Promoting Cultural Expression - Sharing Canadian Stories 2005

Taking Our Show on the Road

Providing legislative and policy support is not enough. We must also look to the future, identifying the means by which new artistic voices can make themselves heard. To accomplish this, the Government of Canada has developed a number of organizations and programs designed to encourage outstanding artistic and cultural achievement. In May 2001, the Government of Canada announced the most significant long-term investment in arts and culture since the creation of the Canada Council for the Arts in 1957. This investment was renewed in 2005.

The Canada Council for the Arts remains the pre-eminent Canadian organization in support of the arts. Increased funding has enabled it to award even more grants to established Canadian creators in all fields of artistic endeavour. The Canada Council for the Arts also provides ongoing support to cultural treasures such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Stratford Shakespearean Festival, the Charlottetown Festival, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Canadian Opera Company, and major travelling exhibitions of works by Canada's visual artists. Other Canada Council programs support individual artists in various disciplines, Aboriginal artists and arts organizations, as well as artists seeking new markets for their work at home and abroad.

The National Arts Centre shares a mandate with the Canada Council for the Arts to stimulate the performing arts in Canada. From the national and international tours of its resident orchestra to its role as one of the country's largest co-producers of dance and English and French theatre, the NAC is the country's national stage––a catalyst for Canada's artists and audiences.

When it comes to film, television and radio, Telefilm Canada, the National Film Board of Canada, the Canadian Television Fund and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation have long-standing traditions of supporting and encouraging unique Canadian productions. As the pre-eminent public broadcaster in Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has been the cornerstone of Canada's broadcasting system since 1936, providing an electronic stage for our performing artists, musicians and writers. Many productions broadcast on the CBC/ Radio-Canada, such as the popular Road to Avonlea television series, have gone on to garner international acclaim. Financial assistance for film production is also available through a number of federal programs, including Telefilm Canada's Canada Feature Film Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit Program, Canada Council for the Arts grants, and the Cultural Industries Development Fund. The Canadian Television Fund, a public/private partnership, is also an important supporter of the Canadian television and film industry.

Canada is a leader in new media, with government programs providing a springboard to success. The work of Daniel Langlois is a good example. Building on his background as a filmmaker with the National Film Board of Canada, he founded the Montreal-based Softimage. This company designed animation tools that were essential to such blockbuster feature films as Jurassic Park and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Daniel Langlois received a Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1998. CBC/Radio-Canada also produces new media programs that have received many awards in Canada and abroad.

At present, more than 500,000 Canadians make their living in Canada's cultural industries, which inject more than $40 billion a year into the country's economy. In recent years Canada's cultural sector has grown faster than other key sectors such as agriculture and the automotive industry. (Source: Statistics Canada)

The Canada Music Fund (CMF) aims to strengthen the entire Canadian music industry, from creators to audiences. It supports the production, distribution and marketing of Canadian music. The CMF's various funding programs support creators, artists, entrepreneurs, industry associations and joint initiatives. They also help preserve Canadian music for future generations.

In publishing, the Book Publishing Industry Development Program ensures the viability of the Canadian industry through its support to Canadian publishers. It provides the industry with tools to promote Canadian authors, to support projects that promote books in Canada, and to help Canadian publishers gain access to foreign markets and boost exports. The Canada Magazine Fund supports Canadian magazines that specialize in Canadian arts and literature, and projects designed to enhance the periodical industry. The Publications Assistance Program, together with the Canada Post Corporation, assures reduced postal rates for Canadian periodicals, such as community, ethnic and agricultural magazines and newspapers.

Trade Routes, the only trade development program established specifically to meet the international development needs of Canadian arts and culture entrepreneurs, helps arts and cultural businesses and not-for-profit organizations maximize international development opportunities. A financial support program and expert assistance for new and existing cultural exporters are offered from Trade Routes' head office, from the regional offices of International Trade Canada, and from key missions abroad. Other departments and programs support various international initiatives, ranging from cultural exchanges to exhibitions and international sporting events.

Canada also celebrates athletic excellence. Some of the most acclaimed athletes of our times, such as Alexandre Despatie, Beckie Scott and Chantal Petitclerc, are Canadian. Canadians participate in sport competitions at all levels, from local tournaments to major international games such as the Olympics, Paralympics, Special Olympics, the Games of La Francophonie, the Commonwealth Games and the Pan American Games, all of which have been hosted by Canada. The Department of Canadian Heritage actively promotes sporting excellence from the development of top coaches to the support of gifted athletes at the national and international levels. The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to be held in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, provide a unique opportunity to promote sport and physical activity. Canadian Heritage encourages all Canadians to engage in sport. For example, the Sport Participation Development Program helps women, youth, children, Aboriginal people and persons with disabilities to participate in community sports programs.

Some of the world's most popular sports were either invented or first played in Canada. Sports such as lacrosse and hockey are widely accepted as Canadian inventions; however, few people are aware that basketball was invented in 1891 by a Canadian professor, and that "American football" was invented as a combination of soccer and rugby by Canadian soldiers and university students in 1874. Even the modern game of baseball was actually first played in Canada in 1838.

To ensure the vitality of Canada's cultural future, government policies must assist young Canadians to develop their creative skills. Today's youth are already more global in focus than their parents, and it is vital to recognize the valuable role they already play in a world that is increasingly interconnected. Youth today have been exposed to new technologies and myriad peoples and cultures from an early age. They are the future of any comprehensive cultural strategy. The Government of Canada is committed to assisting youth through internships, cultural exchanges, training programs, sports initiatives, Aboriginal youth centres and other programs, many of which are already administered within the Canadian Heritage portfolio.

The results of Canada's cultural policies and programs speak for themselves. The $3-billion-a-year Canadian film and television industry includes innovative filmmakers such as Léa Pool, Denis Villeneuve, Denys Arcand, David Cronenberg, Patricia Rozema, Atom Egoyan, François Girard and Deepa Mehta. Canadians have created an estimated 60 percent of the software used within the American motion picture industry. And Canadian films such as La grande séduction, Being Julia, The Blue Butterfly, Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner and Les invasions barbares have gone on to worldwide acclaim.

"In Canada, a world-class performance is a world-class performance, regardless of whether it was achieved on foot, on a bicycle, in a kayak or in a wheelchair." Chantal Petitclerc, Olympic and Paralympic Champion

Musical artists Céline Dion, Diana Krall, Bryan Adams, Garou, Daniel Lavoie, Anne Murray, Oscar Peterson, Sarah McLachlan and Shania Twain have also achieved international stardom. Canadian authors Margaret Atwood, Daniel Poliquin, Yann Martel, Gaétan Soucy, Rohinton Mistry, Michael Ondaatje, Alice Munro and Evelyn Lau are read around the world. The works of visual artists such as Jean-Paul Riopelle, Alex Colville, Paul-Émile Borduas and Betty Goodwin are exhibited from Paris to Rio de Janeiro. Performing troupes Le Cirque du Soleil, the National Ballet of Canada, and the Canadian Opera Company and playwrights Michel Tremblay, Robert Lepage, Brad Fraser and Tomson Highway attract audiences from Australia to Alaska.

The Government of Canada, together with all the organizations that make up the Canadian Heritage family, supports this quest for excellence. By ensuring Canadian content in broadcast, digital and print media, by harnessing the power of the Internet and the Virtual Museum of Canada to showcase Canada's heritage, by supporting film, television and new media, and by awarding grants to individual artists and Canada's performing arts giants, organizations within the Canadian Heritage portfolio are helping Canadians of all cultural backgrounds to find their own voices, express themselves and flourish.

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