Liberals move forward on promoting our culture and official languages

September 8, 2021

Montreal, Quebec – Our culture and official languages are pillars of our identity and connect us to one another. The creative sector, which has been hard hit by the pandemic, is also a major economic driver in this country. A re-elected Liberal government is committed to helping our creators, artists and cultural entrepreneurs recover. We will continue to protect Canada’s official languages and linguistic minorities, and pay special attention to the vitality of French language and Francophone culture in Quebec and across the country.

“Strong action is quickly needed to ensure our national creative sector is dynamic and vibrant and to give it new momentum while promoting its viability and influence abroad. That is exactly what we are doing with this ambitious platform, which embodies a vision of Canada’s future,” Steven Guilbeault, Liberal candidate for Laurier- Sainte-Marie proudly explained.

“Since the beginning of this crisis, we have shown openness and agility, and have been responsive to the sector’s needs and challenges. We have adapted our programs to reflect the cultural sector’s unique characteristics. We will continue on this path to propel the industry even further, with historic investments and measures on structural, legislative and regulatory fronts,” he added.

In addition, a very clear commitment was made to protect and promote Official Languages.

“Never before, since the creation of the Official Languages Act in 1969, has a Canadian government gone so far to pave the way towards real equality between our official languages,” said Mélanie Joly, Liberal candidate in Ahuntsic-Cartierville. “As a proud Francophone and Quebecer, I recognize the unique situation of the French language and our collective responsibility to protect it in Quebec and across the country. We are therefore committed, within the first 100 days of a new mandate, to reintroducing the bill we introduced in Parliament in June. It is essential for the French language, but also to strengthen protection for minority language communities across the country.”

A re-elected Liberal government will be:

• Launching a ticket sales support program to get people back into concert halls and museums while these venues operate at a reduced capacity.
• Continuing to provide short-term support to artists and cultural workers who have not yet returned to their pre-pandemic level of activity and then reform the Employment Insurance system to cover self-employed workers, including artists and cultural workers.
• Ensuring that the web giants pay their fair share and fund our television, film, music and news media in addition to requiring them to pay taxes on the revenue generated here and holding them accountable for harmful content published on their platforms.
• Updating CBC/Radio-Canada’s mandate as the public broadcaster and increase its funding to reduce its dependence on advertising revenue with the goal of eliminating advertising during news and public affairs programming.
• Increasing public funding for homegrown television shows, music and books.
• Recognizing the precarious position of French in North America and the limited availability of French-language content online, increase the proportion of funding for French audiovisual content from 33% to 40%.
• Supporting our artists and cultural industries in developing new markets abroad and launch a real cultural diplomacy strategy by issuing a mandate to BDC and EDC to support the growth of creative industries in new markets.
• Reintroducing legislation to modernize the Official Languages Act and pave the way towards substantive equality between French and English in Canada, including guaranteeing the right to use French as the language of work and service in companies under federal jurisdiction in Quebec and other regions of the country with a strong Francophone presence, and fully implementing all administrative measures.

“After working with artists and the cultural sector for many years, I decided to join the Liberal Party of Canada because it is the only party that is aware of the urgency to protect and promote our culture and those who work in it, and it is the only party that has the means and will to do so,” said Pascale St-Onge, Liberal candidate for Brome-Missisquoi. “Within the first 100 days of a new mandate, a re-elected Liberal government is committed to reintroducing legislation to reform the Broadcasting Act and a new law requiring the web giants to share a portion of their revenues generated here with our news media, as well as updating CBC/Radio-Canada’s mandate to adapt it to the digital age.”

“Unlike the Conservatives who want to dismantle Canada’s public broadcaster, we recognize its essential cultural and democratic role and want to give it the necessary tools to evolve successfully,” added Steven Guilbeault. “The Conservatives have done everything they can to derail Broadcasting Act reform, while despite their rhetoric, the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party have supported Conservative stalling tactics. Only the Liberal Party of Canada has stood firm from start to finish and will continue to do so after September 20th.”

For more information, please contact:
media@liberal.ca
613-627-2384

Viki Ozell-Landry
Liberal Party of Canada
vozelllandry@liberal.ca