Canadian Heritage Committee on June 2nd, 2026

[Tatiana Auguste, Liberal, Terrebonne, QC]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Santiago Keenan, I'm a big fan of what you do. I find your approach to theatre very interesting. Not only are you using the heritage we already have in Canada, but you're also reaching populations who are a bit younger. These people often have a way of putting theatre in a bit of a box, but they can now see it in a much newer, much more creative way.

Could you talk a bit about the types of people who come to see your immersive experiences?

[Christina Santiago Keenan]

It's so interesting. They're from all walks of life. We have birthday parties for 10-year-olds and for 70-year-olds. We have locals. We have tourists. Yes, I think a lot of lawyers, for some reason, really like our experiences simply as a profession.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Christina Santiago Keenan]

If we think about what we're used to and how we're experiencing digital life, we're taking those behaviours to the real world. I think there's a generation who's just expecting to participate, so I'm seeing more mainstream people than not, honestly. As for the age ranges, again, we have young professionals come in and older folks and families. We do a lot of corporate team building. Yes, it really is a crosswalk of life.

[Tatiana Auguste, Liberal, Terrebonne, QC]

Thank you very much.

Could you tell us a little more about where this approach of marrying a place's heritage with this new immersive experience comes from?

[Christina Santiago Keenan]

It's from a lot of inspiration, I would say. We did some research around the world. We went to London. Also, we do some work in warehouses in Los Angeles, and we did an experience at Knott's Berry Farm, which has an artificial western town.

We were approached by Liberty Entertainment Group 10 years ago, which runs the Casa Loma programming, and they invited us to do an escape room there. We have brought all these international experiences of live theatre. We also fell in love with escape rooms, and it just felt like the right fit.

Also, frankly, it was like a clear opportunity. I don't necessarily like having to pay large amounts of rent, and these partners were willing to take risks with us and to share revenue from ticket sales. They were also willing to co-market the experiences, so it really was a win-win to find the right partnership.

[Tatiana Auguste, Liberal, Terrebonne, QC]

Thank you very much.

I would love to see you in my region and a bit more in Quebec.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

I keep thinking, you have to go to the Kingston Penitentiary—“escape from the prison”.

[Christina Santiago Keenan]

Oh, yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Who's next?

Ms. DeRidder, are you ready? You've got the floor now for five minutes.

I think you're sharing with Mrs. Thomas. Go ahead.

[Kelly DeRidder, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Mr. Myette, I wanted to ask you my first question. In my riding of Kitchener Centre, we're fortunate to have a vibrant arts and culture community, from local theatres to our Centre In The Square and festivals like the Blues Festival and grassroots organizations like The Registry Theatre, which bring people together at a local level.

What do you think about the future of Canada's creative sector, and how important are community-based cultural spaces?

[André Myette]

I think they're incredibly important. Canada is so vast, and each of our small communities has such a breadth of what they've offered in the countrywide conversation—but also locally.

Earlier, I mentioned a blues festival that Truro used to have. It was called the Dutch Mason Blues Festival, named after Dutch Mason, who was a big blues artist from our area. Given what he's contributed to Canadian culture, as well as to the blues industry in general, it was very rewarding in our community to celebrate that on a national stage and bring in lots of other artists from all across different places who work within that world. Even Dan Aykroyd was there with the Blues Brothers at one point, which was very cool.

As far as our identity goes, being from Nova Scotia, I feel as though we are a very small player in the national conversation sometimes. There are a lot of amazing artists who come out of our area, and some go on to massive success.

I was just at the East Coast Music Awards, and Goldie Boutilier was there—who is now in LA doing amazing things, but she's from Cape Breton. It was very cool to celebrate that and see her creative voice get to such a large level, but it all started in Cape Breton.

[Kelly DeRidder, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Thank you so much.

Christina, I'll go to you next. Can you tell me what parts of the $150,000 investment in your theatre for your murder mystery are Canadian content?

[Christina Santiago Keenan]

The whole thing was written by a Canadian team. We partnered with Netflix, on their film Glass Onion, as a strategic play to get marketing eyes and resonance with a larger audience.

[Kelly DeRidder, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Because the funding was meant to celebrate our heritage and Canadian culture, I'm just going to ask again, what piece of that concerns our Canadian heritage and culture?

[Christina Santiago Keenan]

Do you mean in terms of the storyline or in terms of the actors?

The whole production itself was a homegrown creation by Canadian actors and designers.

The story itself is fictional. It's about Maribelle Moore, a chef who has a group of friends and is sort of doing a revenge dinner and revealing a dark past.

[Kelly DeRidder, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

What is the rationale of a $150,000 investment by Canadian Heritage that does not showcase our amazing Canadian heritage? What is the...?

[Christina Santiago Keenan]

It's putting us on the map in the world for doing an innovative, creative new genre. Nothing like this has been produced in the world.

There have been plenty of murder mysteries, but in this case, you're interrogating characters and you're playing with your food to solve a puzzle. This is—

[Kelly DeRidder, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Is there are way we could have created the characters or played with the food and celebrated our history in that as well?

[Christina Santiago Keenan]

We could have. This was an export grant, so it was already developed. We did it and bootstrapped it ourselves, and we are very thankful to have been chosen for the export grant—but it was to showcase Canadian innovation and talent.

[Kelly DeRidder, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

I just wanted to clearly get it on record today that the purpose of the grant was to celebrate Canadian heritage. I'm not 100% sure that the return on investment in this case was actually celebrating our heritage.

Thank you, Christina, for your time today.

I have one last question for Mr. Messier.

It seems as though inflation is even affecting the arts and culture sector. You mentioned in your speech that the increase has been 20%. I'm going to assume that this same percentage can't be applied to ticket sales because of the affordability crisis we're facing here in Canada as well. Can you give us a couple of ideas of how this government can support the arts beyond just funding in relation to affordability in Canada?

[Frédéric Messier]

We certainly have our local network and our own way of doing things in Quebec. As for the change in ticket prices at the venues represented by RIDEAU, that has nothing to do with the average ticket price for international productions presented in large arenas, if that's what you're referring to. The increase in ticket prices is much smaller.

What can you do to help us? Personally, I believe that performing arts presenters can embody a kind of stability in Canadian culture. Here, when we welcome artists, whether they're new artists or they're at their first show, for example, there's always guaranteed pay that generally amounts to a few thousand dollars. For them, these are important opportunities to make themselves known while earning significant pay.

The funding for this guaranteed fee comes in part from the funding we get from the government, but it mainly comes from the surpluses we generate when we host more established artists, artists who generate more revenue.

We need stability in funding. More and more studies show that we manage to multiply every dollar we receive from the government. That means that the returns are greater than the dollar we received. I think it's important to say that.

I would like to take this opportunity to mention that, regarding the program to build strong rural communities, it would be important to set aside a minimum threshold for cultural infrastructure. When you're drowning in all the infrastructure needs, it's easy to put culture on the back burner. However, the impact of cultural venues in rural areas and communities is so significant that their funding should have some minimum protection. It's really important.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you.

Kelly Straughan, I want you to stay engaged in the conversation. I'm not sure if you've taken a question yet.

I know we've spoken at this committee today about the importance of smaller venues. I'm not sure if Theatre Aquarius counts as a smaller venue. In musicals, for example, Michael Rubinoff has debuted a couple of his new musicals at Theatre Aquarius. How important do you think it is to have such a venue for a Canadian musical to debut?

[Kelly Straughan]

In terms of our community, we are the cultural hub for all the indie arts happening in the city. They need venues, and they need rehearsal halls. Our studio space is in high demand for all kinds of new work to premiere. We are never dark. There is always something going on, even in our lobby space. We will have theatres that come, and because they can't afford to have an office space, they use our lobby space. We have three companies that come in. The wonderful part is that they get to interact with each other, and we get to have conversations with them, so we really are a cultural hub in our city.

As I mentioned, we're the home for the national centre for new musicals. Musicals are not sole ventures. You need the book writer. You need the composer. You need all kinds of people as part of the creative team getting this thing up and running. Of course, you need a venue to come to and you need a place.

We designed the program so that in January, we have artists throughout the building. They are creating. Then we do a National Musical Theatre Summit. We have people from across the country and internationally coming to that summit to see the new musicals that are being presented with the idea that they will have a life outside of our national centre for new musicals.

It really is about being the incubator and being the space where people can come and where they can create what they need to create.

You're right that Michael Rubinoff is absolutely a part of that. He is best known as the originating producer of Come from Away. Of course, we all know that is the saddest story in musical theatre because it is one of the greatest successes. It is the most produced musical in North America.

Also, because Canadians didn't invest in it, every time it is produced, Americans get rich. A big Canadian family sits down and watches Come from Away in London, Ontario—it just closed at the Grand last week—and Americans make money. I think that points to our need to invest in these cultural spaces, in artists and in new works.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you for that.

I'll now turn the floor over to Mr. Myles for five minutes.

Oh, sorry. Go ahead, Mrs. Thomas.