ELAN is currently working on a project that is funded by the linguistic duality sector of PCH. It is an online portal that collects news reports, interviews, and reviews about prominent anglo Québécois artists, and it provides an introductory text in French to put the artists and the news in context. The portal will also present quarterly reports of highlights and trends in each discipline so that francophone audiences can keep abreast of the most interesting stories.
One ideal partner for the 2017 celebrations is CBC-SRC radio and television. It has the technology, infrastructure, and mandate to record some of these very interesting stories and share them with Canadians from coast to coast to coast. It would be very interesting to see Radio Canada create a series of profiles about anglo Québécois artists. SRC had an intense flurry of interest in what anglos were thinking in the wake of the recent provincial election and the terrible shooting that followed. The 150th anniversary celebrations would be an ideal occasion to share some positive stories.
We also see an opportunity for the NFB to create packages of archival films on specific historic and regional themes. As QCGN noted in its brief, the English-speaking community of Quebec is also very interested in benefiting from legacy projects to digitize Canada's documentary heritage as part of Canada's 150th anniversary celebrations of Confederation. This is an excellent way to enhance a community's vitality.
Another ideal partner for ELAN would be FCCF. Our two minority linguistic communities have a great deal in common, and some kind of shared celebration or artistic showcase would be an excellent means of demonstrating the benefits of living in minority situations and being fully bilingual Canadians.
We endorse many of the ideas in the heritage study, such as collaborating with existing festivals. We have a number of very good festivals in Quebec which already provide excellent opportunities for English language artists, from Montreal's international jazz festival to the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival, and let's not forget the fringe theatre festival and Pop Montréal. This programming could be enhanced in 2017.
We would also enjoy the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of artists from first nations communities such as Kahnawake, which are doing very interesting work in developing their local artists.