Meeting of Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers Responsible for Culture and Heritage

HALIFAX, October 30, 2004 – The federal, provincial and territorial Ministers Responsible for Culture and Heritage met today in Halifax to discuss common issues at a conference jointly chaired by Minister of Canadian Heritage and Minister Responsible for the Status of Women Liza Frulla, and Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage for Nova Scotia Rodney MacDonald.

The meeting focused on the theme "Investing in creativity: The role of arts, culture, cultural industries and heritage in strengthening social and economic growth at the community level."

The Ministers reiterated their commitment to greater cooperation regarding the promotion of the arts, culture and heritage. Among other issues, the Ministers agreed to create working groups that will examine the support for the arts and culture with a focus on cultural investment, and arts and education.

During the conference, Minister Frulla underlined the importance that Canada gives to the promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions on the international scene, and invited her provincial and territorial colleagues to work together in this regard.

"We must work together to help our artists’ voices be heard, to open up more avenues for artistic expression, and to promote our culture both inside and outside our borders,” declared Minister Frulla.

In response to Minister Frulla’s invitation, all Ministers adopted a resolution supporting Canada’s position in favour of the adoption of an International Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions by UNESCO in 2005.”

During the conference, the provincial-territorial Ministers tabled a resolution calling for the multi-year renewal of the programs of the Tomorrow Starts Today and Historic Places Initiatives at the current or at a higher funding level, and asked for a firm commitment from the Government of Canada in this regard. Further, the Ministers urged the Government of Canada to involve them in a meaningful fashion when investing funds for these initiatives.

"The Tomorrow Starts Today initiative has provided much needed resources to strengthen the cultural infrastructure in order to conserve heritage, to increase the capacity of organizations that work in this sector, to support creativity, and to improve access to the arts throughout this country," said Minister MacDonald. “My colleagues and I urge the federal government to dedicate increased resources to the Cultural Spaces Program.”

The Ministers also celebrated the success of their work together to establish a culture of heritage preservation in Canada through the Historic Places Initiative. They noted the excellent work accomplished with respect to the establishment of the Canadian Register of Historic Places, as well as the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada.

The Ministers also expressed support for the Commercial Heritage Properties Incentive Fund, which was established as a pilot program to encourage the private sector to restore historic buildings for commercial purposes.

Following the presentation made by Quebec Minister responsible for Culture and Communications, Line Beauchamp, the federal-provincial-territorial Ministers discussed the changes made to the Status of the Artist Act by the Government of Québec in June 2004, as well as its new action plan to improve artists' socio-economic conditions. They also discussed the creators' contributions to the socio-economic development of communities across Canada.

The next federal, provincial and territorial meeting of Ministers responsible for Culture and Heritage will be held in Alberta in 2005.

 

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Information:

Marianne Goodwin
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of
Canadian Heritage and Minister
Responsible for the Status of Women
(819) 997-7788

Ellen Lawless
Communications Advisor
Nova Scotia Department of Tourism,
Culture and Heritage
(902) 424-7608