Working Luncheon with the Board of Directors
of the Canadiana Fund

Ottawa, Saturday, May 29, 2010

I first want to salute your work, your mission and your commitment to saving our heritage, keeping our heritage alive, and raising awareness of the importance of the arts and culture as an integral part of our identity and essential resources for a strong society.

First of all, saving Canadian heritage.

For 20 years now, you have travelled the length and breadth of Canada to collect the treasures of our country’s history. To date, you have collected over 7 000 pieces of furniture, artworks, rare objects and antiques through donations and targeted purchases. Now some people will say that all those objects are used primarily to decorate Canada’s seven official residences. And to be sure, they do decorate the walls and public rooms of Rideau Hall, 24 Sussex, or the Citadelle; they invite visitors or foreign dignitaries to embark on a journey into our history and discover the talent of our contemporary artists. But they are much more than decorative. In the spirit of Magritte, I am tempted to say, almost jokingly, that when you look at the blue-green pine armoire in the Pauline Vanier Room at Rideau Hall, you could say:  “This is not an armoire.” At first glance, you see an impressive piece of furniture, which fits in very well in the room. But this armoire has more to tell us. Found in an attic somewhere in Quebec, it is characteristic of French heritage and of the painted style of Quebec furniture, and stands today in the heart of the former residence of British governors general. That residence is occupied today by a Black woman, who came to this country as a political refugee. Thanks to the work of the Canadiana Fund, that armoire leads us to revisit our French, then British, and finally our contemporary history. It bears within it the meaning of all of the intermingled cultures of our country.

Your approach very much reminds me of that of Viollet-Le-Duc, who wrote that “restoring a building does not mean to maintain it, repair it or rebuild it, it means to re-establish it to a finished state, which may in fact never have actually existed at any given time.”  Well, when I walk through the corridors of Rideau Hall or the Citadelle, I keenly feel that mosaic of styles and eras, which never existed together at any given time. That’s another reason why I say that your work, this assortment of objects, styles and eras, is a journey through the pages of Canadian history.

But you have quite rightly chosen to bring the past into the present. Our heritage is also made up of a whole creative effervescence of contemporary artists. In partnership with the Royal Bank of Canada, you encourage up-and-coming Canadian artists from every region of the country. You not only provide those artists with scholarships, but you also, and especially, see that their works are showcased in Canadian museums and galleries, before being acquired by the Canadiana Fund. Some of them will be seen in the official residences.

In so doing, you are carrying out an essential mission as a cultural mediator, by inviting the business and philanthropic communities to become full-fledged partners in this process of citizen engagement.

Keeping our heritage alive and integrating it into the present is without question a genuine commitment: to history, yes, but to education as well. An education that inevitably includes culture; because history, education and culture are so closely intertwined.

As I have noticed for some time now, the meaning of the word culture has changed in Canada. The first 50 Art Matters forums we held in the country confirmed the evolution of the very concept of culture. The idea of an elitist culture, of arts reserved for a minority, is gradually giving way to a broader, more inclusive concept, that of creativity for everyone, with everyone, whose positive effects on the community can be seen more and more.

Over nearly five years now at Rideau Hall, when presenting awards celebrating the talent of our artists, and also during our visits throughout Canada and abroad, the Governor General and I have held 50 Art Matters forums. And we are inspired by the same desire each time: to provide a place for discussion and reflection on Canadian culture, and to create networks. Hundreds of artists, managers and sponsors have attended those debates on a culture in flux, on new forms of dissemination and on the continually rethought and renewed relationships between artists and the public.

The artists have talked about their creations, their relationship with society, their engagement, their aspirations. We have talked about the challenges of new technologies and new dissemination media, the ties that artists maintain with citizens, and the need for spaces to create the need for recognition. We have listened to artists talk about their experiences in their different communities and their achievements, sometimes in foreign countries. In each discussion, after personal experiences and challenges were covered, the question of identity was raised: “What is a Canadian artist? What is Canadian art?  What is Canadian culture?”  Those are questions you ask every day in your work with the Canadiana Fund. Asking those questions means ultimately asking ourselves about our own identity. What does “being Canadian” mean today?  “Who are we?”

The easy answer is often that we’re not American, we’re not European. Well then, who are we?

I think the answer can very much be found in the work you do. We are made up of what the land and history have imprinted on us, and what the present and diversity call on us to invent.

In any case, it is impossible to give a set definition, either of culture or of Canadian identity, as they are both in a state of flux, ever-changing and made up of such a multi-faceted mosaic. I often cite Governor General Vincent Massey, who was a great defender of the arts and whose report laid the foundations for am ambitious policy for the arts in Canada. In his book, On Being Canadian, Vincent Massey, in 1948, praised the merits of Canadian diversity: “We have plenty of colours and lights and shades in our make-up. Canada is no monochrome of uniformity.”

Fighting for Canadian culture as we do, you at the Canadiana Fund and we during the past five years in Rideau Hall, ultimately means defending and strengthening Canadian identity.

Heritage is effectively what the past centuries have left to us. And yet, we have often neglected the capital and historic contribution of the first peoples in talking about our Canadian heritage.

At one Art Matters forum held in Banff in April 2008, looking back at two years of such discussions, one of the recommendations by the participants called on us to “support the capacity of First Nations artists and communities to create, produce, distribute and participate fully and fairly in the arts community.”

We gave very tangible expression to that recommendation at Rideau Hall, by hanging the masterpiece Androgyny by one of our greatest artists, Norval Morrisseau, of the Ojibway nation.

When it comes to promoting our heritage, every gesture counts. Whether it’s displaying a work of art to the general public, furnishing the official residences, organizing public forums on culture…what guides us each time is the deep-rooted desire to become engaged in the community and to develop a civic conscience through culture.

By experiencing creativity, we discover that a world without culture is a sullen world, dangerously uniform and homogeneous without diversity, without recognition of each individual’s uniqueness, and ultimately without joy or happiness. But more than that, a world that neglects its culture is a world that is putting itself in danger. A danger of losing its place on the international scene, of no longer attracting investors, and a danger of giving in to all fundamentalism and ultimately of finding itself on the road to ruin.

Little by little, each at our own level, we are showing that we are concerned, and that creativity is an essential resource for our country’s development. We take care of health, education, and the environment; in the same way, we need to take care of our culture.

That fight was ours before Rideau Hall, it continued to inspire us during the Governor’s General’s term of office, and it will continue to guide our actions tomorrow. My wife and I have every intention of continuing that commitment to culture, the culture of social cohesion, the culture to live together in harmony and to foster social innovation. But we all have to do our part. For we are not taking this journey alone: a number of partners and individuals from the artistic and business communities have already expressed their desire to accompany us as we pursue that commitment. The invitation is broad, and is addressed to everyone who, as we do, believes that the arts and creativity help to strengthen civic participation and facilitate the dialogue and vitality of Canadian society.

In 2005, I agreed to accompany my wife on this unexpected journey, in the certain knowledge that what creates Canada are the women and men who create and innovate in Canada, and it is with that same, strengthened conviction that I will now resume my journey as a creator and a citizen.