Evidence of meeting #41 for Canadian Heritage in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was venues.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Lisa Hepfner
It is not the matter at hand, Mrs. Thomas. The matter at hand is cultural spaces. That's the whole point.
I agree with you that CBC falls under the mandate of this committee—
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
You just said that the study of this committee has to do with cultural spaces. If the CBC, with the creation of Northland Tales, doesn't fall within a cultural space, then I would ask you to clarify for us where it does fall.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Lisa Hepfner
The point is that we are going back to debating a motion when we've already voted to adjourn debate on that motion, so we will continue.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
My colleague Mr. Diotte did not bring up the motion—not at all. He didn't reference it at all. He was talking about the CBC. He was talking about it as a cultural space and the actions that are transpiring there.
Liberal
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Then I would ask you to clarify in what ways he referenced the motion.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Lisa Hepfner
He was talking about the content of the motion. The clerk agrees with me.
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Lisa Hepfner
I'm not going to entertain any more debate on this. We will move on.
Mr. Diotte, if you have questions for the witnesses, I will give you your last 15 seconds. Otherwise, I will turn the floor over to Mr. Ntumba for five minutes.
Conservative
Liberal
Conservative
Liberal
Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba Liberal Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I will be sharing my time with my colleague, Ms. Royer.
Ms. Thibault, you spoke about how your festival was created. Although you have left, the festival continues to run.
Other than creative spaces, what impact do festivals have in Quebec and in Canada, in terms of cultural impact and Canada's rich diversity?
Executive Director, Society for Arts and Technology
In the case of the Festival de musique émergente in particular, it’s truly a festival that gives emerging artists a voice. Its mission is to give artists the opportunity to perform under professional conditions. This is incredibly important because, as mentioned earlier—by the UDA, in particular—given that music has become highly digitized in recent years, with streaming platforms, musicians can no longer make a living from their art, because they're no longer selling albums, and the royalties they receive from various digital platforms are simply not adequate or sufficient. So live performances have truly become the cornerstone of their careers. It's extremely important to maintain access to live performances and touring for artists and to provide them with good conditions so they can make a living from it.
In recent years, we've seen a rise in artists' performance fees. It's very costly to produce a music festival in a remote region. We have to bring in a lot of artists and technicians, and we have to equip the venues. Artists' fees are rising sharply, and that's understandable. It's therefore important to support these events, which often provide emerging artists with their first platform. Ultimately, they are the artists of tomorrow who will put the country on the international map.
It's important to preserve this ecosystem of small performance venues and small festivals. In my view, this truly serves the common good. Public funds are invested to ensure that projects—such as festivals—can exist. As I mentioned, they're often supported by many volunteers and communities that pour their heart and soul into these events, and that's invaluable. We need to preserve that.
At the same time, there's the entire ecosystem of the entertainment industry, with venues and theatres where more commercial projects are presented that fill large halls. I think that in Montreal, we need major festivals that host international artists, but we must also preserve what lies at the very foundation of talent development—namely, independent venues, regional festivals and festivals in small towns. These festivals are true economic drivers and a lifeline for artists, enabling them to make a living from their art.
Liberal
Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba Liberal Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC
Thank you very much.
I will give the floor to my colleague Ms. Royer.
Liberal
Zoe Royer Liberal Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
My question is for Christy.
I'm talking about Arts on the Avenue. I was a city councillor in Port Moody when Mayor Don Iveson was speaking at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. He was talking about the transformation that was taking place in Edmonton.
He talked about the tech hub that it was becoming and how it was attracting investment and revitalization, but when you were speaking, I thought, “Wait a second, you were there first.” You were actually creating the vibrancy. My very quick question is, how can arts organizations work with cities—which are often doing cultural mapping and strat plans around the arts—to access the build communities strong funds in terms of cultural precincts? Please, I have 35 seconds.
Executive Director, Arts on the Ave Edmonton Society
I think it's about meeting, figuring out our priorities and getting things on the table quickly. As we know, the change of the four-year cycle is incredibly fast. You just get into it, and it's already a new group of folks—or sometimes it's the old folks hanging on. It's about getting it done quickly and finding projects that can be raised fast. Seeing that sustainable piece as well is really important with cities and municipalities.
