Canadian Heritage Committee on June 9th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you, Ms. Juneau.

Finally, David LaRiviere from PAVED Arts, you have the floor for five minutes.

[David LaRiviere, Artistic Director, PAVED Arts]

Thank you for this opportunity.

I am the artistic director of PAVED Arts, an acronym for photography, audio, video, electronic and digital, an artist-run media arts centre located on Treaty 6 territory in Saskatoon. We serve a local community of artists, writers, curators and interested public, but the greater question of our purpose requires some unpacking. At the level of community, on a grassroots register, we work to democratize and demystify various media as tools of artistic expression. Democratizing gives access. Demystifying gives permission.

We democratize by wearing down barriers of access. Unlike a commercial model that must prioritize a profitable return on investment, we receive public funding that enables us to subsidize the equipment and facilities that we offer, making them as open and available to our community as possible. PAVED Arts brings artists from across the country to stage exhibitions and delivers educational workshops, which we offer free to our members. We keep membership rates low and waive fees where cost is a barrier. As with many artist-run centres in Canada, PAVED Arts proactively involves marginalized and equity-seeking artists, and we advocate for decolonization undertaken in good faith.

We demystify by placing the tools of production into the hands of people. What dominates artistic expression as delivered in Cineplexes or on television is largely shaped by market-driven imperatives, which are opaque by nature and, at its limit, focus-group determined. More fundamentally, the culture industry as such presupposes an anonymous consumer. There is no living relation between Hollywood and the local community.

By profound contrast, when a member in our community picks up a video camera for the first time, the effect is instantaneous. The physical engagement with the tools of production is itself a motor for ideas. Consequently, we discover our voice in the act of making. By engaging our programs, artists gain insight into the construction of media and begin to grapple with its implications. The issue is not simply access to equipment but the difference made when an artist retains full creative control of their expression.

Surely we are all familiar with the studies on the economic impact of the arts and the outsized value of each dollar invested in this sector. Such reckoning is persuasive and speaks the language of economists, politicians and many constituents, yet the real value of creative and performance spaces across Canada is not always so tangible. These spaces serve the social and civic health of our communities. For example, a recent Hill Strategies report funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage and the Ontario Arts Council found strong statistical connections between arts participation and public health. This is not to suggest that art is medicine; it is to say that people need more than passive consumption. People need spaces to gather, learn, experiment and speak back to the images and sounds that shape public life.

We protect creative and performance spaces because communities need the capacity to produce something strange and peculiar, something idiosyncratic, something that comes from this artist in this place, at this time. Along 20th Street in Saskatoon, on Treaty 6 territory, this kind of singular, artist-controlled work is being made every day. The people who keep these spaces running do so on goodwill, passion and chronically insufficient wages. The sector functions because of an enormous devotion that can never be fully honoured by public investment.

Imagine what becomes possible when organizations plan across years rather than scramble through grant cycles, retain experienced staff, deepen community relationships and speak back to the social challenges of our time. In a period of accelerating commercial enclosure of culture, where algorithms too often determine what gets seen, the capacity to produce something independent, artist-controlled and expressive of community is not ornamental. It may be exactly what holds us together.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you.

I will now turn the floor over to Monsieur Bernard Généreux.

You have the floor for six minutes.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would like to thank all the witnesses for their presentations. It has been very interesting indeed.

Today, we have a splendid line-up of witnesses from all sorts of organizations across Canada. As I only have six minutes of speaking time, I will ask them to keep their answers brief, where possible.

Mr. Blanco, you said that technology does not replace art, but that it amplifies it.

Does artificial intelligence, which is now used in our creative spaces, also form part of the technology you're talking about?

[Angel Blanco]

Thank you for your question.

Yes, it could be part of it, but the idea is that it shouldn't replace it. Actually, it will never replace it, because there is a part that, as a performer, you need to perform yourself. It could be a tool, and I would really welcome it if we could use it more, but we must always keep in mind that it's for assisting the creation of the artists and in the educational background.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

I'm sorry to interrupt.

Mr. Blanco, can you stay a bit further back from the microphone? The interpreters have very sensitive.... It's difficult. Just keep that in mind.

[Angel Blanco]

Okay. Like this...?

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Speak slowly, away from the microphone, and everyone will be safe.

Thank you.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

At a music school such as the École de musique Alain-Caron in Rivière-du-Loup, is technology—including artificial intelligence—used more widely today than it was in the past? Do you notice any difference?

[Angel Blanco]

I wouldn't say that AI per se is used right now at the École de musique Alain-Caron, but for sure we use the Soundbeam. We have adopted the Soundbeam.

The Soundbeam is a common tool in England. It is an instrument that is especially for composers, but at the same time, it's really special for people with disabilities because it is like the old theremin. It's an instrument that you don't touch. Just by moving your body, you create harmonies, melodies, etc.

I will say that, yes, we are the champions of Soundbeam right now, at least as far as I know, in the province of Quebec and maybe in Ontario. I haven't heard that much from Soundbeam in Canada. Yes, indeed, we use it.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

Ms. Gignac, you raised a fundamental question in your opening address: where and how will artists create? This goes far beyond the question of the venue. Artists, such as Mr. Blanco, are told that they are being offered a space, but when it comes to enabling them to create, we are touching on a fundamental issue. Beyond physical spaces, there are the spaces, within Canada, that artists occupy to define what we wish to represent as a nation and as creators. This is an issue that goes beyond the venue itself, from what I have gathered from your question.

As we represent the Canadian government here today, we are trying to find a way to help the arts sector as a whole spread its wings.

What more could we do beyond what is currently being done?

[Caroline Gignac]

Thank you for your question.

Today, our message is primarily to invite you to engage in a more strategic and in-depth reflection. You explained it very well: We must try to look beyond the building itself.

What we have sought to highlight today is the fundamental role that creative spaces and performance venues play in supporting emerging artists and established artists alike.

If I have one recommendation to make to the government, it is to support us and guide us in this strategic reflection towards a paradigm shift with regard to venues. A theatre venue is not just a place where the audience comes to sit; it is a place where we welcome theatre companies, a venue where we foster a close relationship with the audience.

In the context of the work currently being carried out by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, I believe it is essential that this aspect be reflected in its report and in the discussions that will follow. It is therefore really a matter of engaging in strategic thinking.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

Just last weekend, in fact, I went to see an amateur theatre production in La Pocatière, featuring people I know very well, and I took my 12-year-old granddaughter, who wants to be an actress. She certainly doesn't take after her grandfather.

Could bringing more young people into these venues be a way of fostering hope when it comes to the dissemination, interpretation and creation of works?

Obviously, I don't have any hair left myself, but there was nothing but grey heads in the auditorium. There weren't many young people there. My granddaughter was the only one. It seems to me that we should do more to enable young people to attend theatre performances. I know that Quebec is doing this to some extent, through various programs.

Could the federal government also play a role in this regard?

[Caroline Gignac]

Yes, indeed, but I'd also like to return to several points raised by those who have appeared here, such as the difficulties faced by the people who run these venues. They're busy plugging leaks in the ceiling and trying to balance budgets that are impossible to balance.

It is clear that this connection with young people and audience development lies at the heart of these venues' mission, but it takes time and resources to fulfill that mission. It is difficult when a manager or any staff member in the cultural sector has to juggle challenges relating to the building's structure.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

Would you say there is a disparity between the very large organizations, which are generally well funded, and the smaller ones, which receive far less funding? Do you see a disparity in the allocation of public funds at present?

[Caroline Gignac]

Where I see the greatest disparity is really between the time invested in the core mission—that is, hosting artists, organizing outreach activities and maintaining close ties with audiences—and the time spent juggling impossible challenges. The cultural sector is very adept at working magic, but that magic has reached its limits.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

Ms. Caron Lachance said that funding was being provided to produce reports or analyses, but that there was no money for projects once the reports had been completed. Could there be too much red tape involved here? I'm trying to understand what's going on.

[Caroline Gignac]

The problem is not so much down to bureaucracy as to the time allowed for theatre professionals to devote themselves fully to their work.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you.

Mr. Al Soud, the floor is yours for six minutes.

[Fares Al Soud, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair, and good morning, everyone. Thank you all for taking the time to be with us today.

A few months ago now, I was in Vancouver, and while I was there I made a point of visiting an organization called Arts Umbrella. They do phenomenal work ensuring that young people, regardless of circumstances, have access to a high-quality arts education. They do a bit of everything in the arts—theatre, music, film and dance. I mention them because we heard in almost all of your opening remarks today the importance of not just creating spaces but creating a system.

Mr. Beamish, you know this well. Your career in dance has taken you across Canada and around the world, working in both contemporary and classical ballet. I'd like to offer you the opportunity to expand on something you said in your opening remarks.

How can Canada better support its dance sector so that artists can build strong careers at home while still remaining competitive on the global stage?

[Joshua Beamish]

I think we're in this very clear moment of cultural sovereignty, where we're trying to advocate for keeping Canadian talent at home.

For us with Ballet Vancouver, this is a primary part of our mandate. I'm a Canadian, and as the leader of the organization, I value having Canadian performers representing Canadian choreographers, designers and composers across the mediums within our work.

I think one thing that's challenging economically is that if you go to Europe as a young dancer, you get a 13-month contract. You're a government employee in some of these places. We don't have systems in place, and I don't believe that we will. I don't see that coming in the future, but that is a big challenge in terms of retaining top-level talent, for sure.

Ultimately, we have this system of operating companies and project companies. In our case, we are still a project company in terms of our funding at all levels of government, so we don't have guaranteed funding every year to enable us to do long-range planning to ensure year-round contracts for dance artists.

I personally feel that there has been a big push towards supporting those who are emerging now. Many of us who were emerging, at that time, did not receive that support. What's happened is that the people in this kind of mid-level, mid-career, mid-life organization state didn't receive the support when emerging that those emerging receive now. That funding is being rededicated to emerging, so it is a challenge for mid-level organizations.

I believe it's important to support emerging artists. I also think organizations are well equipped as well to provide support for emerging artists if they're given support to have a sustainable structure. That's something that I advocate for: the health of organizations versus giving a lot of money out to young people making things for the first time.

I think that this will give people like me more confidence in feeling that they should stay in Canada and that Canada will invest in them to have longevity.

I'll leave it there.

[Fares Al Soud, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Fantastic.

Ms. Billet and Ms. Gignac, you represent a wide range of theatre practitioners and organizations from one end of Quebec to another. In your opening remarks, you said that it wasn't just a matter of knowing where tomorrow's artists would create, but also how.

How can we ensure that the next generation of theatre workers is on track for long-lasting careers in the sector?

[Caroline Gignac]

I'll give you an answer similar to the one I gave Mr. Généreux.

To ensure them a career with longevity, we have to take a step back and look critically at the model put in place for this generation of artists. Our sector is based on a financial and structural model that dates back to a specific era and that functioned well for a time. Today, we are urging the committee to show vision, to take a broad, strategic approach and consider the model from different angles. The goal is to come up with multiple levers that can be put in place to ensure career longevity.

One example clearly shows why this model is outdated. In the past, companies could reach a point where they obtained what in Quebec we called “mission support”, which consisted of recurrent or cyclical funding. It was the holy grail of funding in a way, because it gave full recognition to their work. Following the financial challenges facing our country, however, this support is no longer open to new recipients.

That's also why we were focused on intergenerational fairness earlier. What are we offering new generations of artists? When I speak of new generations of artists, please understand that I'm not necessarily talking about people who graduated school two or three years ago. I'm talking about established artists with 15 years of experience who have won awards and proven themselves.

So, the goal is to reflect on the model put in place and come up with a structure or ecosystem that allows these companies a minimum of predictability moving forward, but also recognition of the expertise they have gained through all these years.

[Fares Al Soud, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Thank you.

Madam Chair, I have 15 seconds left so I will stop here.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

We will suspend this meeting during the vote.

When we come back, I'll give the floor to Mr. Champoux for six minutes, and we'll continue.

I apologize for the interruption, but we are suspended.