Kevin Waugh
Saskatoon South, CPC
Opening remarks
I wish.
Meeting 42 · June 9, 2026 · 11:21–13:18 (1h 57m)
45-18 witnesses · 99 interventions · 10,721 words
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage met to study the state of creative and performance spaces in Canada and their role in supporting the next generation of artists. Witnesses included representatives from independent cinema, ballet, theatre, music education, francophone cultural organizations, and artist-run media arts centres.
Ariane Caron Lachance, from Cinéma Beaumont and the Spira co-operative, described challenges facing small independent theatres and artist-run centres, particularly building maintenance at the Méduse co-operative in Quebec City, which has no acquisition fund and faces frozen capital expenditure funding. She noted the discontinuation of the Media Arts Equipment Acquisition Fund and called for funding for human resources to implement pilot projects for audience development, rather than paying consultants to produce unimplemented reports.
Joshua Beamish, artistic director of Ballet Vancouver, reported extraordinary organizational growth, with attendance up 50% and individual donations rising 1,600%, but said venue rental subsidies have fallen from 57% to 33% due to a frozen grant budget. He argued that Vancouver needs a new performance venue complex with discipline-specific halls, and that affordable rental access must be addressed alongside infrastructure investment, warning that without agile support for growth, organizations cannot sustain momentum.
Caroline Gignac and Rachel Billet, from the Conseil québécois du théâtre and Théâtres associés, presented data showing venue-related costs rose 53% between 2017 and 2024, far outpacing 20% inflation, forcing cuts to artistic programming. They recommended strengthening the social safety net, better funding the Canada Council for the Arts, and adopting an equitable territorial vision in cultural funding, emphasizing that creative spaces must be seen as living infrastructure serving an ecosystem, not just buildings.
Angel Blanco, from École de musique Alain-Caron, argued that Canada’s central challenge is not the absence of culture but the lack of connection between cultures, citing under-represented Indigenous musical traditions and the potential of microtonal music. He recommended supporting inclusive music technology tools like Soundbeam and fostering a connected system that aligns institutions, knowledge, technologies, and territories.
Nancy Juneau, chair of the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française, expressed concern that the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund has been reduced and reallocated to the Build Communities Strong Fund, which has no minimum earmark for cultural infrastructure. She recommended setting aside a portion of that fund for culture, with a specific allocation for francophone and Acadian minority communities, and funding research to gather reliable data on cultural infrastructure needs across all provinces and territories.
David LaRiviere, artistic director of PAVED Arts, described his organization’s work democratizing and demystifying media arts by subsidizing equipment and offering free workshops, emphasizing that artist-controlled expression is vital for community health. He argued that the real value of creative spaces is not always tangible, but they serve social and civic health, and that organizations need predictable multi-year funding to retain experienced staff and deepen community relationships.
During questioning, members asked about artificial intelligence, the disparity between large and small organizations, the impact of cancelled performances on emerging artists, and the need for predictable infrastructure funding. One member questioned PAVED Arts about a pro-Palestinian billboard installation and whether similar opportunities were offered to pro-Israeli artists; LaRiviere said all projects are adjudicated through peer juries and that the space is safe for Jewish artists. A procedural debate arose when a member moved to resume debate on a motion condemning foreign interference in the arts, but the chair ruled the motion out of order, leading to expressions of disappointment from opposition members.
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Kevin Waugh
Saskatoon South, CPC
Opening remarks
I wish.
Ariane Caron Lachance
Executive director, Cinéma Beaumont, ANTITUBE
Opening remarks
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Good morning. My name is Ariane Caron Lachance. I was told to speak slowly today because I did not send any notes to the interpreters. So I am going to take my time. I am, indeed, the director of Cinéma Beaumont, a small independent movie theatre in Quebec City. I am also the director of the Spira co-operative, which is an artist-run centre for filmmakers outside large urban areas. The co-operative is also a film distributor, and it manages a pool of film production and post-production equipment. These two organizations, both located in Quebec City, have been in existence for 30 and 50 years, respectively. By supporting artists, they help ensure the survival of independent cinema, from production all the way to theatrical release. The co-operative is the only film distributor in Quebec City. It is therefore a key player in the world of independent filmmaking, especially outside large urban areas. These two organizations are tenant members of Méduse, which is also a co-operative. I know this can get a little confusing. Méduse brings together 11 arts organizations in a single building, with spaces designed to meet the needs of each organization…
Joshua Beamish
Artistic Director, Ballet Vancouver
Opening remarks
Hello, Madam Chair and committee. I am Joshua Beamish, the artistic director of Ballet Vancouver. I offer additional insight as a past member of the City of Vancouver's arts and culture advisory committee, with a subfocus on spaces. Ballet Vancouver, the new operating name of Movement Dance Productions Society, is mandated to revitalize our city's access to professional classical ballet. We operate with gratitude on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh first nations. Emerging from the pandemic, our organization has seen remarkable growth. From 2023 to 2025, our per-performance attendance rose by 50%. This season, our transition to Ballet Vancouver prompted another 50% increase. In just one year, our individual donations have risen by 1,600%. By April, our organization's 2026 year-to-date actuals had doubled our entire 2025 operating budget. With half the year still remaining, our 2026 actuals are expected to quadruple those of 2025. Budgetary jumps of this magnitude are extremely rare. These figures illustrate an objective reality: Our public wants access to professional ballet. They are readily engaging as donors, subscribers,…
Caroline Gignac
Director General, Conseil québécois du théâtre
Opening remarks
Thank you, Madam Chair. Ladies and gentlemen of the committee, thank you for giving the Conseil québécois du théâtre the opportunity to contribute to this reflection. My organization represents professional theatre practitioners and organizations in Quebec. We represent 310 individual, organizational and association members, comprising more than 2,000 people. Today, I am joined by a member of our association, Rachel Billet of Théâtres associés, who speaks on behalf of theatre institutions and advocates for performance venues among her peers in Quebec across all disciplines of the performing arts. The issue of the state of creative and performance spaces in Canada, as well as their role in supporting the next generation of artists, is crucial. Theatre institutions and specialized theatre presenters offer much more than just venues for performances: they provide spaces for artists and audiences to gather, meet and network. We estimate that in 2024, there were approximately 4,588 theatrical performances in Quebec. They attracted 1.2 million people and generated $35.1 million in box office revenue. These venues serve as true incubators for the entire theatre ecosystem. However,…
Rachel Billet
Director General, Théâtres associés, Conseil québécois du théâtre
Opening remarks
This pressure affects the entire chain of research, creation, production and distribution. Its most devastating effects are felt at the very root of our sector—that is, among artists. The lack of a genuine safety net perpetuates an unacceptable level of systemic precariousness. In Montreal, the average income for an artist is around $17,400 a year. We saw just how fragile our ecosystem is during the recent crisis in the cultural sector, which shook the entire chain—from creation to presentation. Unfortunately, the effects of underfunding are still being felt today. Last week, another production from the Centre du théâtre d'aujourd'hui's upcoming season was cancelled due to a lack of funding. Creative and performance spaces are also bearing the brunt of this vulnerability, as they face ever-increasing financial pressure. In fact, between 2017 and 2024, venue-related costs rose by 53%, while overall inflation stood at around 20%. These costs include the operating expenses of performance venues, as well as maintenance and asset upkeep. This data is at the heart of the report “Nos scènes fragilisées, nos arts vivants menacés" by Théâtres associés. The report was co-signed by 34…
Angel Blanco
Master of Music Performance, École de musique Alain-Caron
Opening remarks
Thank you, Madam Chair and honourable members of the committee. I sincerely thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. It's a great honour for me to be here. I appear today both as an independent recording artist and, by choice, representing École de musique Alain-Caron, located in Rivière-du-Loup. I speak from a concrete reality, that of artists working outside major urban centres where talent exists but opportunities remain uneven. I also appear as an international recording artist who has carried Canada's name abroad, while maintaining a living connection to my Mexican and American heritages. From this experience, I have learned that culture is not a decorative element but the living infrastructure of a country. The central challenge we face is not the absence of culture but the lack of connection between cultures. In Canada, indigenous musical traditions remain significantly under-represented in formal educational and institutional contexts, despite being a vital and living part of our collective identity. Across the Americas, these traditions are not only the heritage of long-gone civilizations such as the Inca and Mexica empires, where musical systems…
Nancy Juneau
Chair, Fédération culturelle canadienne-française
Opening remarks
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Ladies and gentlemen of the committee, I am delighted to be here today. To begin with, I would like to say that the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française, or FCCF, faces many of the challenges and issues mentioned by my colleagues sitting at this table today and supports many of the solutions they have proposed. For nearly 50 years, the FCCF has acted as a voice for the arts and culture sector on behalf of the Franco-Canadian and Acadian communities. Our network brings together 22 national organizations in all disciplines, as well as provincial and territorial organizations that promote cultural activities in their communities. Through them, we represent an ecosystem of around 350 organizations. We are here today specifically to discuss the state of cultural infrastructure in the arts and culture sector of Canada's francophone minority communities. We use the term “cultural infrastructure” in the broadest sense to include the physical conditions essential for experimentation, production, training and rehearsals, as well as for the exhibition and promotion of works and artists across the region. In our communities, cultural infrastructure…
David LaRiviere
Artistic Director, PAVED Arts
Opening remarks
Thank you for this opportunity. I am the artistic director of PAVED Arts, an acronym for photography, audio, video, electronic and digital, an artist-run media arts centre located on Treaty 6 territory in Saskatoon. We serve a local community of artists, writers, curators and interested public, but the greater question of our purpose requires some unpacking. At the level of community, on a grassroots register, we work to democratize and demystify various media as tools of artistic expression. Democratizing gives access. Demystifying gives permission. We democratize by wearing down barriers of access. Unlike a commercial model that must prioritize a profitable return on investment, we receive public funding that enables us to subsidize the equipment and facilities that we offer, making them as open and available to our community as possible. PAVED Arts brings artists from across the country to stage exhibitions and delivers educational workshops, which we offer free to our members. We keep membership rates low and waive fees where cost is a barrier. As with many artist-run centres in Canada, PAVED Arts proactively involves marginalized and equity-seeking artists, and we advocate…