Canadian Heritage Committee on May 28th, 2026

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

To put a precise point on it, you're having a very constructive relationship with the police, but otherwise you're seeing that there's a reluctance to confront the reality of foreign interference.

[Joel Etienne]

We're seeing absolute inaction at the federal institutional levels.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Okay.

This whole situation is so incredible—that we would allow a foreign state to be involved in trying to censor arts and culture here in Canada.

To put a fine point on it, imagine if it was someone else. Imagine if there was a large organization in the United States that was trying to induce the censorship of a play or a dance performance here in Canada. What kind of response would you expect from Canadian elites in that situation?

Hypothetically, let's say there was a right-of-centre group in the United States trying to cause the censorship of arts in Canada. What kind of response would you expect from elites to that sort of event, and how would you compare that to what we're seeing in the case involving the CCP?

[Joel Etienne]

Look, Shen Yun is targeting a Canadian institution. Shen Yun is Canadian. Shen Yun performers are Canadian artists.

The analogy with the United States is very interesting. We've been, as a country, standing up to America, our best friends, while doing business and commerce with them now for these many months. We're standing up for our principles. There was a time when Canada stood up for its principles in terms of equality and human rights in relation to Jim Crow in the United States. I was pointing out earlier that Jackie Robinson had to play baseball in Canada. There's Jack Johnson in boxing, as well as and Willie O'Ree, Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.

Canada was instrumental in ending Jim Crow in the United States, and at the same time we were doing commerce with the Americans and were standing up for our principles. The analogy is the same with the Eastern bloc during the Cold War and with Ken Dryden and Paul Henderson. There was a time when we, the smaller country, would stand up to bigger institutions.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I have to jump in, just because of time. It's a great point—the importance of culture in the process of us standing up for our values, and especially not allowing censorship on our soil by foreign actors.

I think it's important for this committee, having heard this testimony, not only to listen but to take action and propose solutions. In that spirit, I'd like to move a motion on this matter at hand, which I believe the clerk has and can now proceed to distribute. The motion reads:

Given that,

the Chinese Communist Party is targeting Falun Dafa practitioners and Shen Yun performances in Canada;

the National Arts Centre (NAC) ended its relationship with Shen Yun after years of hosting its performances;

Shen Yun performances in Toronto were cancelled due to bomb threats;

in April of this year, reports indicate that Chinese consular officials met with Vancouver City officials in an attempt to pressure them into cancelling a Shen Yun performance at a Vancouver theatre; and

the same Shen Yun performance was subsequently targeted with a bomb threat;

the committee report to the House its unequivocal condemnation of foreign interference by the Chinese Communist Party in Canada, including efforts to intimidate, censor, or suppress artistic expression and freedom of speech, and reaffirm the importance of protecting Canadians from foreign intimidation and safeguarding fundamental freedoms.

Colleagues, I hope this motion can be a matter of consensus and an opportunity for this committee to speak strongly and push back against foreign interference and to defend the freedom of artistic expression in this country. It has been a long road. We know the important work that artists do in creating beautiful things and, through that beauty, challenging ideas and advancing perspectives.

This is so important to a free society, and it would be a profound shame if we allowed the freedoms that we are supposed to have here in Canada to be interfered with, to be suppressed through foreign interference.

This motion is clear. I believe it should express the consensus positions of all parties, and I hope it provides us with an opportunity to send a clear and substantial message in defence of the arts, in defence of freedom of expression and in defence of our national sovereignty.

Thank you, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

I have Mr. Myles first on the list.

[David Myles, Liberal, Fredericton—Oromocto, NB]

I'd like to suspend debate for a while.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

I'm going to suspend while we have a moment for members to look at this motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

We're back.

Mr. Myles, you still have the floor.

[David Myles, Liberal, Fredericton—Oromocto, NB]

This is a substantial motion. I think it would be valuable for us to have a bit more time on it. We also have witnesses here for an important study, a study that I introduced and that I'm really excited to get a chance to ask about before our time is done.

This is a substantial motion, so we should revisit this. I appreciate that it was brought forth, but I really want to focus on the study we're doing. It's an important study.

I'd like to adjourn debate.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

That is a dilatory motion, so we will vote.

(Motion agreed to: yeas 6; nays 5)

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I have a point of order, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Go ahead, Mr. Genuis.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I understand that in Mr. Myles's statements, he referred to a desire to come back to this motion. Is it your intention to schedule time for debate on it at a subsequent meeting? It would be good for us to know that. I don't know if the intention is to put this motion off indefinitely or to schedule time for the continuation of it. We certainly think we could and should do that, if the intention is to come back to it in a serious way.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

I would entertain that suggestion if members brought it to me.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Okay.

Is there agreement among committee members to set aside some time at the next meeting for this?

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

I don't believe I have any hands responding to that question at this point, so we will move on. We have only 15 minutes left. I want to get back to—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Let me put it this way, Madam Chair. It's a request for unanimous consent. If members agree, would there be unanimous agreement of the committee to set aside some time at the next committee meeting for the completion of the work of this motion?

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Go ahead, Mr. Champoux.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Madam Chair, it's Thursday today and the next meeting of the committee is Tuesday. I feel that there is plenty of time for the Conservatives to introduce a notice of motion, if it has not already been deemed to be in order. I feel that any member could come to the next meeting and propose a motion for the committee to debate. We do not need to set aside time for that. I don't think that the committee should commit to reserving time to debate a motion that can be introduced at the next meeting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Yes. I agree.

I now give the floor to Mr. Ntumba for five minutes so that he can ask his questions.

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I am going to turn to you, Mr. Kearney and Mr. Weisz.

Earlier, my colleagues asked some questions and we skirted around the topic of the unfortunate closures of performance halls and creative spaces in the regions.

In terms of major centres and cities like Montreal, I will use the recently closed Afromusée as an example. It was a creative space. It also had a little bar and a small area for shows in an attempt to bring in more revenue. Despite the fact that it was in downtown Montreal and close to public transit, it ended up closing.

Are you seeing a trend where concert halls or theatres are closing or being converted into studios? How do you see that?

[Jon Weisz]

We have seen a number of venues closing in Quebec and in Canada, but I do not feel that it is a crisis yet. What I mean is that, while three or four venues have closed recently, we still have time to work on the ecosystem so that it is secure, structured and stable.

Several of our members tell us that, in a few years, their hall will be at risk, either because the rent will increase to the point at which activities cannot continue and they feel that the landlord will evict them, or because they have financial or profitability problems.

That is why we are trying to solve those problems now. There really is a way that allows us to be involved before the situation becomes a crisis and an emergency. It costs a lot more to try to open new venues after a closure. It also costs a lot more to try to save venues in a crisis than to invest in advance so that they can stay open and available to the artists and so that their long-term use can benefit our cultural sector.

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Thank you.

Mr. Kearney, before you answer, I will continue the subject by asking you and Ms. Benjamin a question.

If, right now, today, the committee had to recommend one immediate action that would strengthen the ecosystem for creative spaces and shows in Canada, what would be your priority, and why?

[Patrick Kearney]

I would review all the problems with federal grants. That would include those from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and those from Canadian Heritage. This relates to all the problems we were talking about: foreign companies and private companies. That would be my first recommendation.

As for impact, I will echo what Mr. Weisz said: I believe that there has to be more mutual work between independent performance facilities and festivals. I feel that one has a lot to offer to the other. I believe that the size of the audiences that festivals attract is of great interest. They are places where discoveries are made. I feel that we could provide complementary assistance to the independent performance venues.