|
GOVERNMENT OF CANADA LAUNCHES CANADA-FRANCE
2004
May 22, 2003
Ottawa, Ontario
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien announced today the launch of Canada-France
2004, the international dimension of the Canada 2004-2008: 400 years of dialogue
and discoveries, citizenship, diversity and democracy initiative. The
Canada-France 2004 initiative aims to increase Canada's visibility in France and
to strengthen partnerships and ties between the two countries. The announcement
was made during the visit of French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.
"We are proud to join France in commemorating the 400th anniversary of
the first French settlement in North America," stated Prime Minister
Chrétien. "This program will provide an excellent opportunity for both
French and Canadian citizens to discover the richness of our country, including
our linguistic duality, our cultural diversity, our values and our many
technological innovations as well as the benefits of the longstanding ties
between our two countries."
The Canada-France 2004 initiative will include the following major projects:
- the exhibit Le Canada vraiment [the real Canada] at the Cité des
Sciences et de l'Industrie de La Villette in Paris;
- construction of the Maison de l'émigration française en Canada [home of
French emigration to Canada] in Tourouvre (Normandy);
- a major genealogical research project led by the Université de Caen in
collaboration with Canadian and French scholars;
- construction of the Maison Champlain in Brouage (Charente-Maritime) which
will host a Research centre on the history of New France;
- the digitization of archives shared by Canada and France initiated by the
National Archives of Canada and Les Archives de France; and
- Culture, Language and Books, a series of cultural activities and
promotional events on Canadian cultural industries.
The Canada-France 2004 celebrations will be produced jointly by the French
and Canadian governments and private companies from both countries. The
Government of Canada will invest $18.8 million in this initiative over a
three-year period.
For more information on the planned events, please consult the attached
backgrounder or log on to the following website: www.canada-2004.org
- 30 -
PMO Press Office: (613) 957-5555
Backgrounder - Canada-France 2004 Initiative
On June 1604, Pierre Dugua de Mons, Samuel de Champlain and their fellow
explorers were the first Europeans to settle permanently in North America. Their
settlement on Île Sainte-Croix (across from New Brunswick) is for many
historians the beginning of modern Canadian history.
400 years after this first French settlement, Canadians – from the Pacific
to the Atlantic, from circumpolar regions to the Great Lakes, and also in France
— are about to celebrate four hundred years of dialogue and discovery.
Entitled Canada 2004-2008: 400 years of dialogue and discovery, the
initiative aims to commemorate the cycle of 2004 and 2008 historic
anniversaries. The projects in Canada and in France will provide extraordinary
opportunities to celebrate, on both sides of the Atlantic, Canada's emergence as
a vibrant, modern nation and to consider how its land, environment, people,
linguistic duality and cultural diversity have influenced its growth from a
social, cultural, political and economic perspective.
These projects will also highlight the importance of the relations between
both countries. France is the second largest foreign investor in Canada,
Canada's third most important scientific partner and a major trade partner
within the European Union.
Canada-France 2004 Initiative
For the international dimension of Canada 2004-2008, the Government of
Canada has planned numerous activities in France over a three year period. The
objective is to tell the story of Canada through its history and to invite the
people of France to discover a country proud of its linguistic duality and its
cultural diversity as a modern nation. Canada-France 2004 is built around the
following projects and programmes:
Canada Vraiment Exhibition
From December 2003 to August 2004, the Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie in
Paris will host the Canada Vraiment (Truly Canada) exhibition. Through
technology that will allow French and Canadian citizens to connect in real time,
this exhibition will also showcase Canada as a modern nation, based upon social
and technological innovation and upon Canadian achievements in meeting the
challenges of geographical and cultural diversity.
As an invitation to discovery, this exhibition will be first and foremost a
place to meet and exchange. Thanks to the "Cybermodule," visitors will
be connected to meet, interact, work, do research, play and establish a dialogue
with Canadians. In the coming months, a network of these cybermodules will
connect Canadian universities and academic and commercial centres to
mirror-sites in France, to allow a larger audience to enjoy virtual reality
experiences and telediscovery.
Maison de l'émigration française en Canada
Chosen to host the Maison de l'émigration française en Canada,
Tourouvre (located in Perche, Normandy) is also the birthplace of a number of
Quebec families, such as the Pelletiers, Gagnons, Tremblays, Rivards, Fortins,
Bouchards and Drouins. The Maison de l'émigration française en Canada
will be an interpretation centre, an exhibition centre and especially a memorial
and gathering site for all Canadians (and other North-Americans) who have French
roots. The centre will also offer lodging and genealogical information.
Genealogical Research
Developed in co-operation with the Maison de l'émigration française en
Canada, the third part of the Canada-France 2004 initiative focuses on a
large genealogical research program. Led by the Université de Caen in
partnership with French and Canadian universities, this program will make it
possible to trace and identify a large number of public and notarial acts
destined for a large data bank. These important resources will be accessible to
everyone via the Internet.
Maison Champlain
The venerable, 450-year-old town of Brouage is one of the most visited
historical sites in the Charente-Maritime region, welcoming half a million
visitors each year. As Brouage is also Samuel de Champlain's birthplace, it is a
places of great historical significance for Canada in France. This is one the
reasons why Canada and France have decided to build the Maison Champlain
together on a piece of land that was owned by the explorer's family.
The Maison will house digital archives devoted to the interpretation
of the common history between France and Canada. Built in partnership with the
Conseil général de la Charente-Maritime, the construction project will enable
the general public to familiarize themselves with the history of New France and
French politics of the time with access through a computer gallery to all
historic documentation: letters, documents, maps — all the documents either
drawn or written about New France. The Maison Champlain will also house a
research centre on the history of New France.
Cyber@rchives
Under the direction of the National Archives of Canada and the Direction des
Archives de France, the project to digitize the historical archives of Canada
and France is under way. This project aims to build a common portal offering
approximately 600,000 documentary images (manuscripts) and approximately 1,000
cartographic records to researchers and the general public in both countries.
This vast digital library will contain Canada's entire French history: the
last will and testament of Champlain or Jeanne Mance, Lescarbot's maps, the
letters written by the District Administrator and Governor of New France to the
Minister of the Marine, treaties and agreements, shipbuilding contracts,
fortification designs, civic designs, village cadastres, and business or family
correspondence.
Through this project, Canada and France will be the first two countries in
the world to have a fundamental part of their history — which to date has been
inaccessible — completely and instantaneously available to the general public.
Ultimately, it is estimated that this project will include approximately
2,000,000 documented images by 2005.
Culture, Language and Books
Last of the six major projects, Culture, Language
and Books is a series of cultural events and promotional activities for Canadian
cultural industries, from cinema to performing arts, including music and books.
These events will also include new technologies and interactivity. Thanks to the
renowned excellence of Canadian artists and creators in multimedia, this project
will bring to life to numerous innovative and leading-edge artistic productions.
The first major event in the Culture Language and Books series will be a
forum on Canadian and French cultural industries, which will take place at the
Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie in Paris in January 2004. Gathering
business people, artists and interpreters, this forum will be a vehicle for
cultural diversity and excellence.
Besides these projects, the Government of Canada has developed several
initiatives to support and promote projects from Canadians and French people
aimed at increasing interest and participation in the 400th anniversary of
Canada's modern history.
Among these initiatives, there will also be the youth exchange, which
encourages participation from young people (between 18 and 35 years old) in all
the projects and initiatives taking place in France for Canada-France 2004, such
as job training sessions, complementary projects and Imagination, an initiative
that uses colloquia, dialogues and exchanges to present Canadian scientific,
technological and cultural creativity and raise awareness of Canada in France.
Finally, public events will celebrate the historical links between Canada and
France (e.g. 60th anniversary of the landing of the allied forces in France) and
references to modern Canada.
For more information:
http://www.canada-2004.org
http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/pc-ch/news-comm/cc020712_e.htm
|
