CCA Bulletin 19/10

July 19, 2010

What are the Department of Canadian Heritage’s

Priorities for 2010-11?

The Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) is still working on its detailed Analysis of the 2010 Federal Budget, which is delayed as we wait for answers from the government on a number of issues.

As part of its Budget Analysis on arts, culture and heritage, the CCA examines the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Report on Plans and Priorities published in the spring. This document is the expenditure plan for the Department. It provides details on priorities, human resource requirements, major capital projects, grants and contributions, and net program costs. As such, this document reflects the intentions of the Department to take action on certain files, and presents a comprehensive examination of the Department’s priorities, program architecture and management structures.

In his opening ministerial message, the Hon. James Moore states that, “Arts and culture are essential to our communities and our economy, and we continue to make unparalleled investments in this sector. This year, through Canada's Economic Action Plan, the Department is investing over $170 million in our country's artists and cultural organizations.”

In the CCA’s forthcoming 2010 Federal Budget Analysis, we will examine  trends and shifts in the government’s spending on the arts. This bulletin will whet your appetite for our in-depth analysis by providing an overview of this year’s priorities at the Department of Canadian Heritage (PCH).

The Mandate

The Department's mandate is set out in the Department of Canadian Heritage Act, which offers an extensive list of responsibilities for the Minister under the heading of “Canadian identity and values, cultural development, and heritage.” PCH oversees the administration of a large set of governing legislation, notably: the Broadcasting Act, the Copyright Act (shared with Industry Canada), the Official Languages Act (Part VII), the Museums Act, the Cultural Property Export and Import Act, the Status of the Artist Act, the Physical Activity and Sport Act (shared with Health Canada) and the Investment Canada Act in the cultural sector.

PCH is specifically responsible for formulating and implementing cultural legislation related to copyright, foreign investment and broadcasting, as well as policies related to arts, cultural industries, heritage, official languages, sports, state ceremonial and protocol, and Canadian symbols. Its main activities involve funding community and other third-party organizations to promote the benefits of culture, identity and sport for Canadians. The Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages is accountable to Parliament for the Department and the 19 organizations that make up the Canadian Heritage Portfolio.

The Broad Strategic Objectives

The Department's activities are structured around three strategic outcomes. These outcomes are laid out as follows:

1. Canadian artistic expressions and cultural content are created and accessible at home and abroad.
2. Canadians share, express and appreciate their Canadian identity.
3. Canadians participate and excel in sport.

Interestingly, only the third strategic outcome, focused on sport, has a tangible target. Its goal is to achieve 28% of Canadians over 15 years of age participating and excelling in sport by 2010 (curiously, the French version does not set a target date!). PCH’s website indicates that targets for the first two strategic outcomes are still “under development”.

The creation and dissemination of Canadian cultural expressions

Here, the Department’s objective is that Canadian artistic expressions and cultural content are created and accessible at home and abroad. This strategic outcome is underpinned by several assumptions that provide the basis for the three types of program activity being pursued within this Strategic Outcome: arts, cultural industries and heritage:

1. Canadians have a right to access this material readily in their domestic market, for reasons of identity and cultural sovereignty;
2. special measures are required to ensure this access, given the proximity of the United-States, economies of scale, and ready supply of American cultural production and exports;
3. international promotion of Canadian cultural expressions and heritage provides measurable economic benefits to Canada by strengthening the growth of creative industries and a knowledge economy, attracting creative talent and tourism, fostering trade and investment and branding Canada throughout the world as a dynamic, confident and forward-looking society.

Arts Programs

The Department will continue to support the arts through a renewed suite of programs. This will be accomplished through funding programs that support: the presentation of professional arts festivals or performing arts series; the improvement of arts and heritage infrastructure; the improvement of business and management capacity of arts and heritage organizations; a greater integration of arts and heritage within municipal planning; as well as institutions that offer training of the highest calibre, in preparation for professional artistic careers.

The expected results of the activities and programs for the arts include:

• Canadian artists are prepared for professional artistic careers in Canada and abroad.
• The sustainability of arts and heritage organizations receiving support from the Canadian Heritage is strengthened.
• Canadians in a variety of communities have access to arts, culture and heritage activities.

Cultural Industries Programs

Under this heading, PCH plans to undertake the following activities:

• Following nationwide consultations on copyright reform held over the summer of 2009, the Department, in collaboration with Industry Canada, will work towards amending the Copyright Act to contribute to an environment that fosters creativity, innovation and economic growth, and gives Canadian creators and consumers the tools they need to keep Canada competitive internationally.
• The Department will review its feature film policies and programs to better align public policy objectives within the current economic and digital environment.
• The Department has developed plans to launch an array of updated and new cultural industries support programs, which include but are not limited to: 
• The Canada Periodical Fund, which will help to ensure that Canadians have access to diverse Canadian magazines and non-daily newspapers, as well as provide business innovation funds for online magazines;
• The Canada Media Fund , a public-private partnership between the Government of Canada and broadcasting distributors to fund digital convergent, multiple platform programming and experimental, nonlinear content and applications; and
• The Canada Interactive Fund to leverage the capabilities of the latest interactive media tools to create new forms of online content and applications. This fund's target recipients will be official-language minority community organizations, Aboriginal and ethno cultural organizations and other not-for-profit cultural organizations.
• Having successfully led the Presidency of the international French-language network TV5MONDE in 2008 and 2009, Canada will continue to build on its efforts to modernize the network and increase the visibility of Canadian creators and programs across existing and new broadcast platforms around the world.

Heritage Programs

Worth noting one again: the absence of any reference to the new National Museum Policy which the government had supported in 2005 when in Opposition. But the Department has set as an important priority the creation of a national museum of immigration in Halifax. More specifically, PCH plans to undertake the following activities with regards to heritage issues:

• The Department will move forward with the review of the Cultural Property Export and Import Act, as announced in July 2007, to ensure the Act remains as effective as possible in the protection of Canadian and international heritage. Building on the consultations conducted in 2008–2009 and further analysis in 2009–2010, the Department will formulate recommendations to the Minister regarding legislative changes that may be necessary.
• The Department will propose a strategy for the Canada Travelling Exhibitions Indemnification Program (CTEIP) to address the impact of higher exhibition values. Through the CTEIP, the Government assumes financial liability for loss or damage to objects in eligible travelling exhibitions, thus contributing to increased access by Canadians to both Canadian and world heritage.
• The Department will implement the next steps towards the creation of a national museum of immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

What can I do?

Look out for CCA’s full 2010 Federal Budget Analysis, which will explain all arts, cultural industry and heritage funding in greater detail. The CCA is currently drafting its 2011 Pre-Budget submission. We obviously welcome our members’ input and advice on programs, investment and funding. Please send your own or your organization’s pre-budget submission to Jessica.Litwin@ccarts.ca.

This year, interested individuals and groups should submit a written brief not exceeding five pages, in either English or French, to the Committee Clerk no later than August 13, 2010.These briefs will be translated and distributed to Finance Committee members. Briefs can be submitted electronically to FINA@parl.gc.ca or mailed to:

Jean-François Pagé, Clerk
Standing Committee on Finance
6-14 131 Queen Street
House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

What are your thoughts on the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Report on Plans and Priorities? Let us know on our blog.