CCA Bulletins 17/06

April 5, 2006

The Speech From the Throne - 39th Parliament of Canada "Turning a New Leaf"

The Governor General of Canada, the Rt. Hon. Michaëlle Jean, delivered the Speech from the Throne yesterday to an assembly of Members of Parliament, Senators, the Supreme Court Justices, Chief of the Defense Staff, military representatives and select invited guests.

The Speech from the Throne is an important indicator of the general directions that the Government of Canada intends to take during its mandate. As expected, the Speech dealt with the more hard-edged political agenda of the new government. The top five priorities that the Conservatives included in their recent federal election platform are obviously the prominent features of the Speech and the agenda of the new government. Interestingly enough however, the top five were also joined by some new elements, like addressing the so-called fiscal imbalance with the provinces, reforming the Senate to improve its regional representation, and others

As expected, there was no specific mention of any of the cultural preoccupations that the arts and culture sector brought forward during the recent federal election campaign. No mention of increased and stable funding, no mention of a review of the CBC or the CRTC (something which figured in the Conservative party platform), nothing about the fate of Canadian television funding, nothing on the role played by our national cultural institutions, no indication about ownership and control of telecoms and broadcasting undertakings. This was a deliberate attempt to keep a relatively sharp focus on the government agenda, while accommodating some of the hot button issues for the Opposition parties and, possibly, avoiding overly controversial issues.

But hope springs eternal! The Throne Speech did include a most welcome paragraph for the cultural sector, in which Her Excellency said:

“I have met with people from our two great linguistic communities and I can attest that our linguistic duality is a tremendous asset for the county. Similarly, Canadian artists from all disciplines have confirmed to me just how important creative expression is to the health of a democratic society.”

A few moments later, she followed her earlier statement with, “The distance we have traveled is remarkable. A country once perceived to be at the edge of the world is now at the leading edge of science, business, the arts and sports.”

While there were no specific mentions of any legislative measures concerning arts and culture, these comments are somewhat encouraging in that they convey an awareness by the Government of Canada that the arts provides a source of pride and a vital dimension of life in a dynamic, democratic state. These statements may well offer us with the toehold the sector needs in order to have our concerns heard concerning increased and stable funding and taxation issues, which have been identified by the CCA Board as our top short-term advocacy priorities.

The Speech also touched on the issue of representing Canadian cultural issues in the international arena, stating its intention to facilitate provincial participation in the development of Canadian positions that affect areas of provincial responsibility:

“The Government recognizes the special cultural responsibilities of the Government of Québec and will therefore invite Québec to play a role in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). By harnessing the diversity of experience and expertise found within our federation, we can present a strong, united and confident voice to the world.”

Engaging the international community is a serious and complex matter and committing to involve the provinces directly and indirectly in the formation of Canadian foreign policy may sound like a reasonable and progressive way to do business. Furthermore, this may appear to be a logical extension to the inclusion of Quebec and New Brunswick delegations at the Francophonie. It may however sometimes prove difficult to do so and “present a strong, united and confident voice to the world”.

While the Speech from the Throne is a good indicator of the priorities of the Government, the real measure will be the next federal budget. It is expected that we will learn of the day of the timeline for release of the federal budget in the next few days.  As always, the Canadian Conference of the Arts will keep its members, the public, and the media informed of any further news and developments in the area of arts and cultural policy that comes from our newly-minted federal government.