Welcome to all of you.

And thank you for joining us today to celebrate Canadian arts and culture and to showcase some fine young artists and emerging stars.

In the last election campaign, I had the pleasure of attending many events: visits to factory floors, centres of high technology, partisan rallies, television debates. But when I look back on the campaign there are two things that stand out.

First, my visits to schools, where I saw the vitality and the talent of our young people and their commitment to building a very distinctive, modern Canada. Second, I was part of an extraordinary event at the Conservatory of Music in Victoria one beautiful Saturday morning late in the campaign. It was a morning to reflect on the importance of the arts and culture to the fabric of Canada.

Last fall, and in the Speech from the Throne in January, we made very firm commitments to act to promote the arts and culture in Canada. Today we are delivering on this commitment.

"The major legacy of the Canadian History Project may not be its programmes or its books or web sites. It may lie instead in the fact that while drilling in the fields of national memory and identity, the producers struck a vast pressure dome which erupted with such a volcanic intensity of yearning, determination and pride that it left them dazed...The most frequently heard phrase in our office is ‘something very big is happening out there.’"

Well, I completely agree. And today it is with very great pride that I am announcing something very big indeed. The biggest new investment in the arts in Canada that any government has made since the creation of the Canada Council more than forty years ago. More than $500 million of new money over the next three years alone.

Investments for the future based on excellence in the creative process, diverse Canadian content and access to the arts for all Canadians. From traditional works to new media. From classical music to rap and rock and roll.

What I am announcing today would not be possible without the support, encouragement -- and yes -- the pressure from many in this room today. It would not be possible without the support of my Cabinet colleagues, who have made the promotion of Canadian culture a priority of this government.

But, above all, I want to pay a very special tribute to Sheila Copps. Without her guts, commitment and determination what we are doing today simply would not have happened. Years from now, when she looks back on her career, today will be a very special day, indeed.

I will let Sheila describe today, and in the days ahead, the details of our arts and culture investment.

Let me, instead, set out some of our overriding goals and objectives.

We will provide greater support to our artists through a substantial increase in the funding of the Canada Council for the Arts and through enhanced training opportunities for young artists.

We will invest in the renewal of cultural infrastructure across Canada. We will help communities across Canada to build and sustain art and heritage programmes relevant to their diverse aspirations and circumstances. We will help our book and sound recording sectors make the transition to the new economy. And we will help Canada be a world leader in new media and content on the Internet, in both French and English.

We will also begin our re-investment in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation -- both radio and television -- with an immediate increase of $60 million to its budget for this year.

We recently announced the establishment of a National Portrait Gallery in Ottawa. Which is a major step towards the creation of an institute of Canadian history. And we will soon be announcing our plans for a new War Museum.

Arts and culture are important to us in many ways. To attract the talent and investment we want for our communities. To expand tourism. To brand Canada and sell Canadian goods and services abroad.

But arts and culture are about more than economic growth. About more than the Gross Domestic Product. Our artists, writers and performers enrich the quality of our lives. They can inspire and challenge us. They can help us understand our past. They can help us know who we are. They can help us to imagine new possibilities, new choices for the future.

Arts and culture are not for the few. Cultural participation develops our creativity, enriches our citizenship, feeds the spirit. Arts and culture must be integrated into our lives and our communities. Arts and heritage organizations must reach out to their communities. Build partnerships with business and academia. Engage the young and build audiences for the future.

And the Government of Canada must, and will, help.

Arts and culture are not just for today. We have a responsibility to preserve our heritage and to promote the creative arts for future generations. An important measure of a great civilization, of a great society, is its contribution to humanity through the sciences and the arts; through its discoveries, its inventions, its cathedrals and canvasses, its stories and its music.

Please enjoy the show. And join us in celebrating Canadian arts and artists. Today, certainly, but also tomorrow.

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