Canadian Heritage Committee on May 23rd, 2024

[Isabelle Mondou]

We, too, have heard the industry's comments. In fact, the minister and I took part in a federal-provincial meeting two weeks ago, and I can tell you that all the provinces are asking these questions. It must be said that most of the programs implemented in Canada support projects rather than granting operating funds.

The challenge in assessing all this is to ensure that we do support organizations that are viable. In some cases, this requires a review of the business model. As we know, since the end of the pandemic, audiences are different and much more unpredictable. So we really need to review our models.

We also need to find ways of pooling efforts. Many small organizations each hire a finance director, a communications officer, and so on. It's very cumbersome for them.

We're working closely with these organizations, but also with the Council for the Arts and with my colleagues in the provinces, to see how we can help with this transformation. Obviously, this is very important to us. We are concerned about the difficulties experienced by the festival sector, among others.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

I have one last question. Since I have about 40 seconds left, I'll try to ask it quickly.

As I said in my previous question, representatives of the museum sector are on the Hill to make their grievances heard. At issue is the Museums Act, which hasn't undergone a reform since 1990.

A project to reform the Museums Act is in the works. When will it be implemented? When will we be able to sit down with these people to review the museum funding model? We were just talking about this two seconds ago.

[Isabelle Mondou]

Yes, it's in the minister's mandate letter. Over the past year, we have consulted museums in great depth. Among the elements that came out of these consultations were, of course, core funding and reconciliation. We published a report on these consultations a few months ago. We are now working on developing the policy. I hope we'll be able to finalize the whole thing in the next few months.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Will this be included in the next budgets?

[Isabelle Mondou]

Possibly.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Thank you very much, Ms. Mondou.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Kevin Waugh]

Thank you.

We will now go to the New Democratic Party for six minutes. Go ahead, Ms. Ashton, please.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Thank you.

I want to speak about programming through Canadian Heritage.

I'm very proud of NDP pressure that we put on to oppose the cuts that the Liberals planned for Indigenous Services at a time when the infrastructure gap in first nations is $349.2 billion, something that we see in communities here in our part of the country very clearly. It's inconceivable that the Liberals thought it was a good idea to cut funding for the services that indigenous peoples and indigenous communities rely on. We were clear, and thankfully, these cuts were reversed, for the most part.

I also know that Liberals, like Conservatives, are always looking to underfund first nations. I couldn't help but notice that in the main estimates, there's been a forecast of a decrease of almost $100 million for the indigenous languages and culture program compared to the previous year.

I have the privilege of representing a part of the country where it is a constant struggle to support indigenous language education. Can you, as officials in Canadian Heritage, explain what the logic was in giving almost $100 million less than a year ago for the protection of indigenous languages when we know the extent to which many of them are under serious threat?

[Isabelle Mondou]

I will say that the first point is that indigenous language is indeed extremely important. We have adopted legislation to protect language, so we are very much aware, to your point, of the importance of it.

The work that has been done over the last three years since the adoption of the bill—I think it's now a bit more than three years, actually—is to work with Métis, the Inuit and the first nations to develop a funding model. We have been successful in doing that, and we have done it in co-development.

The 2024 budget has stabilized the funding in the long term; it's now ongoing. I will recognize—and I think the minister, if she were there, would recognize—that more needs to be done in investment in the future, and I know she's committed to doing so.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

To carry on with a focus on heritage funding, I've seen that Canadian Heritage has committed over $15 million in new funding for the multiculturalism and anti-racism program. Putting a stop to racism and hate in our country is critical. That includes anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, anti-Chinese racism, anti-Black racism, anti-indigenous racism. Canadians, regardless of their background, should feel safe, and the federal government has a lot of work to do.

However, what shocked me about the anti-racism strategy is the government's steadfast refusal to acknowledge or define the racism experienced by Palestinians in Canada. I heard from a number of advocates, stakeholders and Palestinians who spoke to officials in your government and communicated with your government and heard clearly that the government is flat out refusing to include references to anti-Palestinian racism in the upcoming anti-racism strategy. At a time when Palestinians are seeing horrific images of their loved ones being brutalized and killed in Rafah in an ongoing genocide, Palestinian Canadians are experiencing an increase in hate in our country.

My question is, why is the department unwilling to include references to anti-Palestinian racism in the upcoming anti-racism strategy? Calling out anti-Palestinian racism and making it part of the strategy is being part of the solution. Doing otherwise is being part of the problem.

[Isabelle Mondou]

There was the first anti-racism strategy, which was adopted in 2019. You are absolutely right that budget 2024 is giving more money for the next anti-racism strategy, but the government has not announced this new strategy, so I cannot announce what will or will not be in it because it hasn't been made public yet.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Well, we are certainly waiting for that, and with that in mind, I will use my time to move a motion that we've already sent in to the committee. It is that:

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee invite the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities to appear for a period of two hours before June 19, 2024, to answer questions related to its anti-racism strategy, particularly due to the increase of both anti-Palestinian racism and anti-Semitism since October 7, 2024, and because the current anti-racism strategy has no definition or even reference to anti-Palestinian racism.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Kevin Waugh]

Thank you, Ms. Ashton. I think everybody has that motion in front of them from last Thursday.

Mr. Champoux, go ahead.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Chair, since there is now a motion before the committee, I move that we release the people from the Department of Canadian Heritage.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Kevin Waugh]

This might not take that long. Just hang in there for a couple of minutes, if you don't mind.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

All right. You're optimistic, Mr. Chair, but I'll follow your directive.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Kevin Waugh]

Go ahead, Ms. Thomas.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

Just quickly, I'll offer an amendment. It is that after the words “anti-racism strategy” in the third line, all other words from the motion be struck.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Kevin Waugh]

Is there any debate on this?

Ms. Ashton, go ahead.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Thank you. I do want to speak to the amendment.

Obviously, we're very clear in our intent that the problem here is that the anti-racism strategy makes no reference to anti-Palestinian racism. This is not acceptable, in our view.

We look forward to having the minister in front of us to explain why this is the case, and certainly with the hope of the department and the Government of Canada changing course and being clear that anti-Semitism and anti-Palestinian racism, as well as other forms of hate, are part of the upcoming anti-racism strategy.

I will be voting against this amendment.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Kevin Waugh]

Are there any other comments on the amendment put forward? Does everyone have the amendment?

[Michael Coteau, Liberal, Don Valley East, ON]

I'm sorry, Chair. I apologize. Maybe I missed that. Am I correct that it's on Ms. Ashton's motion?

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Kevin Waugh]

It is Ms. Ashton's motion, but now there is an amendment from Ms. Thomas. Michael, the amendment is just to strike the last sentence, I believe, so we would go—

[Michael Coteau, Liberal, Don Valley East, ON]

Can you read what is to be struck? Does it go from after the date, after “October 7, 2024”?

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Kevin Waugh]

We would strike it at “particularly”. Those two-and-a-half lines would be eliminated.