Good morning, Mr. Chong, and members of the committee. It's a pleasure for ELAN to be here this morning.
Since the last time we were here, we have elected a new president, so I'd like to introduce Peter MacGibbon, who lives in Wakefield just across the river and the border.
We read the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage's report on Canada's 150th anniversary with great interest. An event of this importance certainly demands several years of planning and preparation. ELAN is particularly pleased that you are taking the time to consider how we can best celebrate both official language communities.
We applaud Minister Moore's observation that the 150th anniversary of Confederation “should be an occasion for reflecting on what we have achieved as a relatively young country, and it should be an opportunity to promote a strong sense of pride and belonging for all Canadians”.
We also support the observation made by the Quebec Community Groups Network in their recent appearance before the committee:
A significant part of our history before, during, and since Confederation is rooted in the struggles, triumphs, and compromises of and between Canada's two official languages. Linguistic duality is not an add-on to our national story; it is the story.
ELAN, as you know, is the network that brings together English-speaking artists of Quebec. During the past 20 years there has been a cultural renaissance among Quebec's English-language artists. In 2011 the research team of PCH's, Patrimoine canadien-Canadian Heritage's official language support programs branch conducted a survey on the statistical profile of artists in the official language minority community, OLMC. The Canadian average for the percentage of active population engaged in the arts is 0.65%. That statistic is pretty close to true for anglophones in English Canada, francophones in Quebec, and francophones outside Quebec. The percentage of anglophones working in the arts in Quebec is significantly higher at 0.99%.
The study was released shortly after the 2011 occupy protests, which inspired one of ELAN's Facebook members to claim “We are the .99%!” I mention this because it confirms our anecdotal evidence about the size and significance of the cultural renaissance that is currently taking place in Quebec. There is a tremendous story here about linguistic duality and national identity. The artistic eruption is not happening in Quebec despite the fact that the majority population is French and that the only official language in Quebec is French, but because of those things. It is the mixing of two cultures and two languages that makes Quebec so stimulating. It is this complexity that draws English-speaking artists to Quebec and stirs their creativity.