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Results: 1 - 15 of 604
David Arnot
View David Arnot Profile
David Arnot
2019-05-30 9:00
I would say that Heritage Canada should pay attention to these issues, and that Heritage Canada should look to ensure that digital literacy is available to all students in Canada from grades K to 12 on a coast-to-coast basis.
I had other things to say, Chair; however, I'll close with that.
Thank you.
Lisa-Marie Inman
View Lisa-Marie Inman Profile
Lisa-Marie Inman
2019-05-30 9:08
Thank you very much for inviting me to address the committee today. I'd like to speak to you about the work the department is undertaking related to racism and religious discrimination.
Evidence is clear that racism and discrimination continue to exist in Canada. Addressing them is part of the federal government's responsibility to sustain a society that values all its members and treats them with dignity and respect.
One way that is achieved is through Canada's multiculturalism policy, which was designed to create a climate in which the multicultural heritage of each of us is valued and to contribute to building a society where all can participate in the economic, social, cultural and political life of Canada.
The multiculturalism program works toward these objectives by focusing its efforts on building an integrated and socially cohesive society; improving the responsiveness of federal institutions to the needs of a diverse population; and engaging in discussions on multiculturalism, inclusion and diversity at the domestic and international levels.
There are four key activities that the multicultural program undertakes. First is grants and contributions via the community support, multiculturalism and anti-racism initiatives program. Second is public outreach and promotion through public events and key outreach initiatives such as Asian Heritage Month and Black History Month. Third is support of federal and public institutions to help them meet their obligations under the Canadian Multiculturalism Act. Fourth is international engagement through providing support for Canada's membership in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and ensuring Canada meets its obligations as a signatory to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
In budget 2018, new funding in the amount of $23 million over two years was allocated to the program: $21 million to support events and projects that target racism and discrimination with a particular focus on indigenous peoples and racialized women and girls, and $2 million to support cross-country consultations on a new national anti-racism and anti-discrimination approach.
Budget 2018 also provided $9 million over three years to the Department of Canadian Heritage and $10 million over five years to the Public Health Agency of Canada to address the challenges faced by Black Canadians.
In 2018, the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism was asked by the Prime Minister to develop a new federal anti-racism approach to combat racism and discrimination. In support of this mandate, we carried out engagement sessions from October 2018 to March 2019 to gather input from Canadians, including experts, faith and community leaders, and those with lived experiences of racism and discrimination.
In total, 22 in-person sessions were held, involving over 600 participants from some 443 organizations. Over 1,000 online submissions were received.
A further $45 million over three years was allocated in budget 2019 for the multiculturalism program to develop and implement a federal anti-racism strategy. In the budget announcement, the strategy was described as finding ways to counter racism in its various forms, with a strong focus on community-based projects. The announcement also highlighted an anti-racism secretariat that would work across government to identify opportunities, coordinate activities and engage with Canada's diverse communities.
Increasingly intolerant and racist language—hate speech—is available online. It isn't just flourishing in private conversations on social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram. It's also on the rise on more public sites such as YouTube, and in comments sections, web forums and blogs.
Participants in our engagement sessions told us that online hate is an underlying factor that contributes to or causes racism. It is a serious phenomenon that exists in many forms and significantly impacts young people. People told us that social media can play a significant role both in spreading hate and also in combatting it.
Canadian Heritage plays a vital role in the cultural, civic and economic life of all Canadians. We'll continue to use the levers available to us to work towards addressing hate online, together with our federal partners and with communities.
Thank you.
Andrew Campbell
View Andrew Campbell Profile
Andrew Campbell
2019-04-10 18:42
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ladies and gentlemen members of the committee, good evening.
My name is Andrew Campbell, and I am the senior assistant deputy minister at Canadian Heritage for the sport sector. Sport Canada falls under my responsibility and continues to be a key component of Canadian Heritage where our mission is to ensure Canadians participate and excel in sports. Within this mission, the health and safety of all participants in sport, not only high-performance athletes, is a key priority for us.
Over the years, I have been seized by the issue of concussions and impressed by the strong engagement not only of Sport Canada, but of the sport sector as a whole, along with the health and education sectors, and the provinces and territories, which are indispensable, as it has been said.
Indeed, five years ago, concussions were not a priority. However, let me be clear in saying that, while we have made many strides in addressing this public health issue, there is still work to be done. But today, I would like to highlight some of the accomplishments made by Sport Canada in order to help you identify remaining gaps and recommendations for moving forward.
First, I'm pleased to report that Sport Canada has been monitoring this issue since 2009, and we're seeing increased consciousness throughout the country around the scope of the concussion issue. In 2009 it seemed to be just within the professional sport sector. Shortly thereafter, in 2011, during the sport leadership conference in Toronto, Sport Canada was involved in the organization of a workshop with Dr. Charles Tator and another one around our 2010 Vancouver games Olympic medallists. This represented our first initiative to sensitize the sport community as a whole to the issue of concussions and to highlight the need for action.
At this point, Sport Canada embarked on a robust collaborative work with provinces and territories. The federal-provincial-territorial sport committee and the sport, physical activity and recreation, SPAR, committee allow us to work closely with all provincial and territorial governments and experts in addressing issues in the sport sector, as you saw earlier today.
Sport Canada is the co-chair of the federal-provincial-territorial sport committee and the sport, physical activity and recreation committee, and through this mechanism, in addition to managing Canada Games, we also address matters that emerge regarding our sport governance, including harassment, abuse, and in this case, concussions. We're very proud of the solid, multi-sector partnership that we've developed in managing concussions, and it is within these fora that the vital decisions on nationwide policies and their relevant implementation are made.
To support the work of this federal-provincial-territorial coordination, Sport Canada hosted the first multi-sector consultation in January of 2015. 2015 also marked the issuance of respective mandate letters for the Minister of Sport and the Minister of Health, who respectively indicated the importance of directing efforts towards the development of a pan-Canadian strategy on concussions.
I'd like to underline that our collaboration with the health sector, represented by the Public Health Agency of Canada, has been crucial in helping us to move this yardstick in both sport and society. My colleagues from PHAC will highlight the important work they have supported.
I also want to highlight that we are working with the education sector through the joint consortium for school health, and that we are building stronger collaboration to reach the school sport system to disseminate required information.
Further, during the 2017 conference of the Council of Ministers of Education, Sport Canada provided a presentation in which we showcased our work on concussion management in sport.
Another foundational event that represented outreach to the wider public was the 2016 Governor General's conference on concussions in sport hosted at Rideau Hall. This event represented a huge success in raising awareness and outreach to communities across the country to emphasize the importance of working together to harmonize our work in this area.
Sport Canada's work also includes a close relationship with 56 national sport organizations and several multi-service sport organizations, some of which have appeared in front of this committee.
Since 2016, Sport Canada has been working alongside Parachute Canada to facilitate their work with the national sport organizations in developing and refining their return-to-sport protocols and to ensure that they are aligned with the Canadian guidelines on concussion referenced in previous sessions.
To ensure dissemination of this extensive work, in 2017 we hosted another conference to highlight the work on management and detection of concussions. This work was done with the support of the Sport Information Resource Centre. During that event, we also launched with the SIRC the “We Are Headstrong” national campaign. That campaign, aligned with the Canadian guidelines from federal-provincial-territorial work, was designed in consultation with the sport sector ranging from those at the national level to those in smaller communities. These stakeholders underscored the desire to ensure that the communication on concussion management remains clear, simple and instructive on crucial steps to follow, from the moment an athlete or player receives a blow to the head to the return to sport activity. The “We Are Headstrong” campaign focused on four key general principles to apply to a suspected concussion: recognize, remove, refer and return.
I just presented a list of different activities that Sport Canada has taken on, which demonstrates the scope of Sport Canada's contribution to the wide-ranging management of concussion in sport, including the areas of awareness and detection. Resulting from discussions on pan-Canadian harmonized approaches, which you have heard about already at the committee and in the previous presentation, we have identified that we still have work to do in the areas of surveillance and prevention of concussions.
On the surveillance front, the sport community has indicated that it will be difficult for them to conduct thorough data collection since the type of personal data resides in the health domain. The sport sector has also identified to us a lack of capacity to sustain data collection due to the limited capacity of those who undertake the work. I think, as highlighted earlier, the sector is primarily voluntary.
This is not to suggest that the sport sector should have no involvement in the surveillance component, but at this point the federal-provincial-territorial SPAR ministers have indicated that Sport Canada should discuss with the Public Health Agency of Canada how to enhance the existing systems that my colleagues from the Public Health Agency will describe to you shortly.
We will also explore with the sport community how they can contribute to enhance the surveillance within their reality, given the constraints of the sport system. This will be part of the work that Sport Canada does moving forward.
At the federal-provincial tables, and with Sport Canada, consensus around the next focus for the sport sector has emerged, and this focus is that of prevention of concussions. We have come to a point that the next big logical step is one that the sport sector does own, and that is prevention. It's also an area in which the sport community can show a huge amount of leadership throughout society.
As you heard from my colleagues from the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Working Group on Concussions, we must turn our focus to prevention and consider this through the vectors of rules of the game, training methods and behaviours.
As part of our next steps, all federally funded sport organizations will be required to incorporate a concussion policy in their operations, covering all components of the harmonized approach. This policy will include the return-to-sport protocols developed with Parachute Canada.
As you can see, collectively and with a significant amount of coordination at the federal-provincial-territorial level and across government organizations, we have done a lot to address concussions, but we still have work to do. This work is mainly in the area of prevention and in ensuring the sharing of knowledge from the national level down to the club level.
Let me thank you again for inviting us here today. It's a privilege to share with you these facts and to answer your questions.
View Darren Fisher Profile
Lib. (NS)
Good. That is good news.
The subcommittee has heard about the need or the desire for a concussion awareness week. I'm interested in your thoughts.
I'm also interested in the Public Health Agency's thoughts on something like that, concerning bringing it to the forefront for public awareness, but also what type of role both of your groups may have in a week like that, a national concussion awareness week.
We could start with Mr. Campbell.
Andrew Campbell
View Andrew Campbell Profile
Andrew Campbell
2019-04-10 19:02
As you probably saw, the other part of my portfolio deals with national celebrations and that type of work. We see how those types of weeks and months do work in bringing attention to other types of activities that we have, whether it's promoting something on the Canadian heritage side or whether it is in doing things around sport. I think those are definitely good pieces to look at.
As you see, this issue is so complex because of how many players are involved, and it may in fact give a focus to those players on how to all come together. You could get everybody—from professional sports down to communities to health care professionals to schools—all being able to do something in a very coordinated fashion. Certainly we see the effects when efforts like that are made.
View Julie Dabrusin Profile
Lib. (ON)
We will start up again.
I'm pleased to welcome the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism. With him today, from the Department of Canadian Heritage, are Hélène Laurendeau, Deputy Minister, and Andrew Francis, the Chief Financial Officer.
Today the committee will study the subject matter of supplementary estimates (B), 2018-19, votes 1b and 5b under Department of Canadian Heritage, referred to the committee on January 28, 2019, and pursuant to Standing Order 81(5), deemed reported back three days before the final allotted day of the supply period ending March 26, 2019. Therefore, today's meeting will take place under Standing Order 108(2).
You have the floor, Minister.
View Pablo Rodriguez Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Members of the committee, good afternoon.
Thank you for inviting me to speak before the committee.
Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg.
As you mentioned, I am joined by Ms. Laurendeau and Mr. Francis.
Before we get into the supplementary estimates, I will thank the committee for all your hard work in the last couple of months on Bill C-91, regarding indigenous languages; on the review of the Copyright Act; on Bill C-369, to establish a national day for truth and reconciliation, just name a few. Those are very important issues to Canadians, and your work is making a difference in their lives.
Thank you for all your hard work.
Today I'm honoured to speak to you about the investments we're making in Canadian arts and culture. This year's budget reflects a promise we made to Canadians four years ago, a promise to support the middle class and the people working hard to join it. Canadian Heritage will continue to reinvest in our creators and cultural industries.
Why do we do it? We do it because culture matters. It matters to all Canadians. We all love going to the movies, singing along to a favourite band, or enjoying a great book. Judging from your reactions to a certain Canadian rock icon who recently paid this committee a visit, I think members of the committee can agree that some of our best memories are from concerts we've been to.
I often say that culture is fun, but it is also good for the economy. In fact, culture contributes more than $53 billion to the Canadian economy. The cultural sectors also employ over 650,000 Canadians and create many more jobs in the tourism industry. This means indirect job opportunities in restaurants, transportation and construction, among others. It has a major impact across the board.
Lastly, we've reinvested in culture because diversity and inclusion are important to Canadians. These values are part of our identity, part of who we are. Sadly, we know that Canada is not immune to racism, discrimination and the politics of division. That is why we're investing to celebrate our diversity and promote inclusion.
The investments in budget 2019 will allow us to keep the promise we made to Canadians.
We're supporting our music industry by investing $20 million over two years, or $10 million a year, in the Canada Music Fund. We're supporting our creators, festivals and shows by investing $16 million over two years in the Canada Arts Presentation Fund.
We're also supporting local celebrations, especially those of diverse groups such as pride festivals and powwows, by investing $34 million over two years in the Building Communities through Arts and Heritage Program and in the Celebration and Commemoration Program.
It should be noted that the amount also includes $10 million over two years to mark the new National Truth and Reconciliation Day and to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day.
Through the multiculturalism program, we support projects to eliminate discrimination, racism and prejudice in communities across Canada. In budget 2019, we proposed to provide $45 million over three years, starting this year, for a new anti-racism strategy. We want to find ways to combat racism in all its forms, while focusing on community projects. At the governmental level, these efforts will be coordinated by an anti-racism secretariat.
In terms of reconciliation, our government is taking a decisive step in the right direction by tabling our bill on indigenous languages. Thank you all for doing the pre-study and completing your report on the bill. What you did is so important, because as you know, the situation is urgent. Three-quarters of indigenous languages spoken in Canada are endangered. That is why we will provide adequate, stable and sustainable funding to reclaim, revitalize, maintain and strengthen indigenous languages.
In our 2019 budget, we're proposing major investments. You saw it: more than $333 million over five years, starting right now, starting this year, and more than $115 million every year after that.
The bill proposes responsive and flexible mechanisms that will allow us to direct funds to Indigenous communities, namely regional and national Indigenous organizations, and self-governing Indigenous governments.
They are the ones working on the ground, and they know local needs much better than I do, much better than we do. They are, therefore, best placed to define the solutions that will work best for them. They will have the freedom they need to allocate the funds appropriately.
Madam Chair, we look forward to continuing to work with you, members of the committee, and the Senate to pass the bill before the House adjourns for the summer.
In addition to the investments laid out in the budget, we're pleased that the supplementary estimates (B) include the additional funding we requested. It amounts to an increase of $9.34 million.
Allow me to review quickly the main items included in that amount. First, the amount of $5 million will go to the Vancouver Foundation to improve access to Canada's justice system. It's also our government's way of recognizing the enormous contributions of Beverley McLachlin, former chief justice of Canada. These funds are used to support projects that help break down barriers to civil and family justice.
Our government is committed to ensuring that Canadians have the best possible access to the justice system. It's key to having a healthy, democratic and inclusive society.
In honour of the former Governor General of Canada, the Right Honourable David Johnston, Supplementary Estimates (B) also include a grant of more than $2 million to support a foundation, which mobilizes Canadians around promising projects that contribute to a stronger Canada.
Thirdly, Supplementary Estimates (B) includes more than $1 million for the Canadian Soccer Association to support the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup of Soccer. Those who know me know that I'm very pleased about that.
Finally, I'd also like to mention an investment of more than $500,000 for an initiative of vital importance to all Canadian citizens: ensuring a healthy digital democracy.
The health of our democracy depends on the reliability and diversity of our news and information sources. Every citizen is entitled to develop informed opinions, hold governments and individuals to account, and participate in public discourse. There is a rise in false, misleading and harmful information online and in social media. In this matter, our government takes its role very seriously.
We support projects that equip Canadians with the ability to evaluate online information with a critical eye. In our 2019 budget, we want to strengthen this digital democracy project, so we're proposing an investment of more than $19 million over four years. These funds will create a program that will help us better understand the impacts of misinformation and identify ways to fight it. This investment will also allow Canadians to lead an international initiative to strengthen citizens' resilience to misinformation and promote diversity of online content.
It is in the same perspective that we want to support journalists across Canada. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Professional journalism is one of the pillars of our democracy.
When we see how quickly our newspapers are disappearing, we cannot stand idly by. Our government is playing a major role in that as well. It will continue to play a major role and we will do something about it.
You know that, you saw it in the fall 2018 economic statement: we announced our intention to bring in targeted tax measures in support of Canadian journalism, including through tax credits and tax incentives. I want to assure you that the fundamental principles of an independent and free press will be absolutely upheld in the granting of these credits and incentives.
Madam Chair, arts and culture remain priorities for our government, and we'll continue to support our artists and creators, just as we will continue to create jobs and protect our inclusive diversity.
Madam Chair, honourable colleagues, thank you for your attention.
I also want to thank my parliamentary secretary, Andy Filmore, for his absolutely extraordinary work. We are lucky to have him.
I would be pleased to answer your questions.
View Pierre Breton Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Pierre Breton Profile
2019-04-09 16:46
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, minister for being here with us today.
Welcome Ms. Laurendeau and Mr. Francis. It is always a pleasure to have you here with us.
We are very proud to see that the government is investing in arts and culture.
Minister, I will get straight to my first question, which — I hope — might affect organizations back home.
You talked about investing in festivals. As everyone knows, there are major festivals held in Quebec, in big cities like Montreal and Quebec City, in which the government participates. However, if I understand correctly, the proposed new investments in the budget for festivals are more for the regions, as well as smaller festivals that are often the cornerstones of celebrations. You talked about the economy and this investment will add to the regional economy.
I would like you to elaborate on these investments you are proposing for festivals that you briefly mentioned in your presentation.
View Pablo Rodriguez Profile
Lib. (QC)
It was spur of the moment and memorable.
You are right to point out that we've made a considerable investment in festivals. In fact, there are two investments in particular that you need to remember. For major festivals we are investing $16 million in the Canada Arts Presentation Fund. For smaller festivals, like the ones that might be held in your riding and elsewhere of course, we are investing $14 million through the Local Festivals component of the Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage program.
We are also investing another $10 million in celebrations and commemorations such as Canada Day or other types of celebrations. We are essentially talking about an additional $40 million over two years for these celebrations.
It is certainly a lot of money. This is the first time in about a decade that these budgets have been increased. Our festivals bring us together to celebrate these important things. These festivals add life and vitality to our regions, our villages, and our towns.
I know that a number of festivals are held in your home riding, Mr. Breton. I knew your region well. I hope people will come see us to talk about a possible collaboration.
View Pierre Breton Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Pierre Breton Profile
2019-04-09 16:47
Thank you.
This is excellent news for our regions where these festivals are held. Industry was very keen on seeing this investment. It is excellent news.
You talked about journalism. In my riding alone, there are five media outlets. It is incredible. There is a daily newspaper and four community newspapers and one radio station. As you said, journalists are going through a period of immense change.
You talked about investments. How specifically can our local media access more capital to help them get through this major shift?
View Pablo Rodriguez Profile
Lib. (QC)
You are right to bring that up.
As you said, our newspapers are in crisis. They have lost half their employees since 2010. We are going to address the heart of the problem by creating concrete measures to support Canadian newspapers, big and small, all while preserving journalistic independence.
There are two different investments. First there is $50 million for the regions. We want to ensure that everyone has access to news that is objective, impartial, and balanced. We think that people have the right to know what is going on at their city hall or or what their provincial MLA or federal MP are doing, no matter where they are from.
There is a $50-million investment, but also another large investment of $600 million consisting mainly in tax credits. This will be managed in a neutral way. In other words, there will be a committee and industry itself will determine membership. It is not the Minister of Canadian Heritage who will determine, based on certain criteria, eligibility for the tax credits that will be paid to the newspapers in question.
View Pierre Breton Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Pierre Breton Profile
2019-04-09 16:51
If I understand correctly, the tax credits will go mostly to news reporters.
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