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CHER Committee Report

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CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter summarizes the conclusions drawn by the Committee from the testimony of witnesses and the submissions received.

Creators

We need creators. By virtue of their inspirational and intuitive nature, creators often challenge the status quo, placing them at the very cusp of social change and at the foundation of all our cultural enterprises. Indeed, without their commitment to their talent and their craft, our cultural industries would be relegated to the distribution of foreign voices and perspectives.

Canada's artistic community is truly national in character with creators in every discipline and form of creative expression. Their achievements and successes attest to the high quality of their work and their contributions to Canadian culture. Although the Committee agrees with witnesses who pointed to the maturity of Canada's creative community, the income levels of many individual creators, despite their comparatively high levels of education, remain generally lower than national averages. The Committee believes that existing financial support measures for creators are too modest. Support should be increased and provided for longer periods of time.

The Committee recognizes the central importance of a comprehensive legal framework for the protection of creators. Specifically, copyright legislation should be vigilantly monitored and amended to keep pace with technological change. In addition, federal status of the artist legislation will fulfil its purpose only if it is accompanied by complementary provincial legislation.

The Important Role of Canada's Cultural Agencies

Canada's federal cultural agencies are one of the main vehicles of support for creators. These agencies are the principal means through which the federal government provides policy and program support to the cultural sector. Over the years, each has developed a strong and dynamic relationship with its constituency, thereby promoting an appreciation of the changing needs of the organizations they serve and support.

Witnesses appearing before the Committee repeatedly referred to the leadership roles played by federal cultural agencies. The testimony makes it clear that these agencies are expected to play important roles in the future of Canadian cultural development, just as they have done in the past.

On a basic level, the existence of public funding and support through institutions such as the Canada Council for the Arts, the National Film Board, and the CBC has provided generations of training and support to our writers, artists and creators. We all reap the benefits of that support and suffer the consequences when it is not there.1

Canadians still believe that federal cultural agencies have an important role to play. It is clear from the testimony of the witnesses that the challenges currently facing these agencies are as demanding of vision and imaginative management today as they were when they were first created. Federal cultural agencies continue to be the flagships that give strategic focus and direction to federal cultural policies. A collegial approach to the exercise of their respective mandates has become essential.

Self-Employment

Many creators are self-employed. Self-employment raises questions about legal, health, insurance and tax matters, that are not unique to the cultural sector. The Committee sees the clarification of the rights and obligations of the self-employed as fundamental to the successful growth and development of cultural life in Canada.

The issue of self-employment is complex and cuts across several departments and most orders of government. Nonetheless, the implications of being self-employed must be examined as soon as possible. While this report's particular concern is Canada's cultural life, all Canadians face the challenges of an increasing shift from employment as a wage earner to self-employment. The solutions must be workable for all Canadians, not only for creators and artists.

Celebrating Creative Vision

One of the fundamental objectives pursued by federal cultural policy has been the development and growth of cultural expression in both of Canada's official language communities. Based on the evidence it received, the Committee believes that the federal government has been successful in reaching that objective. The Committee also notes that more recent federal government initiatives, such as those of the Canada Council for the Arts, have contributed to burgeoning cultural expression in our Aboriginal communities. The resonance of those distinctive voices has given Canadian cultural life a unique richness and vitality.

Nevertheless, the Committee has concluded that much more remains to be done. Exceptional artists show the fundamental importance of creativity and imagination. Their work, passion and commitment to their art can lead the way. However, just as artists have to be creative, the cultural policy of the federal government must also be creative. In the years to come, the cultural policy of the federal government should strive to ensure that more cultural products, initiatives and ideas cross borders between people.

Key Role for the Government of Canada

The sharing of cultural expression within and between regions of Canada is a subject that was addressed repeatedly by witnesses appearing before the Committee. As the Committee has noted elsewhere in this report, the federal government has developed and implemented a number of programs that support such activities. These include tours by performing arts companies, travelling museum and gallery exhibitions and the distribution of books to all regions, both rural and urban. However, as the Committee has also seen, during periods of financial constraints, these programs are often the first to be affected. Unfortunately, they are not perceived to be as important as those that contribute financially to the continued operations of cultural organizations. As Richard Hornsby of the New Brunswick Arts Board told the Committee:

I was enthused to hear . . . that the National Arts Centre Orchestra is actually considering touring out east this fall for the first time, I believe, in 12 to 14 years . . . This is encouraging . . . We need to be able to speak to each other and send our products across the country and we need help to do that.2

The Committee understands the imperative of survival and the importance of ensuring that cultural organizations continue to thrive in their own communities. However, the Committee believes that there is a second imperative. In a country as geographically vast and as socially and culturally diverse as Canada, exchanges between regions and between various regional cultural expressions contribute enormously to the strengthening of our identity and nationhood. The federal government alone has the mandate to maintain communication and exchanges between Canada's regions.

A number of programs are already in place, but the federal government's commitment to them is uneven. There is a demonstrated need for them and they enjoy strong public support. It is time the federal government gave them the priority they deserve. They will ensure that Canadians share and are given the opportunity to enjoy one another's cultural vitality and bring all parts of our country closer together.

Reducing the Rate of Loss

Budget constraints have caused heritage institutions to review and revise their collection strategies and the criteria they use to decide what to keep. In many institutions, the period of difficult internal reflection resulted in a more finely tuned collection and selection strategies. However, the Committee also noted another issue pertaining to collections practices in heritage institutions. Just as some items from heritage collections were "de-accessioned" because of their marginal relevance, others are being lost because the budget to acquire or keep them is lacking. Material in Canadian heritage institutions by its very nature is subject to damage, deterioration and even permanent loss, unless it is preserved through a variety of conservation techniques.

There is a line to be drawn between conserving too much material in the interests of not losing anything valuable, and not preserving enough so that it is lost. There are two aspects to this issue. First, some preservation problems are more urgent than others. Into this category fall heritage materials that will be lost unless funds are found to preserve them. Many have heard the story of the television series, La Famille Plouffe, which was tremendously popular at the time it was broadcast in Quebec. This material, which was of enormous historical value to Quebec and to the country, was lost forever because the funding needed for its preservation came too late. The Committee believes that this experience should not be repeated in any Canadian library, archive, museum or gallery.

The Committee, however, has no wish to become involved in the complex subject of selection criteria. There are highly competent professionals in our heritage institutions who spend their careers making important decisions about what to acquire, what to keep and what not to keep. The Committee's concern, then, is that budgets, overall, are sufficient to avoid a repeat of the failure to preserve La Famille Plouffe.

Paying Attention to Capital Budgets

Although governments have contributed to the building of Canada's cultural infrastructure there are serious gaps in the support programs for maintenance and improvements. Many buildings erected to celebrate Canada's Centennial in 1967 are now in need of repair. Prudent government suggests that the costs of maintaining this infrastructure be recognized and that appropriate arrangements be made to plan for necessary repairs and improvements. Little is gained and much is lost if the situation is ignored until costly emergency repairs are required.

The Need for Focus

This report is not the time or place to review all of the changes that have occurred over the past ten years, nor can anyone foresee exactly what will emerge in the near term. However, two things seem clear. First, there will continue to be change. Second, technological change, in whatever form, will undermine some advantages Canadians now enjoy because of particular cultural policies and programs.

These changes will have a profound impact on the notion of Canadian content rules. Various federal government regulations require Canadian television and broadcasting companies to provide Canadian content. Other policies and programs, such as federal support for the CBC, enhance access to Canadian content. These support measures worked well in an era when there was a small number of radio and television broadcasters. However, the creation of new media distribution mechanisms and the proliferation of cable television channels could lessen the effectiveness of existing regulatory mechanisms.

The implications of these developments for governments are profound. They not only signal the need to reinvent the structures and business of government, but also the way in which consultations are undertaken. This includes the way legislation, policy and programs are developed, implemented, evaluated and revised.

A final point must be made about the speed of the social and technological change. The Committee is convinced that we do not have the luxury of a decade or two to adapt, therefore, the Government of Canada must act now.

Canada needs creators because the works they create are intimately linked to our sense of place and our sense of being. Creators cannot accomplish this on their own, even though much begins in a private moment. To succeed they need the opportunity to pursue their art, which must include the opportunity for training, ways to produce and distribute their works and an audience. Governments can help but as this report has shown much depends on individuals and the way they respond to the gifts creators bring.

A living culture must be shared, enjoyed, lived in, preserved and passed on. The Government of Canada cannot create a work of art but it can do much to encourage the creators and visionaries who will give Canada the gift of a living culture to enjoy, preserve and share with the world.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendation 1

The Committee recommends that:

1.1 The Canada Council for the Arts, as the main source of federal government support for creators, continue to provide grants to creators that enable them to devote themselves full-time to a creative project. The Government of Canada should encourage long-term and sustainable support to creators.

1.2 The additional resources required by the Canada Council for the Arts to implement Recommendation 1.1 should be provided.

1.3 The Department of Canadian Heritage, in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts, develop a plan to secure the funding proposed in Recommendation 1.2 and report back to this Committee within one year of the tabling of this report.

Recommendation 2

The Committee recommends that:

2.1 The Department of Canadian Heritage ensure ongoing federal initiatives examining issues of self-employment include the interests of self-employed artists and creators.

2.2 The Minister of Canadian Heritage appoint a task force to review self-employment issues in the cultural sector. The task force should include representatives from the Department of Revenue, the Department of Finance, and the Department of Human Resources Development Canada, and should report its recommendations within one year.

Recommendation 3

The Committee recommends that:

3.1 Existing federal programs should also support the creation of traditional cultural materials (books, music, films, and images) in electronic formats. In addition, the Department of Canadian Heritage, in consultation with the Department of Industry and the Department of Finance, should encourage investment in enterprises that market and sell access to these products; and

3.2 The Minister of Canadian Heritage, in consultation with the Ministers of Industry and Finance, develop a strategy that implements Recommendation 3.1.

Recommendation 4

Legislation implementing the two World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Treaties should be introduced by the government and enacted by Parliament as soon as possible.

Recommendation 5

The Government of Canada should take appropriate measures to ensure that amendments to the Copyright Act keep pace with technological change.

Recommendation 6

The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage invite its counterparts in provincial governments to put in place complementary legislation relating to the status of the artist.

Recommendation 7

The Committee recommends that the federal government affirm its commitment to the continuing development of Canada's national training schools and support additional national training schools with appropriate resources as they emerge.

Recommendation 8

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada's support to national training schools be provided on a stable, multi-year basis.

Recommendation 9

The Committee recommends that the federal commitment to professional training for arts and cultural industries and institutions give priority to the development of co-op and intern programs. These programs should promote strong links between training institutions and arts and cultural organizations, allowing trainees to earn while they learn.

Recommendation 10

The Committee recommends that the federal government, through sector-based training and professional development councils, develop a shared cost program with cultural organizations that is designed to provide professional training in the effective use of new media.

Recommendation 11

The Committee recommends that the Departments of Canadian Heritage and Human Resources Development Canada develop new media programs and training packages that can be used by community-based cultural organizations.

Recommendation 12

The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Department of Industry jointly develop a program that will support more research and study of domestic and international cultural issues in Canada's graduate schools through the financial involvement of key federal cultural agencies.

Recommendation 13

The Committee recommends that one year after Recommendations 11 and 12 have been implemented, the Department of Canadian Heritage, in partnership with other federal departments and agencies, conduct a review of federal training support initiatives to determine the overall adequacy of the support measures and their consistency in application among different client groups.

Recommendation 14

The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage, in addition to existing ownership and citizenship requirements, develop complementary policies and programs which focus on, ensure and enhance Canadian content in cultural works.

Recommendation 15

The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage review its financial support measures to clarify the distinction between for-profit and not-for-profit cultural organizations.

Recommendation 16

The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage, in consultation with appropriate cultural agencies, develop mechanisms to ensure sustainable, long-term, multi-year funding for not-for-profit cultural organizations.

Recommendation 17

The Committee recommends that support for the developmental phase of a new company (start-ups) be designed to include specific performance targets and that there be a sunset clause for federal support to the start-up phase of the company's development.

Recommendation 18

The Committee recommends that in the case of viable, for-profit, commercial enterprises, federal support should be targeted for specific projects or ventures.

Recommendation 19

The Committee recommends that an independent, objective and cross-disciplined analysis be commissioned by the Department of Canadian Heritage to develop strategies that promote essential links among production, distribution and marketing.

Recommendation 20

The Committee recommends that within a year of the presentation of this report, the Minister of Canadian Heritage should ensure that the department's program objectives relating to the essential links among production, distribution and marketing and those of its portfolio agencies are complementary.

Recommendation 21

The Committee recommends that the federal government create a special committee of cabinet, including the ministers of Canadian Heritage, International Trade, and Industry and Finance, to develop a policy framework that will provide Canadian cultural industries with the optimal environment to sustain themselves and grow, both at home and abroad.

Recommendation 22

The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage identify potential changes to the structure of government that would enable the Government of Canada to respond in a timely manner to changes in the cultural sector.

Recommendation 23

The Committee recommends that the Department of Heritage, in collaboration with the appropriate research granting and cultural agencies, establish a network of centres of excellence for new media. Establishing a network of centres of excellence for new media will require a feasibility study that should examine substantive partnerships with educational institutions and the private sector.

Recommendation 24

The Committee recommends that:

24.1 The Departments of Canadian Heritage and Industry jointly work with those involved in new media with respect to obtaining copyright clearances more easily and in identifying the role of collectives in the administration of copyright.

24.2 The Department of Canadian Heritage and Industry Canada jointly fund a study to determine whether a central clearing mechanism for obtaining copyright permission to use copyright materials in new media is feasible.

24.3 The study should include at a minimum an analysis of what should be done; the costs of doing it, an analysis of financial viability, and the design of a fully funded pilot project. The feasibility study, including the design of a pilot project, should be implemented within one year of the presentation of this report.

Recommendation 25

The Committee recommends that within one year of the presentation of this Report, the Departments of Canadian Heritage and Industry Canada jointly develop and establish objectives and criteria for federal support to Canada's new media sector.

Recommendation 26

The Committee recommends that:

26.1 The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation receive continuing, stable funding so that it remains a public, non-profit corporation for the common good.

26.2 CBC Radio receive sufficient levels of stable, sustained funding so that it need not resort to corporate sponsorships, commercial or non-commercial advertising.

26.3 CBC Television receive sufficient levels of stable, sustained funding so that advertising can be reduced to minimal levels.

Recommendation 27

The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage increase funding to support more cross-Canada tours and exhibitions.

Recommendation 28

The Committee recommends that the federal government adopt the approach proposed by the Sectoral Advisory Group on International Trade (SAGIT) through which Canada would call on other countries to develop a new international cultural instrument that would acknowledge the importance of cultural diversity and address cultural policies designed to promote and protect that diversity.

Recommendation 29

The Committee recommends that the initiative taken by the Minister of Canadian Heritage to ensure continued diversity in cultural expression internationally be placed at the centre of the federal government's foreign policy and international trade agenda.

Recommendation 30

The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage form an advisory group composed of individuals experienced in creation, cultural policy and the marketing and distribution of cultural materials, to advise the minister on issues affecting culture. This group should be modeled on the SAGIT approach used by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and Industry Canada.

Recommendation 31

The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage take immediate action to obtain additional resources and to establish a fund dedicated to the preservation of items of national significance that are in danger of being lost through deterioration. The Department of Canadian Heritage should present a progress report to this Committee within two years of the presentation of this report.

Recommendation 32

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada re-establish a capital fund over three consecutive fiscal years, starting in 2001-2002, or sooner if possible, for essential maintenance to Canada's deteriorating cultural facilities.

Recommendation 33

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada establish a long-term financial strategy to deal with Canada's deteriorating cultural facilities.

Recommendation 34

The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage, in consultation with Canada's research agencies, examine the broadening of the criteria for research funding eligibility to ensure research conducted by Canada's heritage institutions is supported, where appropriate.

Recommendation 35

The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage work jointly with key federal heritage institutions and appropriate federal departments to ensure that community-based heritage institutions continue to be an access point for information about programs, services and initiatives of relevance to Canadians offered by federal heritage institutions.

Recommendation 36

The Committee recommends that a Canadian archival information network be created that is modeled after the Canadian Heritage Information Network.

Recommendation 37

The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage ensure the collection of statistics on cultural activity be of the same quality and timeliness as those now available for other sectors of the Canadian economy.

Recommendation 38

The Committee recommends that the Canadian Arts Consumer Profile of the arts and heritage sector (conducted in 1991-92) be updated and expanded.

Recommendation 39

The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage, in consultation with appropriate federal departments, investigate the feasibility of developing incentives that provide volunteers with tax relief for legitimate expenses associated with their volunteer activities in the cultural sector.

Recommendation 40

The Committee recommends that federal government programs and services ensure access to cultural materials and activities for children.

Recommendation 41

The Committee recommends that the Minister of Canadian Heritage request the Canada Council for the Arts review its policies and programs to ensure that they recognize, support and encourage cultural activity in the lives of children.

Recommendation 42

The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage, in consultation with the Department of Finance and the Department of Revenue, develop amendments to legislation to further encourage donations to the cultural sector.

Recommendation 43

The Committee recommends that within two years of presenting this report, the Department of Canadian Heritage:

43.1 Sponsor an information sharing initiative on fund-raising, partnership development and public awareness; and

43.2 Develop workshops to share that information with Canada's cultural institutions, taking full advantage of the latest technology.


1 Michael Algey, Vice-President and General Manager, ATV/ASM Division of CTV, Halifax Round Table, February 23, 1999.

2 Richard Hornsby, Member of the New Brunswick Arts Board, Moncton Round Table, February 24, 1999.