Good morning, and thank you for inviting the Mouvement pour les arts et les lettres, or MAL, a Quebec coalition representing over 10,000 professional artists, artisans, writers and cultural workers in Quebec. The MAL advocates for a substantial increase in public funding for the arts and culture in Quebec and Canada, given the essential role of the cultural industry in shaping Quebec and Canadian identities, improving the quality of life of city and rural residents and contributing to Canada's economic prosperity.
In a global economy based on creative knowledge, it is in the interest of the Canadian government to invest massively and strategically in our artists and cultural workers. In doing so, it has to consider arts and culture research, creation, production, dissemination, training, education, market development—whether local, national or international—and promotion as inseparable activities. The MAL believes in the Canadian government's ability to contribute to better living and working conditions for artists and cultural workers, while making it easier for Canadians to access Quebec and Canadian arts and culture. Moreover, it is incumbent on the government to make the financial commitments to help meet the development, consolidation and sustainability challenges faced by those organizations and institutions that support our cultural vitality.
Beyond their indisputable economic impact—sizable share of GDP, job creation, etc.—artists and cultural workers help build a society that is democratic and respectful of people's differences, representing an investment with both quantitative and highly qualitative spinoffs.
The MAL is pleased with the Canadian government's recent announcement of a five-year investment to renew the “Tomorrow Starts Today” program—announced in June by the minister, Mr. James Moore—which will help sustain a number of effective programs, thus ensuring a certain stability for artists and cultural workers to plan their development. Nevertheless, the MAL wishes to draw the attention of the Standing Committee on Finance to three recommendations it believes will help position the Canadian government's recent commitments within a sustainable development strategy for Canada's arts and culture.
First, the Mouvement pour les arts et les lettres calls on the Standing Committee on Finance to recommend that the Canadian government incrementally increase the budget of the Canada Council for the Arts over the next three years up to $300 million, as it has called for since 2003.
Second, the Mouvement pour les arts et les lettres recommends that the management of arts promotion and distribution support programs—and I am referring here to the programs abolished last year—be entrusted to the Canada Council for the Arts as soon as possible, providing it with at least $12 million in additional funding per year.
The third recommendation has to do with cultural diplomacy. Since 2006, Canadian cultural diplomacy has been significantly undermined by Canadian political officials. There has been over $10 million in cutbacks in cultural funding to Canadian embassies and consulates, which have had to either abolish their cultural attaché positions or convert them into trade-related postings. Quebec and Canadian artists are thus deprived of expertise that is crucial for them to position themselves in the largest cultural markets, which are New York, London and Berlin. The turning of Canadian diplomacy towards trade and industry affairs was confirmed by Mr. Pelletier, an assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who states that “[...] 171 officers are tasked with cultural affairs, among other responsibilities. There are also 93 trade delegates who assist Canadian cultural exporters.”
In our view, the cultural attaché positions were indeed eliminated as part of the dismantling of the third pillar of Canadian diplomacy, i.e. cultural diplomacy. We recommend that cultural diplomacy be restored as one of the pillars of Canadian diplomacy.
Thank you.