Strengthening Independent Cultural Industries and Building Institutional Capacity

The Government of Canada has worked to enshrine the principles of the Convention – particularly the principle of international cooperation and cooperation for development – into the work of other multilateral and regional forums. It has also supported these principles in its bilateral cultural relationships.

The Government of Canada for example supported the growth of informal networks among governments on matters related to the promotion and protection of the diversity of cultural of expressions. The Government of Canada has hosted the Liaison Bureau of the International Network on Cultural Policy (INCP) since 1998. The INCP is an informal network of ministers of culture, and officials, from 72 member states that serves as a forum where the opportunities and challenges of ratifying the convention have been discussed and best practices exchanged. Representatives from international civil society organizations as well as other key international organizations have also been invited to participate in meetings of the network.  Further information on this Network can be found at: http://www.incp-ripc.org/

The Government of Canada, along with the Government of Quebec, also played a leading role in efforts to promote the principles and objectives of the Convention within la Francophonie internationale. It did this through a number of formal and informal activities, including through the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie’s working group on cultural diversity, its economic cooperation and programming commissions, the permanent council of la Francophonie, the Ministers’ conference of la Francophonie and the international committee of the Games of La Francophonie's advisory council.

The Games of La Francophonie, the only major international games to present both cultural and sporting competitions, offer a unique opportunity for young artists to showcase their talent and share their cultural uniqueness with thousands of other participants from La Francophonie’s member States and Governments. Since Canada, Quebec and New Brunswick are all three members of the OIF, they each have their own team at the Games. A total of 36 artists, 19 representing Team Canada, 16 Team Canada-Quebec and 1 Team Canada-New Brunswick participated at the last Games of La Francophonie held in Lebanon in September 2009. Winning artists, which included three Canadians, were also invited to present the Francophonie's cultural diversity during the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. Canada and the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick (the only officially bilingual province in Canada) promote international cultural exchanges.

In December 2008, a Government of Canada representative participated in a Asia-Pacific Regional Seminar on « Les politiques de soutien aux industries culturelles : contribuer à une maîtrise de la mondialisation par la diversité culturelle » in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The seminar was attended by Government representatives from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The presentation highlighted the direct and indirect economic impacts of culture in Canada and drew attention to work undertaken in Canada to assess this impact (further details of this specific initiative are discussed in section 3.1 of this report). It also highlighted some of the challenges Canadian cultural policy is currently responding to, notably significant and ongoing changes in the technological landscape.

In addition to its work in multilateral forums, the Government of Canada has worked to share its experiences in promoting the diversity of cultural expressions through a number of bilateral initiatives. For example, in Summer 2008, the Government of Canada organized a showcase of contemporary Aboriginal short films in Beijing, China at the Beijing Art Museum of the Imperial City. This showcase was organized alongside the Canadian Museum of Civilization’s First Peoples of Canada exhibition which was running at the Beijing Art Museum of the Imperial City. The objective of this event was to showcase the Aboriginal audiovisual industry in Canada.  In addition, the Government of Canada organized two workshops featuring four of the directors of the films. The film directors shared their experiences working to promote diversity in Canada’s audiovisual and creative industries. These workshops were attended by Government policy-makers, film directors, academics and others with an interest in arts and culture.  

In 2008, a Canadian delegation participated in a workshop in Pretoria on the topic of  “Performance Management and Governance: Best Practices for Cultural Institutions”. The following year, a study tour on the theme of arts funding models was organized by the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2010, a South African study tour of broadcasting and governance met with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission and the Canadian Heritage Department.