CCA Bulletin 29/07

Ottawa, August 15, 2007

The CCA welcomes the Honourable Josée Verner as the new Minister of Canadian Heritage

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has appointed the Honourable Josée Verner as the new Minister of Canadian Heritage, switching places with the Honourable Bev Oda who has gone to replace her at International Cooperation.  The Canadian Conference of the Arts welcomes Ms Verner’s appointment and looks forward to working with her and the officials of her Department for the advancement of arts and culture in Canada.

First elected Member of Parliament in January 2006, Ms Verner represents the riding of Louis-St. Laurent, in the Québec city area. She became Minister for international co-operation, la Francophonie and Official Languages in the very first Conservative Cabinet.

Previously, she had been spokesperson for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Region of Québec in Mr. Harper’s shadow cabinet. This was widened in September 2005 to include the Official Languages portfolio. She also chaired the Québec Caucus for the Conservative Party of Canada.

More bilingual than her predecessor, Ms. Verner has spent close to 20 years in the communications and public service fields. She served in the office of former Québec Premier Robert Bourassa and in the office of the Deputy Speaker of Québec’s National Assembly, and also worked in the Ministry of Health.

A number of priorities await her as new Minister of Canadian Heritage: the announcement of the long-awaited federal museum policy  and of amendments to the Copyright Act; the appointment of a new president for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the position the government will take concerning the mandate of the public broadcaster ; the controversy surrounding the CRTC Task Force recommendations on the Canadian Television Fund , still under attack from cable operators; the publication of the criteria and programs related to the $30 M promised for festivals in the 2007 federal budget and the on-going controversy surrounding the reductions to cultural diplomacy budgets  in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, where she will be dealing with a new Minister in the person of the Honourable Maxime Bernier.

Even more importantly, her main challenge will be to present to the Canadian cultural community a vision of what arts and culture really mean for the current federal government whose actions in this area, while often laudable, have not appeared to be related to any coherent cultural framework.

The CCA extends its best wishes to the new Heritage Minister and will support her in the pursuit of a vibrant and dynamic Canadian cultural sector.