Highlights:
Vol. 1, No. 4, September 2003
IN THIS ISSUE:
This issue of the CCD Update focuses on news leading up to
the forthcoming UNESCO General Conference in Paris, which began
September 29 and is scheduled to conclude on October 17. At this
meeting, UNESCO’s 189 member states will decide whether to green-light
a proposal that the United Nations agency undertake the development of
an international convention on cultural diversity. The proposal will be
debated October 13 and 14, with a decision to made in plenary during
the final days of the conference. While the outlook for a favourable
decision is positive, it is not a certainty. The following articles
demonstrate that work is under way on many fronts with the goal of
ensuring the strongest possible endorsement of the proposal.
Foreign Affairs Minister Graham to
Address UNESCO General Conference October 2
Foreign
Affairs Minister Bill Graham will make Canada’s case for having UNESCO
undertake an international convention on cultural diversity when he
speaks on behalf of the country during the General Policy Debate which
kicks off the bi-annual General Conference.
The General Policy Debate began September 29 and is scheduled to run
for seven days. Minister Graham is scheduled to speak on October 2.
While in Paris, Minister Graham will be the guest of honour at an
October 3 luncheon jointly hosted by the France-Canada Chamber of
Commerce and France-Amériques. The Minister will speak on the
theme of Cultural Diversity:
Canada’s Experience.
Also attending will be Raymond Chrétien, Canada’s Ambassador to
France, and Louis Hamel, Canada’s Ambassador to UNESCO.
Minister Copps to Lead
Canadian Delegation
in Debate on Cultural Diversity Proposal October 13
Minister of Canadian
Heritage Sheila Copps will lead the Canadian Delegation during the
debate on the proposal that UNESCO undertake development of the
convention on cultural diversity.
The debate takes place within the Commission IV (Culture) session of the General Conference. Minister Copps is scheduled to address the session on October 13.
Minister Copps is also scheduling several private meetings with other ministers and ambassadors to urge their support for the resolution when it goes to plenary for decision during the final days of the conference. She will then proceed directly to the ministerial meeting of the International Network on Cultural Policy (INCP) October 16-18 in Opatija, Croatia.
The debate takes place within the Commission IV (Culture) session of the General Conference. Minister Copps is scheduled to address the session on October 13.
Minister Copps is also scheduling several private meetings with other ministers and ambassadors to urge their support for the resolution when it goes to plenary for decision during the final days of the conference. She will then proceed directly to the ministerial meeting of the International Network on Cultural Policy (INCP) October 16-18 in Opatija, Croatia.
Quebec Minister of Culture and Communications Beauchamp Meets
with UNESCO Director General Matsuura, Urges Support for
Convention on Cultural Diversity
During four days in Paris September 8-11, Minister Beauchamp met with UNESCO’s Director General Koïchiro Matsuura and expressed her government’s strong support for the proposal. The Minister bolstered this meeting with a number of one-on-one sessions with individual ambassadors.
Minister Beauchamp also met with France’s Minister of Culture and Communication Jean-Jacques Aillagon, the Minister of Cooperation and Francophie, Pierre-Andre Wiltzer, and with the Secretary General of the International Organization of la Francophonie, Abdou Diouf.
The Minister also hosted a reception at the Quebec Delegation attended by key officials from the French government as well as representatives from France’s Comité de Vigilance for Cultural Diversity and the CCD.
Pierre Curzi, co-chair of the Coalition for Cultural Diversity, joined the Minister’s delegation for a number of these meetings.
Minister Beauchamp will return to UNESCO in October for the debate on the convention proposal.
Canadian Coalition Among Nine Coalitions Making Case for UNESCO to Undertake Convention
on Cultural Diversity During Special Seminar in Paris
Representatives of 46 permanent delegations to UNESCO were among approximately 175 people who attended a seminar in favour of the proposed convention on cultural diversity held at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters on September 12 that featured presentations from representatives of the nine existing coalitions for cultural diversity.
Entitled Why UNESCO Should Undertake a Convention on Cultural Diversity, the seminar was organized on the eve of UNESCO’s 32nd General Conference by the Coalition for Cultural Diversity (Canada) and France’s Comité de Vigilance pour la Diversité Culturelle in their joint role as Secretariat for the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (ILC).
Representatives of the Coalitions from Argentina, Australia, Chile, Korea and Senegal spoke on behalf of the nine coalitions during the seminar, which was followed by an hour-long question period that included favourable interventions from several participants, including the ambassadors of Yemen, Senegal and Canada. In addition to UNESCO ambassadors and representatives of the permanent delegations, senior UNESCO staff were also on hand for the seminar.
The coalition from Senegal is the newest to join the International Liaison Committee, which includes coalitions from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Korea, Mexico, and New Zealand.
Together, the nine coalitions represent more than 185 organizations representing cultural professionals from every sector of culture—books, film and television, live performance, music, visual arts, multimedia, etc.
A more detailed report on the UNESCO seminar will appear in the October issue of Coalition Currents, the international bulletin published by the CCD in its capacity as co-secretariat of the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity.
CCD Attends
Second Meeting
of International Liaison Committee
Held in Paris September 10
The coalitions discussed the latest information on the outlook for the pending decision at UNESCO, and discussed actions they could take to help ensure the proposal obtains the strongest possible support.
Representatives of several of the coalitions took the opportunity to meet with their country’s permanent delegations at UNESCO. Given Canada’s clear support for this initiative, CCD representatives Pierre Curzi, Robert Pilon and Jim McKee met with Louis Hamel, Canada’s Ambassador to UNESCO, for an extended discussion that focused more broadly on the outlook for the convention proposal at UNESCO, and the expected process and timelines for developing the convention if and when the General Conference gives the go-ahead.
A full report on the Paris ILC meeting will appear in the October issue of Coalition Currents.
Ministers Copps, Beauchamp Discuss Convention Content, Strategy with Coalition Delegation Headed by Co-Chair Pierre Curzi During September 16 Roundtable
Fifteen representatives of the Coalition for Cultural Diversity were among those taking part in a roundtable on cultural diversity held September 16 in Montreal and hosted by Canada’s Minister of Canadian Heritage, Sheila Copps, and Quebec’s Minister of Culture and Communications, Line Beauchamp.
Entitled Towards an International Instrument on Cultural Diversity, the two-hour discussion was also attended by several members of the cultural industries SAGIT, as well as representatives of the International Network for Cultural Diversity.
Led by co-chair Pierre Curzi, the CCD representatives discussed with Ministers Copps and Beauchamp the outlook for the proposal that UNESCO take on development of a convention on cultural diversity, as well as the key elements that should be in such a convention.
The discussion of content largely focused on the latest draft of a new International Convention on Cultural Diversity prepared by the Working Group on Cultural Diversity and Globalization of the International Network on Cultural Policy, the informal network of culture ministers initiated in 1998 by Minister Copps. The INCP draft text was released in August in advance of the INCP’s ministerial meeting October 16-18 in Opatija, Croatia.
The CCD issued a news release in advance of the event, and a number of major Montreal media outlets including Le Devoir, the Gazette and La Presse as well as Canadian Press devoted coverage the roundtable, featuring Ministers Copps and Beauchamp, Pierre Curzi in their articles.
Charest Government Takes
Official Position
in Favour of Cultural Diversity Convention
The major elements of the Quebec government’s position are as follows (our translation):
- Quebec
wishes to preserve its full capacity to intervene in order to sustain
culture through its cultural policies.
- Quebec will refrain from making any liberalization commitments and will seek recourse to the necessary reservations in order to preserve its policies in the context of all trade negotiations (WTO, FTAA, bilateral agreements, etc.), both with respect to trade and investment liberalization, on any occasion where issues are raised that could have an impact on the capacity of Quebec to take measures to support culture.
- Quebec supports the adoption of an international convention on cultural diversity enshrining the right of States and governments to preserve, develop and implement policies to support culture and cultural diversity.
- The
international convention must establish a legal right to cultural
diversity while also emphasizing openness to other cultures and their
cultural expressions; this international convention will establish a
foundation of international law on culture parallel, and not
subordinate to, international trade law, and must include an effective
dispute-settlement mechanism.
- Quebec supports the adoption of such an international convention through UNESCO.
CCD’s Robert Pilon Takes Part in First-Ever FTAA
Civil Society Consultation on Cultural Industries September 23 in Santiago, Chile
Coalition Executive Vice-President Robert Pilon took part in the first-ever formal consultation with civil society regarding the treatment of cultural industries in the context of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations.
Pilon joined Paulo Slachevsky, a Santiago publisher and President of the Chilean Coalition for Cultural Diversity, who was the official spokesperson from the cultural sector for the consultation.
Slachevsky’s presentation stated a position shared by both the Chilean and Canadian coalitions, as well as their counterparts in Argentina and Mexico: that countries should refrain from liberalization commitments that could affect culture in the FTAA talks and support the process to develop an international convention on cultural diversity through UNESCO.
The roundtable on culture was part of a broader consultation on services in general. Approximately 200 people attended the session, including trade officials from 20 of the 34 States participating in the Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations, as well as numerous Chilean non-governmental organizations. Laurie Hunter, Deputy Director, Services Trade Policy Division, DFAIT, and Claudio Ramirez, FTAA Advisor, DFAIT, represented Canada.
Few non-Chilean NGOs were present for the session. Aside from the Coalition, the only other organizations attending were the Motion Picture Association and AOL Time-Warner.
The consultation was held in preparation for the FTAA ministerial meeting scheduled for November 20-21 in Miami.
Coalition Member
Organizations Elect New Executive
at September 5 AGM
Richard Paradis (CAFDE) and Solange Drouin (ADISQ) were also returned as treasurer and secretary, respectively. Vice-Presidents are Michel Beauchemin (AQAD), Pamela Brand (DGC), Victor Davies (SOCAN), Mireille Gagné (CMC-Québec), Barry Grills (TWUC), Nancy Juneau (FCCF), Guy Mayson (CFTPA), and Glen O’Farrell (CAB).
Victor Davies, Guy Mayson and Nancy Juneau are new executive members, succeeding Gilles Valiquette (SOCAN), Elizabeth McDonald (CFPTA), and Jim McKee (WGC), all of whom had served on the executive since its formation in 1999.
Representatives of 24 of the Coalition’s 32 member organizations attended the AGM.
The meeting also featured a seminar examining the latest developments with respect to trade negotiations and the campaign to develop an international convention on cultural diversity. The workshop was moderated by Peter Grant, a member of the cultural industries SAGIT and a well-known lawyer specializing in issues of concern to Canada’s cultural industries as well as author of the forthcoming book on the culture and trade debate Blockbusters and Trade Wars.
John Drummond, Deputy Director, Intellectual Property, Information and Technology Trade Policy Division of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, provided the outlook on WTO talks heading into the September 10-14 Cancun ministerial meetings, as well for the FTAA ministerial set for November in Miami.
Barbara Motzney, Director, International Relations and Policy Development, Canadian Heritage, and David Dubinsky, Senior Policy Analyst, Trade and Investment Policy Director, Canadian Heritage, discussed the latest draft text of a new international convention on cultural diversity released in August in advance of the October 16-18 ministerial meeting of the International Network for Cultural Policy (INCP) in Opatija, Croatia, as well as discussing the potential role the text could play within the UNESCO process.
Update is
published by Canada's Coalition for Cultural Diversity.
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Editor: Jim McKee
Contributors: Robert Pilon, Geneviève Grimard,
Mélanie
Marron,
Sylvie Riendeau