Highlights:
Vol. 3, No. 5, November 2005
Canada Meets Commitment to Be First to Ratify UNESCO Convention
Canada ’s instruments of ratification were to be delivered by special courier to UNESCO headquarters in Paris on Friday, November 25, making it the first country to ratify the convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions.
On Wednesday, Coalition for Cultural Diversity Co-Chairs Pierre Curzi and Scott McIntyre joined Prime Minister Paul Martin, Minister of Canadian Heritage Liza Frulla and Quebec Minister of Culture and Communications Line Beauchamp in Montreal for a signing ceremony putting the finishing touches on the documents to be delivered to UNESCO.
Prime Minister Martin highlighted the campaign to secure the UNESCO convention as an example of how Canada can play a leadership role internationally, and pledged to exhort other countries to emulate Canada ’s quick ratification.
“We will use every opportunity we are presented with, in all fora, to convince other countries to do the same, because what is at stake speaks to the very essence of what we are as a country,” he said. “This convention stands for a vision of the world shared by each and everyone of us, a world in which each country can make its voice heard and take its rightful place, a world where all cultures can develop and co-exist in harmony, a world where diversity prevails over uniformity, a world in which Canada expresses itself—in which Canada makes things happen.” (CCD translation)
Minister Frulla recalled her commitment, made immediately after the adoption of the convention just over one month ago in Paris during UNESCO’s 33rd General Conference, to have Canada be the first to ratify the convention—ideally before Christmas.
“As you can imagine, some people gave me a very skeptical look, and thought I was dreaming in Technicolor,” she said, noting that her resolve to meet the ratification commitment was matched by that of the Prime Minister, “who has always been a strong defender and promoter of this convention.”
“As soon as I got back, we triggered the process so that Canada could be in a position to ratify this convention,” she continued. “And today we can say mission accomplished.
Clearly, this is a great day for our artists, our culture, our cultural industries, and for our country.”
The Minister praised the work of the Coalition in sparking the emergence of an international movement of more than 30 coalitions around the world, and saluted her colleague Line Beauchamp of Quebec for her government’s strong support of the convention throughout the campaign to secure an international convention on cultural diversity.
Minister Beauchamp congratulated the Prime Minister and Minister Frulla for the federal government’s prompt action to ratify the UNESCO convention, and cited the unanimous National Assembly vote in Quebec City on November 10 in favour of approving the convention as just the most recent example of Quebec’s commitment to seeing the convention enter into effect as soon as possible (see following article).
Scott McIntyre also congratulated and thanked Prime Minister Martin and Minister Frulla for their work in securing quick ratification of the convention in record time. “And having flown across the country yesterday to be part of this event, I also wanted to take a moment to say that this convention is important to all of Canada . This is a big win for all of us,” he said.
He also pointed to the work still to be done to ensure that the convention not only enters into effect, but is invested with genuine legal and political weight.
“We know that we need a minimum of 30 ratifications for it to enter into effect, but we know that if we don’t get 50 or 60 ratifications, we won’t have done our job.”
Pierre Curzi added his congratulations, and thanked both the government of Canada and the government of Quebec not only for their work in securing the convention but for their strong support of the Coalition over the past six years—support crucial to the coalition’s international work in sparking the creation of similar coalitions in 30 other countries, with new coalitions expected before the end of the year.
Noting that several member organizations of the CCD were present, he thanked all of the Coalition’s member organizations for their support and participation in the work of the coalition over the past six years. And he emphasized that a new phase of the Coalition’s work was now underway.
“The reality is that we are already at work on the ratification campaign,” he said. “ Robert Pilon could not be with us today because he is in Barcelona at the beginning of a three-week mission that will see him also go to Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Portugal, Brazil and Venezuela. Jim McKee is just back from the INCP culture ministers meeting in Senegal , and next week I will be in London for the Independent Film Parliament. So we are underway.”
Quebec National Assembly Votes Unanimously
to Approve Convention
On November 10, less than a month after the landslide UNESCO vote to adopt the convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions, the Government of Quebec became the first government to approve the convention by a unanimous all-party vote.
The stage for the afternoon vote was set by a two-hour debate on the convention held earlier in the day during which all parties spoke in favour of the convention, and which featured statements by Premier Jean Charest, interim leader of the Parti Québecois Louise Harel, and Janvier Grondin on behalf of l’Action Démocratique du Québec (ADQ).
The debate was led off by the Deputy-Premier and Minister of International Relations Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, who signalled with pride the important contribution Quebec had made to the “emergence of an international instrument of fundamental importance for the cultural sector, and over and beyond this, for the socio-economic development of all our peoples at the beginning of the 21st century.” (Note: all translation in this article by CCD)
While highlighting the very real accomplishment represented by the overwhelming vote to adopt the convention at the October General Conference, Gagnon-Tremblay also emphasized the work ahead, and committed her government to continue its efforts at the international level to encourage UNESCO member states to ratify the convention quickly.
“I intend to launch this campaign at the time of the ministerial conference of La Francophonie, which will take place in Madagascar on November 22 and 23. The second step will be the annual meeting of the INCP (culture ministers’s network) in Dakar on the same dates.”
Speakers for the opposition Parti Quebecois and the Action Démocratique Quebec (ADQ) then expressed the support of their parties for the convention, although the PQ’s Culture and Communications critic, Daniel Turp, expressed regret that UNESCO’s member states were not prepared to incorporate a stronger dispute settlement mechanism in the convention.
Premier Jean Charest hailed the convention as a “great victory for the cultural milieu, for our artists…of which we are so proud because they represent us, because they are a reflection of who we are, because Quebec has succeeded in producing artists that are of world-calibre.”
The Premier highlighted the close cooperation between Quebec and the federal government in building international support for the convention, noting that this was a subject he had personally raised “in a systematic manner, with heads of government, ambassadors, consuls, in all of my speeches abroad.” He pledged to continue this work in the ratification phase.
Culture and Communications Minister Line Beauchamp concluded the statements on behalf of her government, by calling the adoption of the convention “a great day for Quebec culture” because it “recognized the role of culture, of creation, among the major international questions.”
“The fundamental issue is the commitment of states to support their cultures through cultural policies that take the form of subsidies, tax credits, of regulatory policies. We should be aware to what degree everyday life is shaped and affected by culture and artistic creations. It is important to realize that the cultural policies I just described are behind the songs you hear on the radio, the television programs you watch, the books you read, your encounters with culture.”
Minister Beauchamp joined Premier Charest and Minister Gagnon-Tremblay in praising the Coalition for Cultural Diversity and its leadership for its work in mobilizing cultural organizations around the world in support of the convention.
Minister Beauchamp then shifted to the work still to be done to ensure the convention takes on a genuine life.
“Certainly, today we are making an historic gesture here in Quebec , and we now need Canada to ratify the convention as quickly as possible. But we must continue to share the strategic work needed to ensure that the largest possible number of states, from different geographic and linguistic zones around the world, support the convention.”
In a statement issued following the debate, Claude Béchard, Minister of economic development, innovation and exports, stressed that the convention was being put in place at the right time. “It will serve as a tool of reference for states facing pressure to liberalize their cultural sectors by helping to legitimize at the international level their cultural policies.”
The unanimous National Assembly vote was followed by a reception at which Premier Jean Charest hailed the achievement of the convention before an audience consisting of representatives of Quebec’s leading cultural organizations along with the Coalition for Cultural Diversity and several political leaders involved in pushing the convention campaign forward over the years.
He also reiterated his government’s determination to continue championing the convention internationally—and to continue its support of the Coalition in its own work to mobilize cultural organizations around the world in support of ratification.
Pierre Curzi, co-chair of the Coalition for Cultural Diversity, thanked the Premier and all three cabinet ministers involved in the file for their strong support of the convention and of the Coalition itself from the moment they were elected in April 2003.
“Your political engagement and significant financial support have been truly indispensable to what we have achieved together—and will continue to be so as we embark on the next phase of our work,” Curzi said.
Curzi recognized the political consensus in Quebec in support of the convention from the very beginning, and noted the important contributions made in the convention campaign by Louise Beaudoin, Agnes Maltais, and Diane Lemieux—all of whom served as key cabinet ministers on the file in cabinet in the previous Parti Quebecois government.
Curzi also highlighted the sustained commitment at the federal level to securing the convention, beginning with former Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps, and continuing through Hélène Scherrer’s time as minister through to the decisive period of negotiations on the convention over the past year, when Liza Frulla advocated for a strong convention.
He also underscored the role of the Coalition’s member organizations in maintaining their active support for the CCD over the past six years—and signalled the presence of Lucette Lupien and Philip Baylaucq, who had been instrumental in launching the Coalition in 1998.
And he echoed Ministers Beauchamp and Gagnon-Tremblay in praising international law expert Ivan Bernier for his essential contribution in laying the intellectual foundations for the convention.
The CCD’s executive vice-president, Robert Pilon, signalled the important work carried out to advance the convention by key staff in ministers’ offices and by Quebec and Ottawa officials over the past six years, including François Crête and Kim Fontaine-Skronski, André Dorval and Hélène Cantin in Quebec; and in Ottawa, Marie Bédard, Jacques Paquette, Artur Wilszynski and his predecessor Barbara Motzney, as well as Clément Duhaime and Jacques Vallée of the Quebec Delegation in Paris, and Canada’s Ambassador to UNESCO, Yvon Charbonneau and his predecessor Louis Hamel, along with Canada’s Ambassador to the WTO, Don Stephenson.
Ontario Culture Minister Salutes Adoption of UNESCO Convention
Ontario Minister of Culture Madeleine Meilleur was quick to respond with a formal statement expressing her government’s support for the newly-adopted UNESCO convention on cultural diversity.
Speaking in the Ontario legislature on November 2, Minister Meilleur told her Queen’s Park colleagues that she was proud that “ Ontario and Quebec contributed in a significant way to this Canadian success by applying crucial support and vital resources” to the campaign to see the convention adopted. (CCD translation)
She called the UNESCO convention “great news for Canada ’s, and Ontario ’s, arts and cultural industries. It is also important to each and every Ontarian citizen because it aims to promote ethnic traditions and minority languages and to protect local cultures from being overwhelmed by globalization trends.”
Minister Meilleur saluted the work of Minister of Canadian Heritage Liza Frulla and of her Quebec colleague, Minister of Culture and Communications Line Beauchamp, in championing the convention
And she praised the Coalition for Cultural Diversity for its work. “As a voice for Canada ’s cultural industries, the coalition has worked tirelessly to promotion the convention in Canada and internationally.”
Manitoba Backs Convention at Oct. 3 Roundtable
Hosted by Minister Frulla
On the opening day of the UNESCO General Conference in Paris , Manitoba ’s Minister of Culture, Heritage and Tourism Eric Robinson was in Ottawa to join his colleagues Madeleine Meilleur from Ontario and Line Beauchamp from Quebec for an October 3 roundtable in support of the proposed UNESCO convention hosted by Minister of Canadian Heritage Liza Frulla.
Following the roundtable, Minister Robinson issued a news release calling the UNESCO convention “ essential, as it ensures that all cultures are promoted and protected. In Manitoba , cultural diversity is celebrated in terms of both the diverse ethnicity of our provincial society and the artistic diversity that constitutes our vibrant arts and culture community.”
Representatives of approximately 25 member organizations of the Coalition for Cultural Diversity attended the roundtable, which was also attended by senior-level officials of the Government of New Brunswick, also supportive of the convention.
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