Highlights:
Vol. 4, No. 3, July 2006
Minister Oda Reiterates Harper Government’s Commitment to See UNESCO Convention Enter Into Effect; Pledges Support for CCD
Minister of Canadian Heritage used two recent public statements to emphatically state her government’s commitment to ensuring the UNESCO convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions enters into effect quickly and to work to ensure the convention obtains the widespread ratification needed for it to become a credible international legal instrument.
Speaking in the House of Commons on May 31, Minister Oda said “I want to be clear to the House and to all Canadians. The government has supported in the past and will continue to support the UNESCO declaration for the maintenance of diversity in cultural expression.”
Minister Oda pledged to use her own contacts with political leaders of other countries to encourage their governments to join Canada in ratifying the convention quickly. And she added that her government would continue to support the work of the Canadian Coalition for Cultural Diversity in this regard. “I have met with the Coalition for Cultural Diversity and we have just authorized more funding so it can continue the work,” she said.
Two weeks later, at the 12th International Economic Forum of the Americas in Montreal, in a speech delivered on her behalf by Sylvie Boucher, Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister Harper, Minister Oda elaborated on her government’s resolve to promote ratification of the UNESCO convention
Delivered as an introduction to UNESCO’s Director General Koïchiro Matsuura, a keynote speaker at the Montreal conference, the Minister’s speech affirmed her government’s commitment “to encourage the entry into force of the Convention in time for the next UNESCO General Conference, taking place in the fall of 2007.”
The Minister emphasized that reaching the minimum threshold of ratifications by 30 member states required for the convention to enter into effect will be just the first step in investing the convention with legal and political weight.
“I want to stress that that is the minimum needed; it is not the ultimate objective. A critical mass of countries will be required in order for the Convention to have real impact.” Minister Oda said. For this reason, Canada will work “to ensure a broad mass of ratifications within four years.”
“I want to clearly state this government’s intention to work towards this goal,” she stated, adding that Ottawa would continue to work closely with civil society and with provincial and territorial governments to promote the UNESCO convention.
Minister Oda’s speech effectively set concrete targets for translating into action the engagement made in Quebec City on May 5 by Prime Minister Harper, in his agreement with Quebec Premier Jean Charest, to continue the federal government’s work in promoting the ratification and implementation of the convention.
In introducing Matsuura, Minister Oda also emphasized that “UNESCO as an organization has a role to play” in encouraging member states to ratify the convention, adding that “the Government of Canada will be pleased to work with Mr. Matsuura and his organization in order to promote with energy and determination the Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions.”
CCD’s Curzi, McKee Meet with UNESCO DG Matsuura; UNESCO Convention Figures Prominently in 12th Montreal Conference
CCD Co-Chair Pierre Curzi and Director of External Relations Jim McKee met privately with UNESCO Director General Koïchiro Matsuura on June 7 to discuss the current state of play in the campaign to ratify and implement the UNESCO convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions.
The approximately half-hour meeting took place following a ceremony held at the University of Quebec at Montreal to present the UNESCO Director General with an honorary doctorate. Yvon Charbonneau, Canada’s Ambassador to UNESCO, was also present for the meeting.
Matsuura was in Montreal to be a keynote speaker on June 6 for the 12th International Economic Forum of the Americas. In his speech, the Director General stated that the recently adopted convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions represented the completion of a normative structure developed by UNESCO to defend cultural diversity.
The UNESCO head’s speech set the stage for a panel discussion presided over by Quebec Minister of Culture and Communications Line Beauchamp, and featuring Dan Glickman, the President and Chief Executive Office of the Motion Picture of America, and Jean-Marie Colombani, the Publisher and Chairman of Le Monde.
Minister Beauchamp recalled Quebec’s strong support for the UNESCO convention from the very beginning of the campaign to secure an international legal instrument that would recognize the distinctive nature of cultural goods and services and would affirm the right of countries to apply cultural policies.
“I want to assure you that Quebec will remain a diplomatic leader in order that the convention will be ratified by the required number of countries on a timely basis, and that our objective is in fact to obtain the largest possible number of ratifications within the time available in order to give the Convention the desired momentum and weight.”
The Minister emphasized that the convention was not about being closed to other cultures, but quite the contrary.
“I believe that many have recognized in this convention the possibility of a more humane globalization,” she said, stating that it represents “a compromise between developed and developing countries, between a purely commercial vision and a purely cultural vision of cultural works, between the recognition of public policies and measures designed to support cultural expression and an openness to other cultures.”
The panel on cultural diversity and globalization followed an earlier panel on globalization and the cultural industries that featured the CCD’s Pierre Curzi. Moderated by Guy Fournier, President of the Board of Directors of Radio-Canada, the panel also included Derrick de Kerckhove, Professor, Author and Director of the McLuhan Program in Culture & Technology at the University of Toronto, Francis Gurry, Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), CRTC’s Commissionner Joan Pennefather, and Mamadou Bandiougou Diawara, Ambassador of the Republic of Mali in Canada.
Quebec Ministers Beauchamp, Gagnon-Tremblay Urge Ratification Priority in Meetings with UNESCO’s Matsuura
The high priority that the Government of Quebec attaches to seeing widespread and rapid ratification of the UNESCO convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions was the key message conveyed by Minister of Culture and Communications Line Beauchamp and Minister of International Relations Monique Gagnon-Tremblay in their separate meetings with UNESCO Director General Koïchiro Matsuura during his visit to Montreal for the 12th International Economic Forum of the Americas.
During her June 6 meeting with Matsuura, Minister Beauchamp emphasized the importance of having the convention ratified by at least 30 countries before UNESCO’s next General Conference in October 2007. Following the meeting, Minister Beauchamp urged Mr. Matsuura “to continue, with all the fervour and persuasion that characterizes him, an active campaign in all continents in favour of a quick ratification of the convention.”
In her meeting with the UNESCO Director General, which took place the same day, Minister Gagnon-Tremblay reiterated Quebec’s intense interest in seeing the convention ratified and implemented quickly, stating that “Quebec wishes that the largest number of States ratify this important legal instrument, which represents an important phase for the emergence of an international cultural right.”
Premier Charest : UNESCO Convention Ratification, Implementation Essential Despite U. S. Opposition
Quebec Premier Jean Charest used a July 6 meeting in Paris with French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to reaffirm Quebec’s engagement in the campaign to ensure the UNESCO convention enters into legal effect as quickly as possible.
Quoted in France’s Le Monde newspaper, Charest noted that the campaign to put in place the UNESCO convention was now in a new phase in the wake of last October’s overwhelming vote to adopt the convention.
“Today, the battle consists of securing the implementation of the convention,” the Premier said, while noting that the campaign to secure the 30 ratifications needed for the convention to enter into legal effect would continue to face opposition from one major source. “The United States will do all it can to prevent this,” he said.
Throughout the campaign for the convention, the Premier has remained an ardent advocate of greater free trade while never hesitating to make the case for an international treaty that recognizes the distinctive nature of cultural goods and services and affirms the right of countries to apply policies in the service of cultural diversity. This is a message he has repeatedly delivered at home and abroad since his government was elected in April 2003.
Minister Emerson: Culture Remains a No-Go Zone in Trade Talks for Canada
Canada’s support for the UNESCO convention on cultural diversity will be matched by its resolve to keep culture off the table in trade negotiations, says International Trade Minister David Emerson.
Speaking in the House of Commons on May 31, the Minister stated categorically that Canada would maintain its long-standing position of refraining from commitments on culture in trade negotiations: “Cultural industries and cultural protection are not a negotiable item for the Government of Canada. We are committed. We continue to live by that commitment and we will continue to do so.”
ANEL’s Pellerin Reps CCD at Francophonie Parliamentarians Session in Morocco; Discusses Convention Ratification With Cultural Organizations in Istanbul
On July 1, CCD Vice-President Gilles Pellerin was in Rabat, Morocco, to make a presentation on the UNESCO convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions on the occasion of the 32nd Session of the Assembly of parliamentarians of the International Organization of La Francophonie.
Pellerin, who represents the Quebec publishers association ANEL on the CCD board, delivered his presentation to some 40 parliamentarians from La Francophonie member states, focusing on the current state of play in the campaign to ratify and implement the UNESCO convention. He emphasized the importance of a quick ratification of the convention by a significant number of countries—starting with securing the minimum target of 30 ratifications in time for the convention to enter into effect at the time of UNESCO’s next General Conference in October of 2007.
Quebec Liberal MNA Jacques Chagnon, Rapporteur of the Education, Communication and Cultural Affairs’ Commission of the Assembly of parliamentarians of La Francophonie, used the exchange that followed Pellerin’s presentation to reiterate the importance of ensuring the UNESCO convention is ratified and implemented on a priority basis, and emphasized the Quebec government’s commitment to work towards this objective.
The next day, in his address to the session, Abdou Diouf, the Secretary-General of La Francophonie had praised the parliamentarians for choosing to focus their discussions on the theme of cultural and linguistic diversity, a choice he characterized as both “timely and relevant.”
“I would like to use this occasion to issue an urgent call to all Francophonie parliamentarians to redouble their efforts in favour of the very rapid ratification of the convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions. And I ask everyone present today to transmit this call to their countries immediately on their return, and to unite all political and civil society efforts around this cause.”
En route to Morocco, Gilles Pellerin carried out a mission to Istanbul to meet with leaders of three key cultural professional organizations: the Turkish Publishers Association, the Independent Art Council, and MESAM, the Music Work Owner’s Society of Turkey. In these meetings, Pellerin provided a briefing on the UNESCO convention and the work of the coalitions movement in promoting its rapid ratification and implementation, and explored the possibility of establishing a coalition in Turkey.
Pellerin’s presentation to the La Francophonie parliamentarians reflects a strategy set out in the CCD’s workplan of delivering the message about the importance of timely ratification of the UNESCO convention to political bodies organized along regional and linguistic lines. Earlier in June, Robert Pilon was in Quito, Ecuador, to deliver a similar presentation to a group of parliamentarians attending a meeting of COPA, the Confederation of Parliamentarians of the Americas. From Ecuador, Pilon travelled to Portugal to hold discussions with cultural organizations engaged in formally constituting a coalition in their country. He then travelled to Morocco, and then to Togo, to hold planning meetings with the leadership of the local coalitions. In September, Togo’s Coalition will host a meeting of coalitions and cultural organizations from Francophonie-member countries immediately prior to the Francophonie Summit in Romania in Septemebr 25-29. In December, Morocco’s Coalition will host a meeting of the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity, along with a meeting of coalitions and cultural organizations from the Arab world.
Update is published by
Canada's Coalition for Cultural Diversity.
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Editor: Jim McKee
Contributors: Robert Pilon,
Jean-Luc Pilon et Lise Bourgeau
Coalition Update is published with the financial assistance of
