As Ms. Bernard said before me, thank you for having us.
My presentation will focus essentially on the theme of arts and culture, which is related to your second study question on how Canada's Roadmap for Linguistic Duality 2008-2013 is being implemented in the northern communities.
In the Roadmap, culture is identified as one of the priority sectors. We very much appreciate that. The fact that the arts and culture sector is recognized as one of the priority sectors is very significant for the some 200 arts and culture organizations and stakeholders across the country.
Through its cultural sector, the Association franco-yukonnaise is the main francophone cultural stakeholder in Yukon. As a result of the Roadmap, the arts and culture sector has received investments of $14 million under the Cultural Development Fund, $4.5 million under the Music Showcases for Artists from Official Language Minority Communities and $5 million under the National Translation Program for Book Publishing. In short, there has been a total investment of $23.5 million, which represents a slim 2.35% of the total value of investments under the Roadmap.
This clearly cannot provide adequate long-term support for structural cultural action that will promote the vitality and sustainable development of the francophone and Acadian communities in Canada.
As a result of our profile, the cultural sector of the Association franco-yukonnaise has only been able to apply for the first round of funding under the Cultural Development Fund because the fund provides more support for new, non-recurring projects that do not support long-term consolidation efforts.
Our project, the purpose of which was to develop the artistic component of our actions in the field, was accepted during the first round, as I mentioned. Action taken included assisting artists in their artistic and professional development and disseminating the cultural and artistic product.
Unfortunately, our project was rejected in the second round. Disillusioned by the process, we submitted no projects for the third round. We believe our project was intrinsically linked to the sustainable development of our community.
Artists and crafts people are culture purveyors for a community. They instill energy and vitality in sharing their passion for language and culture. They are the players who shape the cultural identity of a group, a community and a country.
Yukon's French-language community is young and growing. It needs to be fed in order to remain vibrant. Arts and culture are essential food to ensure its full development and that it achieves its full potential. In other words, the artistic and cultural development sectors need increased funding for the operation of established structures in order to anchor those structures so they can develop and fully serve the communities. However, new structural projects must not be overlooked; they should receive adequate operating grants to ensure their development.
I will take the liberty of making a few recommendations.
We recommend that the Department of Canadian Heritage ensure that the next version of the action plan for official languages or any subsequent initiative includes a strategy and funding to meet the needs and priorities of the arts and culture sector in the anglophone and francophone minority communities.
We recommend that the Department of Canadian Heritage, in cooperation with the federal institutions operating in the arts and culture sector, ensure that minority francophone communities have access to adequate human and financial resources to support the development and to promote the vitality of arts and culture in their region. In particular, they could support the development of infrastructure—a cultural centre, for example—cultural facilitation in the schools, artist training and professionalization, the use of new technologies and networking.
We recommend that the Department of Canadian Heritage review the funding process for the Cooperation with Community Sectors subcomponent of the Development of Official Language Communities Program and that it grant the communities multi-year funding over a period of five years. The department must support the development of structural projects that can mobilize the community, simplify the funding process for small-scale projects and reduce waiting times for the processing of grant applications.
Lastly, here is the last recommendation.
That the Department of Canadian Heritage, in cooperation with community organizations, in particular the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française and the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, of which the Association franco-yukonnaise is a member, the federal institutions operating in the arts and culture sector and the provincial, territorial and municipal orders of government, develop a long-term vision of support for arts and culture in the francophone minority communities that specifically reflects the situations of the francophone communities, the role that those communities can play in cultural promotion and diversity and in intercultural dialogue in the country, the needs of first- and second-generation francophone immigrants, the needs of every province and territory, the needs of the young generations and the use of new technologies.
I would like to finish my presentation by saying that a language is much more than a means of communication. It is a way to access a culture and, at the same time, the expression of a sensibility, of one way of being with others, an original vision of the world. This fundamental link between language and culture has been underscored by many major Canadian thinkers such as Will Kymlicka and Northrop Frye. The clearest statement is perhaps that of Yolande Grisé, former Chair of the Ontario Arts Council, who said: "There can be no language without culture, just as there can be no culture without artists. The words of a language are merely the abstraction of all that constitutes culture."
Taken as a whole, language is a container, the overall form and channel of culture. In its specific usages, speech is only one of the contents of culture. Arts and culture provide people with the tools to go beyond the utilitarian functions of language, which enables them to attach themselves to their cultural roots, which are the basis of language. Artists and cultural workers help build a dynamic, living and inspirational francophone cultural sector which is necessary to the survival and long-term vitality of Canada's francophone and Acadian communities.
According to the Conference Board of Canada, the economic footprint of the cultural sector in 2007 was estimated at $84.6 billion, which represents approximately 7.4% of Canada's gross domestic product. This includes all direct and indirect impacts. Again, for 2007, the Conference Board estimated that the cultural sector generated more than 1.1 million jobs in Canada.
Lastly, according to the 24th report in the Arts Research Monitor series by Hill Strategies Research Inc., performing arts organizations in Canada generate $2.70 in income for every dollar received from governments. These are definitely factors that should not be neglected in the current economic context. The real beneficiaries of investment in culture are the communities. Culture has a direct economic multiplier effect of 8.5. Public sector funding is the incentive that stimulates the private sector. In the past five years, essential public sector support has stimulated growth in private financing, which is now twice the size of public funding.
Thank you for your attention.