Source : Globe & Mail

The minister has been working to allay fears in the cultural community

Hélène Chalifour Scherrer, the newly-appointed Heritage Minister in Paul Martin's government, would like to assure the world that she does indeed go to the opera.

It's also true, she admits, that "I love sports, and my curriculum vitae looks that way." She is alluding to her now-famous reply to a reporter who asked her several days after her appointment which aspects of culture most interested her. She replied, tongue in cheek, "Sports," and quickly learned that an anxious culture community has very little sense of humour about this sort of thing.

"So I do think I should say that I've been a member [subscriber] of the symphony in Quebec City for such a long time. I go to the opera, and I've even made trips to Montreal to see theatre shows. I've been involved with organizations like the Maison Cataraqui, which have cultural goals."

But Scherrer, who was appointed in early December to succeed Sheila Copps as Heritage Minister, acknowledges that she has relatively little experience with culture. She has been receiving intense briefings over the past month, a process that will continue into February. She is not yet prepared to announce policy or give in-depth interviews to the press.

"At the same time, what I repeat to people is that Heritage Canada isn't necessarily about knowing a lot about culture, but rather taking care of its Canadian identity. Culture is a tool. And you need a vision to be the guardian of the Canadian identity. You don't necessarily have to know what books were published last week."

An early indication of her priorities was a flying visit to Toronto last week to meet her provincial counterpart, Ontario Minister of Culture Madeleine Meilleur. She has also flown to Manitoba and Alberta to meet the culture ministers there and intends to meet in person with every one of her provincial counterparts as quickly as possible. "The idea is to create a partnership between us and the provinces and cities."

She has been criticized in the media for not attending the Canadian Forum on Cultural Enterprise in Paris last month. Her absence forced France's culture minister to cancel his own visit to an event whose purpose, after all, was to promote Canadian culture in France. "It was our choice [not to go]. I was just one week into the ministry. It [the Canadian Forum] was a good initiative, but I decided to spend that time meeting with people in Toronto and Manitoba and Alberta."

Scherrer lives in Quebec City, where she has been a social worker and community organizer. While in Manitoba earlier this month, she took time to visit small francophone towns which struggle to maintain a French-language life in an English-speaking province. "I was impressed that even in small francophone communities, you could see the importance of cultural links. I see it through small communities, not necessarily through the elites."

In an apparent contradiction, however, she took time from her visit with Ontario's culture minister to meet with representatives of five of Ontario's most elite cultural institutions: the opera, ballet, symphony and two of the largest theatre companies. She emphasizes that this was strictly a secondary purpose of her visit to Toronto. "My first purpose was to meet with Madame Meilleur. And then, because we had to start somewhere, I decided to meet with the elite, to get a profile of the cultural life of the city."

There has also been some question as to whether the Paul Martin government understands the political importance of projecting Canadian culture internationally. Sheila Copps strongly believed that Canadian artists should be seen abroad and that the government should pay the bills for that. This was part of Copps's larger purpose in promoting cultural links between middle-power nations such as Canada and France, as a counterweight to the spreading hegemony of American culture.

Scherrer is not prepared to endorse the continuation of this policy until she is certain that the provinces are in agreement with it. "I'd like to get a force together within Canada and then go international." Speaking personally, she endorses the idea of cultural diversity internationally and accepts that sovereign nations can and should protect their distinct cultures. But she is reluctant to make federal policy in this area unless there is broad provincial support.

There are many pressing matters facing the new Heritage Minister. Issues to be settled include copyright law, renewing policy for the broadcast media (especially the CBC) and looking at the issue of foreign ownership of troubled cultural industries, especially publishing.

"I'm not sure I can tell you what the priority issues are going to be. I'll have to talk to my cabinet counterparts, especially in the Ministry of Industry. Industry has much to say and that's the only way to come to a consensus."

"I agree with her [Copps] that we must recognize diversity on the national level," Scherrer says.

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