to touch on that topic one more time?

[Dana Peers]

I'm very happy to touch on the volunteer base. I myself have been a volunteer with the organization for more than 30 years.

We have approximately 2,500 volunteers here. With COVID, we've been trying to re-engage them in a safe manner. We have all of them looking at their programs and trying to understand under these different scenarios what might or might not be possible for this coming year. We definitely have a very strong volunteer contingent. We hope it remains that way and that we keep it intact.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Thank you, folks.

Mr. Louis, you have six minutes, please.

[Tim Louis, Liberal, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

You know, you brought up a good point, which is that we're all remote. Since we are from all different parts of the country at this meeting, I want to acknowledge that I'm attending on the traditional territory of the Anishinabe and Haudenosaunee and Neutral people.

It's an honour to be here today. I'll try to get to as many witnesses as I can in this short period of time.

Mr. Pfeifer, you made a very moving opening statement about the importance of arts. Any of the questions I had were out the window. I ultimately wanted to talk about mental health and how we can tie in mental health with the arts, how we can help our artists help deliver that and how we can keep our communities safe physically, and also in terms of mental health.

You talked about protecting culture. There may be two ways of doing that. For one, I'm wondering if you could elaborate on the performing arts centre you were referring to, the Qaggiavuut centre. Could you tell me about the importance of a hub like that?

I know that Mr. Peers also mentioned a school for performing arts. Can you tell me the importance of a place where people can gather and share culture and art?

[Pitseolak Pfeifer]

I very much appreciate the question, Mr. Louis.

The performing arts centre that we are trying to work on is valued at something around $45 million. This would be a bit of a legacy project for the territory and for Canada as well, I would say. Hopefully, it would be located here in Iqaluit, Nunavut, where tourism plays an important role. It's hard to imagine, at this point in time, a performing arts centre that could seat several hundred people in this day and age of COVID, but it does take a few years. What do we do in the meantime?

In that sense, I think mental health and the continued connection between elders, youth, women and children and so on is so important. What we've been lacking and what we've been trying to pivot towards is the infrastructure around media and remote learning. This Christmas we hope to be able to launch an important event where we will encourage children and community members to be able to replicate a traditional Inuit song. It's that constant engagement that we're trying to do to alleviate some of the necessary precautions or lockdowns, whatever we call it. We are trying to make innovative pathways towards alleviating those very important concerns that you have been mentioning.

Thank you so much for the question, sir.

[Tim Louis, Liberal, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

If I can follow up on that, the words “innovation” and “innovative” have come up a number of times. There's the physical space at some point, as we'll get through this and we'll be able to meet again, but there's an opportunity, possibly, to also have some sort of digital outreach or hybrid outreach through which you're doing performances and maybe reaching a wider audience.

Perhaps you can tell our panel what kind of investments we can make to make sure that not only the people who are in the seats in your theatre can share this culture but that you also get this out to a broader audience.

[Pitseolak Pfeifer]

There are obviously some current northern and remote Internet and telecommunications capacity issues. I think it's well recognized, especially in the small communities, that there is a high cost to having Internet at home. There's the high cost of having to purchase perhaps a laptop. There's the high cost of a monthly Internet service. These might seem like small investments, $50 to $100 here and there a month, but it adds up, especially when we have 1.8 million square kilometres to consider for just 26 communities.

Having said that, though, I think the investments, albeit it on a macro scale, are improving the Internet and telecommunications capacity of this country. You know, we're looking for investments about digital equipment and being able to have those types of conversations even within a community—for example, a community of perhaps several hundred people—and being able to connect from one end of the village to the other.

That's the kind of opportunity we're looking for. It's really about this improved Internet infrastructure and the cost of it, and offsetting some of it so we can continue to have children and moms and elders engage in this new platform.

[Tim Louis, Liberal, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Yes, we'll call it an investment. I know that our government is very aware that rural and remote Internet access has become such an important thing. It will end with some low-orbit satellites for places that are maybe too remote. I thank you.

I'm running out of time. I did want to switch to Calgary, where I have to say I've spent a number of years as a musician, Mr. Peers. I spent about three weeks in July at the Stampede every year working at least five or six jobs a day. I do understand their importance and all the businesses around that benefit from the festivals. We would play in restaurants, clubs, breakfast events and right up to the evening events.

The way I look at it is we need, as a government, to support the businesses that rely on the festivals for all of those funds. All the festivals around the country bring so much to communities. That's why there's the wage subsidy and the CERB for these artists who are travelling around.

Can you also tell us about about some sustained support that is not just support in the short term? How can we support the arts and festivals over a long period of time? What would help you?

[Dana Peers]

Thank you.

Thank you for that question. You're exactly right. It is a much bigger picture than just the Calgary Stampede itself. What it means to the community—just the 10-day festival that you alluded to—is over $200 million during those 10 days.

The ongoing support is always required, especially as we continue to work with all age groups from the very young to the older and professional artists. It's certainly a challenging time for us right now. We have been moving from a more physical and active role through things such as the Young Canadians School of Performing Arts, which has had to go digital, and we're trying to move and pivot here—I guess that's the new term—in trying to make sure that we can continue to offer some of these services. It's becoming incredibly difficult, though, when we look at just our debt service and paying the fees for the professionals required to educate and teach in these programs.