A. INTRODUCTION

The range of federal programs and initiatives that support the arts and culture sector is as complex as the sector itself. Because there is no one-stop service for arts and culture funding, many arts and culture organizations have to knock on several doors to obtain the support they need. Each federal department and agency has a specific mandate and mission, which its policies and programs must clearly reflect. When considering the connections between these programs and OLMCs, it is critical to keep in mind the mandate in question and to acknowledge that success is measured in direct relation to the mandate.

B. CANADIAN HERITAGE PROGRAMS

Canadian Heritage is responsible for national policies and programs that promote Canadian content; foster cultural participation, active citizenship and participation in  Canada’s civic life; and strengthen connections among Canadians. In addition to these programs, Canadian Heritage’s portfolio includes the major national cultural institutions that it works collaboratively with to achieve a wide range of cultural and social objectives.

Three large branches in the Department administer programs that were considered relevant to this study:

• the Official Languages Support Programs Branch;
  
  
• the Arts Policy Branch;
  
  
• the Cultural Industries Branch.

1. The Official Languages Support Programs Branch

Mandate
The mandate of the Official Languages Support Programs Branch is to promote the full recognition and use of English and French in Canadian society and to encourage the development of Anglophone and Francophone minority communities. This is achieved through intergovernmental and interdepartmental cooperation, as well as collaboration with the communities and the non-governmental sector.

Support for OLMCs
The Branch carries out its mandate by way of two major programs, the Development of Official-Language Communities Program and the Enhancement of Official Languages Program. It also manages an interdepartmental initiative, the Multipartite Cooperation Agreement on Culture.

The Development of Official-Language Communities Program is responsible for initiatives related to the arts and culture sector in OLMCs. The Community Life component includes collaborative initiatives with the community sector, such as the Canada-Community Agreements and the Interdepartmental Partnership with the Official-Language Communities.

Community life

Canada-Community Agreements
The Branch helps OLMC organizations do what is needed to make measurable gains in long-term community development, and to encourage innovation and excellence. To do so, it uses the Canada-Community Agreements, including the Canada-National Organization Agreements, which provide assistance to national organizations. It should be noted that Quebec’s Anglophone organizations are not eligible because they are considered regional, not national, organizations.

Interdepartmental Partnership with the Official-Language Communities
The Interdepartmental Partnership with the Official-Language Communities (IPOLC) was launched in June 2000 to facilitate OLMC access to federal programs that could contribute to their development, and to provide financial leverage to facilitate the establishment of interdepartmental partnerships and new methods of cooperation. As of March 2006, 17 federal institutions had signed memoranda of understanding with Canadian Heritage to better serve linguistic minorities in their respective areas of operation.

Canadian Heritage’s strategy is to gradually reduce its share of funding in relation to the funding provided by the participating institutions. By doing so, the Department hopes to create partnerships and initiatives that will continue after it has withdrawn its funding.

However, investments generated by the IPOLC have decreased considerably since 2002–2003 because Canadian Heritage and its partners have decreased their support by about 22% since that fiscal year. This decrease is part of the gradual withdrawal of funding strategy of Canadian Heritage. Unfortunately, this strategy has not had the desired effect. In 2004–2005, Telefilm Canada and the National Film Board increased their contributions and the National  Arts Centre made an initial contribution, but no other institutions have followed their example. In fact, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, Western Economic Diversification Canada and CBC/Radio-Canada have stopped making contributions, while the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the Canada Council for the Arts have significantly reduced theirs. In 2004–2005, the Canada Council for the Arts contributed $670,000 to Francophone communities under the IPOLC, which was about half of the amount it contributed in 2000–2001.

Some IPOLC agreements are already expiring (for example, those with the Canada Council for the Arts and the National Film Board on March 31, 2008) and others (the National Arts Centre and Telefilm Canada) will expire in 2009. Canadian Heritage plans on renewing the agreements based on the funding it receives in the 2008–2009 federal budget. A systematic evaluation of all agreements should be undertaken at a later date to verify whether they have the desired effect, despite the strategy implemented by Canadian Heritage to gradually withdraw its funding.

The Multipartite Cooperation Agreement on Culture

Signed in 1998, this agreement brings together the Department of Canadian Heritage and several federal cultural organizations (the Canada Council for the Arts, the National Arts Centre, CBC/Radio-Canada and the National Film Board) and the FCCF. The agreement sets out a framework for cooperation among the parties and helps formalize the commitments made in certain key areas of artistic and cultural development in Canada’s Francophone  community. The signatories agree to encourage the creation, production, promotion and distribution of the cultural and artistic works and products of the Canadian Francophonie; fulfill their commitments under the terms and conditions of their respective programs; and demonstrate the value of a co-ordinated approach by the various stakeholders while soliciting the participation of other partners.

This agreement has had a positive impact, providing the framework for a collaborative, horizontal approach between Canadian Heritage, the portfolio agencies and the FCCF. Indeed, it has fostered a more focused and open dialogue and has actively encouraged all partners to abide by their commitment with regard to the development and vitality of Francophone communities outside Quebec. The agreement is currently under review. The arts and culture sector is hopeful that the new memorandum of understanding that will be signed will support the progress that has been made to date and enable funding agencies to change how they support the sector. The sector is hoping that the agencies will provide funding through a better thought out and more comprehensive and lasting strategy with regard to OLMC needs, instead of through special measures.

There is no similar agreement for Quebec’s Anglophone community.

Funding for the arts and culture of Quebec’s Anglophone community

As can be seen in this table, the Official Languages Support Program gradually increased the funding it allocated over the years to the Anglophone community for development in general. In terms of support for the arts and culture, funding peaked in 2004–2005 and gradually decreased afterwards.

Consultation practices
Officials responsible for the Agreement consult the communities to determine the program priorities that concern them. The consultation mechanisms (roundtables, interdepartmental coordination, working groups, etc.) gave rise to discussions that helped identify a number of improvements that could be made to the procedures for applying for and allocating grants, which will be discussed later in the report.

2. The Arts Policy Branch

Mandate
The Arts Policy Branch is responsible for policy issues pertaining to professional artists and the arts sector as a whole. It manages a variety of programs for professional non-profit organizations and national arts service organizations.

Support for OLMCs
The Branch has no budgetary envelope for OLMCs. However, some programs take into account special considerations relating to OLMCs so that the percentage of support that is provided can be adjusted depending on whether the regions or communities have limited access to other sources of funding. This approach ensures equality of access: a level playing field, equal opportunities and flexibility, as needed.

The three programs most relevant to OLMCs are the following:

• Cultural Spaces Canada;
  
  
• Arts Presentation Canada;
  
  
• the Canadian Arts and Heritage Sustainability Program.

These programs deliver services regionally. The regional offices work together to raise awareness in OLMCs of the national programs available to them and of the flexibility in program guidelines. According to the representatives consulted at Canadian Heritage, departmental staff invest a large amount of time in helping OLMCs develop projects. Program reviews have revealed that it is important to invest this time for the long-term benefit and sustainability of the community.

In the following sections, analysis focuses primarily on the amounts allocated to artists and organizations in Francophone OLMCs. As mentioned in the methodology section, large amounts are granted to the arts and culture sector in Quebec, and it is not necessarily relevant to compare the amounts granted to the Anglophone community to the total amount granted to the province’s culture sector as a whole. Therefore, only the gross amounts are provided, without comparing them to the total amounts granted to Quebec or English-speaking Canada. The investments that have been made in the Anglophone community can be found at the end of this section.

Cultural Spaces Canada

The Cultural Spaces Canada program funds cultural infrastructure, the acquisition of specialized equipment to support ongoing cultural activities and feasibility studies for cultural infrastructure projects. The allocation of funding is determined by a two-tiered assessment process so that the needs of underserved groups, including OLMCs, are adequately considered. First, a regional analysis helps prioritize projects according to evaluation criteria and program objectives. Following this, a national review committee evaluates the results and integrates them into a national strategy that considers the distribution of funds across the country and the needs of the target groups on a national level. While designed to support professional artists, programs such as Cultural Spaces Canada have a wider impact, as the facilities they help build can also be used for amateur community projects and activities.

Between 2001–2002 and 2004–2005, Cultural Spaces Canada covered up to 33% of eligible costs for construction, expansion or renovation and up to 50% for purchasing specialized equipment and carrying out feasibility studies. However, under exceptional circumstances, the program may consider covering more of the eligible project costs. These exceptional  circumstances could include projects in rural or remote areas, or in underserved populations(Aboriginal peoples, youth, OLMCs, ethnocultural communities, etc.).

Under the Cultural Spaces Canada program, Canadian Heritage has created an analysis framework called Regional Investment Strategies, which is used to optimize the impact of program funding by increasing the financial viability of infrastructure projects in all regions. OLMC needs are an important part of these regional strategies.

Arts Presentation Canada

Canadian Arts and Heritage Sustainability Program

The Canadian Arts and Heritage Sustainability Program aims to strengthen the organizational, administrative and financial circumstances of arts and heritage organizations, and to recognize and support Canadian communities’ achievements in the arts and culture.

The program has five components:

• Stabilization Projects;
  
  
• Endowment Incentives;
  
  
• Capacity Building;
  
  
• Cultural Capitals of Canada Awards;
  
  
• Networking Initiatives.

Organizations are assessed on the extent to which they are providing services to communities that have been recognized as a priority (Aboriginal peoples; ethnocultural, rural or remote communities; official language minorities; or youth) and the extent to which the proposed projects will increase capacity to serve the community in question.

Stabilization Projects
This component helps increase the self-sufficiency of arts and heritage organizations and helps them hire the professional and technical experts they need to reduce their deficits and build working operating reserves. A number of Francophone organizations have used this assistance, and 10% of the organizations supported in Toronto and in the provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Manitoba are Francophone.

Endowment Incentives
This component encourages Canadians to donate to arts and heritage organizations. Over the past five years, 2% of the allocated amounts have been put in endowment funds for Francophone OLMC organizations, in other words, approximately $1.14 million out of nearly $56 million.

Cultural Capitals of Canada
This component recognizes and supports Canadian municipalities that make the most of the many benefits the arts and culture bring to community life. The application evaluation criteria include the extent to which the OLMC’s culture is promoted and the level of involvement of its members in the project. For example, in 2003, the town of Caraquet, New Brunswick, received a contribution of $212,500 following its designation as a cultural capital.

Networking Initiatives
This component contributes to pan-Canadian networking projects whose aim is to strengthen some of the participants’ skills. These projects must help participants improve their ability to develop cultural policies and action plans or to form strategic partnerships that foster the arts and culture at the local level. In 2005–2006, a grant was allocated to the Quebec network Les Arts et la ville so that it could expand the scope of its activities in Francophone communities outside Quebec.

Funding for the arts and culture of Quebec’s Anglophone community

The amounts indicated in this section have been granted specifically for projects in Anglophone communities under the three programs Cultural Spaces Canada, Arts Presentation Canada and the Canadian Arts and Heritage Sustainability Program (in particular the Capacity Building Component).

Consultation practices
To develop its arts policy framework, the Arts Policy Branch at Canadian Heritage has interviewed OLMC representatives about regional and cultural diversity. According to the Branch, program development should be based on these considerations and no community should be marginalized. Consultation tours are undertaken prior to program renewal: when these tours are organized, the Canadian Heritage national office is said to “go on the road.” Since the three major programs are delivered regionally, the Department can maintain an ongoing relationship with the community. According to the people who were interviewed at Canadian Heritage, when senior officials visit a region, a point is made to ensure OLMCs are represented at the roundtables.

The Branch conducts formal and informal consultations with provincial and territorial government representatives and other stakeholders to determine OLMC needs and program feasibility. Furthermore, an annual high-level meeting is held between the Cultural Affairs Sector, including the Arts Policy Branch, organizations representing OLMCs, regional officers responsible for OLMCs and other arts  stakeholders. These consultations help to identify the priorities related to OLMCs and underserved regions and to incorporate them into the programs.

3. The Cultural Industries Branch

The level of funding for Francophone publishers varies widely from one component to another: they received 0.6% of funding under Aid to Publishers, 3.2% of funding under the Support for the Canadian Book Industry Supply Chain Initiative and 7.4% of funding under Collective Initiatives.

Consultation practices
The Cultural Industries Branch regularly consults OLMCs on their specific needs during meetings organized between Canadian Heritage and the communities.

Notes