Promoting English-Canadian culture, Quebecois-style
“How wonderful to come to Quebec and hear someone who understands the problems of anglophone Canadians,” said Talonbooks publisher Karl Ziegler on Thursday at a Montreal public diplomacy conference organized by the Canadian Conference of the Arts.
When Ziegler spoke up, Marcel Masse – the former Progressive Conservative communications minister, who also served as culture minister in Quebec – had just outlined more than 40 years of effort by Quebec governments to gain recognition internationally for Quebec art and culture. Which clearly resonated with the Vancouver publisher: anglophone Canadians have got to learn “to distinguish ourselves from invading American culture,” Ziegler said, just as the Quebecois carved a place for themselves in the francophone world.
One answer might be a Canadian version of the British Council, suggested Antoni Cimolino, general director of the Stratford Festival. Cimolino said he’ll be meeting new federal Heritage Minister Josée Verner next week to present a plan for a $150-million project to promote Canadian culture abroad, worked out by an informal committee of cultural leaders at the invitation of former federal Heritage Minister Bev Oda.
– Mary Soderstrom
