QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Canadian Heritage
Cultural Diplomacy
December 6, 2023
Good afternoon, minister. As you know, in June 2019, the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade tabled a report entitled Cultural Diplomacy at the Front Stage of Canada’s Foreign Policy.
Since that report could not be adopted before the 2019 federal election, it was tabled again in the Senate earlier this year and adopted on October 26.
Can you tell us what form the government’s response will take and which measures will be taken by your department to implement the recommendations found in the report?
Thank you for your very interesting question. As we know, cultural diplomacy sometimes gives nations, people who may not think they have much in common with other people, something that brings them together.
As part of my mandate over the next few months and years, I most certainly intend to address this important issue of cultural diplomacy and obviously take a page from this report. It will be my pleasure to discuss this issue of cultural diplomacy with you and those who are interested in it.
I believe that in our troubled world right now, where we sometimes get the impression that countries are more divided than united around common issues, cultural diplomacy can very certainly build bridges and we must bring this important aspect of diplomacy to centre stage.
Thank you.
