Reality check – Where business left off in the House of Commons
Bulletin 49/05
Ottawa, December 2, 2005 – The dissolution of Parliament for a winter election means that work in
the House of Commons grinds to a halt. Now that the writ has dropped, there is much to report on
where business left off. Several pieces of legislation that would have impacted Canada’s artists, arts
organizations, and cultural industries fell from the Order Paper; others passed and received Royal
Assent; and the activities of various Standing Committees certainly lost momentum.
ACTIVITIES OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON CANADIAN HERITAGE
Much of the work of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage over the past year focused on a
study on the “influence and effectiveness of the Government of Canada’s Canadian Feature Film
Policy (2000)”, including “the structure and effectiveness of existing direct and indirect support
mechanisms” (i.e. Telefilm Canada, the National Film Board, the Canadian Television Fund, federal
production and services tax credits, etc.).
A final report, entitled “Scripts, Screens, and Audiences: A New Feature Film Policy For The 21st
Century”, http://www.parl.gc.ca/committee/CommitteePublication.aspx?SourceId=137485, was
released just days before the non-confidence motion passed. Unfortunately, the frenetic pace of
Parliament in the weeks leading up to November 28 prevented Standing Committee members from
completing a planned third and final phase of consultations, which was to involve a roundtable for
key stakeholders in Ottawa. CCA will certainly monitor what policy and/or legislative reforms may
emerge from the report’s recommendations when the next government of Canada is formed (and
whatever form it may take).
Additionally, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage presented two separate reports in mid–
November, which specifically addressed the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The Seventeenth
Report, which is available at
www.parl.gc.ca/committee/CommitteePublication.aspx?COM=8974&SourceId=135564, is notable as
it declares, “That the government should undertake to establish an independent task force to review
the mandate role and services of the CBC-SRC; to establish the role the public broadcaster must have
and the services it must provide in light of the new media environment and technological advances.“
Meanwhile, the Eighteenth Report, which is available at
www.parl.gc.ca/committee/CommitteePublication.aspx?SourceId=136788, states, “That in the opinion
of the committee, the federal government must tighten its policies in broadcasting, as the Committee
said in the report named Our Cultural sovereignty: The Second Century of Canadian Broadcasting, so
that Canada entirely controls broadcasting in radio and television on its territory.” Undoubtedly,
there should be pressure during this current election campaign to ensure that this work carries
forward in 2006.
CANADA’S INTERNATIONAL POLICY STATEMENT
Another exercise that will be delayed is the review by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and
International Trade of the International Policy statement released last spring. The lengthy document,
which is available online at www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/cip-pic/ips/ips-en.asp, is the result of
collaboration between the four lead departments, namely:
Finance
International Trade
Foreign Affairs
Defence
If anyone expects stirring prose and visionary language in such a document, they will be
disappointed. The document, while it will not be nominated for any literary awards, must be taken
seriously due to the major redirection of emphases in Canadian foreign policy.
For the cultural sector the most notable feature in the document is the elimination of the three pillars
of foreign policy, especially the third pillar which was the “promotion of Canadian culture and
values.” The role of culture in the rather uninspiring new international policy statement has been
relegated to a vague statement of the importance of “public diplomacy”.
This marks a major departure for Canada’s international policy and one which is worrisome for
CCA. The Department of Foreign Affairs has been woefully under-resourced to support any
substantial promotion of Canadian artists and talent internationally, a situation that many had
hoped the new policy would address in positive terms. While the November 23 Canada Council
funding announcement by Liza Frulla in Montreal also included $11 million new dollars over three
fiscal years for Foreign Affairs Canada’s International Touring Program, this is but a small
encouraging sign. Put simply, additional government dollars for program spending on culture must
always be supported by sound policy.
In preparing for consultations on the proposed policy, the Standing Committee had prepared a
questionnaire which it is asked those concerned with this issue to fill out and submit. The CCA
wrote to the Chair of the Standing Committee on November 14 (the letter is available online at
www.ccarts.ca/en/IntlPolicyStatement.htm) noting that the questionnaire does not provide any
opportunity for respondents to comment on the significant change of direction in our international
policy wrought by the elimination of the third pillar. Just days after the election began the CCA
received a response from the Clerk of the Standing Committee dated November 24, which invited
the CCA to submit a brief for consideration.
It is the hope of the CCA that once the election is over and the Standing Committees are
reformulated that a similar invitation will be extended by the new Chair. Preparing and presenting
a brief will be an excellent opportunity to address this shift in concrete and constructive term,s and
CCA will certainly consult its members at that time, whenever it may be. In the meantime,
comments from member organizations and members on this and other issues of cultural importance
are always welcome; please write to lcoletta@ccarts.ca.
BILLS THAT PASSED AND RECEIVED ROYAL ASSENT
(C-18) An Act to amend the Telefilm Canada Act
This enactment provides Telefilm Canada with a mandate to act in the audio-visual industries
including film, television, and new media. The corporation is also provided the authority to act in
the sound recording industry under agreements with the Department of Canadian Heritage.
(C-43) An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 23,
2005 (Budget Implementation Act, 2005)
The passage of this bill before the summer recess confirmed an increase the Department of Canadian
Heritage’s “Tomorrow Starts Today” (TST) funding ackage of $860 million over five years through
(see CCA Bulletin 22/05 and 23/05 for more information on “TST“
www.ccarts.ca/en/advocacy/bulletins/2005bulletins.htm).
(C-2) An Act to amend the Criminal Code (protection of children and other vulnerable persons)
and the Canada Evidence Act
The act received Royal Assent in July and will fully come into force as of January 2 2006. It amends
obscenity provisions in the Criminal Code with respect to the type of written, visual, and audio
material that constitute child pornography.
It is regrettable that after two years of active advocacy with three different governments, CCA’s
efforts, along with the efforts of a number of key CCA arts service organization members and
various civil liberties and legal groups, were not enough to convince members of either the House or
the Senate that the artistic merit defence should not be replaced with the new, ambiguous “legitimate
purpose” defence. However, a small legal victory for the protection of Canadians’ right to free
expression can be found in the “Observations” section of the Standing Senate Committee on Legal
and Constitutional Affairs’s 11th report, www.parl.gc.ca/38/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/come/
lega-e/rep-e/rep11jul05-e.htm, as Senators expressed strong concerns about the new act’s
potential impact on the work of artists and creators.
(C-23) Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Act
The act establishes the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development.
(S-37) An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Cultural Property Export and Import Act
This Senate bill amends the Criminal Code to prohibit theft, mischief, arson and robbery against
cultural property protected under the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the
Event of Armed Conflict. Those amendments allow for the prosecution of such offences when
committed outside Canada by Canadians. It also amends the Cultural Property Export and Import
Act to prohibit Canadians from illegally exporting or otherwise removing cultural property from an
occupied territory. Those amendments allow for the prosecution of such offences when committed
outside Canada by Canadians, and provide for a mechanism for the restitution of cultural property.
BILLS REFERRED TO A COMMITTEE BEFORE SECOND READING
C-21 Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act
This bill would have established a new framework for the governance of not-for-profit corporations
and other corporations without share capital. The enactment replaces Parts II and III of the Canada
Corporations Act and is mainly based on the Canada Business Corporations Act. It replaces the
“letters patent” system of incorporation by an “as of right” system of incorporation. The current
requirement for Ministerial review of letters patent and by-laws prior to incorporation is replaced by
the granting of incorporation upon the sending of required information and payment of a fee.
BILLS AWAITING SECOND READING
C-60 An Act to amend the Copyright Act
Implements the provisions of the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and
Phonograms Treaty, to clarify the liability of network service providers, to facilitate technologyenhanced
learning and interlibrary loans, and to up date certain other provisions of the Act. See
www.ccarts.ca/en/CopyrightReform.htm for more information.
C-80 An Act to implement certain income tax reductions
Provides an increase of $500 to the basic personal amount — the amount of income that Canadians can
earn without paying federal income tax — effective January 1, 2005, and makes consequential
amendments to other personal amounts accelerating the increases to the personal amounts
implemented pursuant to the 2005 federal budget, and reduces the lowest 16% federal income tax
rate to 15%, effective January 1, 2005.