Minister's Statement in Response to the Release of Data on International Commerce in Cultural Services

OTTAWA, September 9, 2004 -- In response to publication by Statistics Canada of new data on international trade in Canadian cultural services, Minister of Canadian Heritage Liza Frulla has issued the following statement:

"The Statistics Canada figures represent good news. First, when today's data on international trade in cultural services are put together with statistics on international trade in cultural goods, we can see that the value of Canada's cultural exports was close to $5 billion for the year 2002. The statistics clearly show growth in exports to the European Union and continued growth in exports to the United States. Of course the Americans are still our main trading partner in the cultural field, but some diversification can be seen in our European markets. We should be pleased with this. It shows that there are potential markets for our cultural services outside the United States.

Although all these figures indicate to us that Canada is a leading exporting country, there is still much work to be done to diversify our markets and better promote our culture abroad. Canada remains open to other cultures. Canadians are major consumers of cultural goods and services from all over the world. Conversely, we are doing more and more to enrich global culture; more and more people are discovering and increasing their knowledge of our stories, our country, and our culture through films, books and works of art created here in Canada by Canadians. This is good, but we can do better.

This is why the Trade Routes program, set up in 2001 and announced at the time of the Tomorrow Starts Today initiative, is vital for our cultural industries. Trade Routes was created to help cultural entrepreneurs break into new markets internationally. This innovative approach specifically helps to diversify our markets.

A program of this type would no doubt be impossible if culture became a mere trade commodity. This is the reason why it is so important to have a convention on cultural diversity. This convention could establish clear rules that enable Canada and other countries to maintain policies aimed at promoting culture. We must equip ourselves with a tool that not only protects our culture, but also gives it an international presence. Canada is open to the cultures of the world. We also want the world to remain open to our culture. The Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions is currently under study. The Government of Canada, its provincial/territorial partners and civil society are working together to win the support of other countries so that the Convention may be adopted as scheduled in the fall of 2005."