Rideau Hall, Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Jean-Daniel and I are thrilled to welcome you all in the Ball Room at Rideau Hall, which has been transformed for this festive occasion. A fiftieth birthday needs to be celebrated in style!

What a happy coincidence.

As luck would have it, the Canada Council for the Arts and I are both celebrating our fiftieth birthdays this year—and today just happens to also be Karen Kain’s birthday.

We think this connection with an organization devoted to arts and culture is a good omen, and I’m sure Karen would agree.

Because of all the ways in which the people of a country can express themselves, I would say those explored by our artists are among the most powerful.

Theirs is a form of expression born of freedom that seeks to broaden our horizons.

It is an adventure on which artists reach for the stars and carry us along for the ride.

Today, we celebrate 50 years of daring and effervescence, which are intimately linked to the history of Canada.

I need not remind you, dear friends, of the fundamental role the Canada Council for the Arts plays in Canada’s cultural life—in helping artists reach their full potential and ensuring that a new generation of artists can prosper.

I am always touched when artists enthusiastically thank the Council when I present them with the Governor General’s awards for the performing arts, literature, and the visual and media arts.

Their gratitude is one of the greatest gifts the Canada Council for the Arts could hope for on this festive occasion.

And I would like to add our thanks as well.

The Canada Council for the Arts knows better than anyone that artists draw their visions from reality.

And they do not make any concessions when attempting to express that reality to its fullest.

It also knows that artists do not produce a “product,” but a world view.

And the Council makes every effort to ensure that the largest possible number of people see this vision of the world.

Culture is the result of this process.

Culture always lives in the present.

It is the strength of this present that holds the promise of the future.

And because it is rooted in the present, culture is also the lesson we learn from past civilizations.

Culture strengthens this “world in transition”—as the late Robert Dickson so eloquently put it—by reinventing it.

I know this because all the young people I meet tell me the same thing.

In Halifax, young Black people use poetry to examine their roots and proclaim their aspirations.

In Quebec City, at the Maison Dauphine—which opens its doors to street youth—young people told me that art helps them to hold their heads up high and discover their abilities.

In Toronto, they see art as a healthy means of making a personal contribution to a collective work.

In Calgary, they did not hesitate to tell me that art saves lives.

In Iqaluit, hip hop and traditional dance are combined to create something entirely new that demonstrates young people’s uniqueness and their desire for solidarity.

Young Canadians are demanding the right to challenge the limits of creation and we should listen to them, see them, and read them.

Every act of creation is both a call for freedom and, as Hélène Dorion said, a means of bringing people together.

Personally, I dream of different generations coming together.

On this fiftieth anniversary of the Canada Council for the Arts, I invite all of you to rekindle the discussion between accomplished and emerging artists so that art survives and new works are created.

Last Friday, at the presentation of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts, I witnessed an incredible and promising meeting.

Young artists made the most of their time at Rideau Hall and spoke with laureate Fernand Leduc.

I have to say, sparks flew on both sides of the conversation. The young artists were awed to be face to face with a master, and the master was thrilled to be discussing his work with the next generation.

That, in my opinion, is the best way to increase our creative potential.

That is also why we are indebted to the Canada Council for the Arts, which—in promoting artists—ensures that our cultural community is rejuvenated.

We are proud to honour all of Canada’s artists, and together, we unanimously and gratefully wish the Canada Council for the Arts a long and successful life.