This series focuses on the boards of directors of state cultural corporations in Quebec. First case: the over-representation of career managers within CAs.
Business manages cultural affairs. Professional managers have control over the boards of directors of Quebec state corporations in the field of culture and communications.
The vast majority of CA members, presidents and vice-presidents come from management backgrounds and the private sector in particular. Out of 97 members listed by The duty, 82 fall into this category in the broad sense.
Even the perspectives of artists and creators have almost no voice in running arts and culture organizations, including museums. The review carried out only made it possible to identify a handful of professional artists among the hundred administrators. The Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ), which distributes scholarships and grants to creators and artistic companies, has the most, three out of thirteen members, a photographer, a musician and a visual artist. We can add a retired architect.
“The absence of artists or creators overall seems all the more problematic to me since the CAs have the mandate to establish strategic planning for state corporations,” explains Tania Kontoyanni, president of the Union of artists (UDA). “Inclusion must start at the boards of directors, where decisions are made, where the main directions are established. »
Last month, the UDA and five other unions of cultural professionals made a public outing to denounce the distribution of public money which they believe benefits certain industrial groups “to the detriment of artists and artisans who are at the heart of of creation.” Combined spending by cultural crown corporations has totaled billions of dollars since the turn of the century. Between 2018-2019 and 2022-2023 alone, the CALQ distributed approximately 850 million, including 745 million to artistic organizations and 105 million in grants to individuals.
1%, 2% or 3%
The list of administrators studied by The duty focuses on nine state corporations in Quebec. There we find the entire alphabet of support for arts and culture by the Quebec state, two centers for the dissemination of performing arts (Place des Arts, Grand Théâtre de Québec), three museums (Musée d’art contemporain de Montreal, National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec, Museum of Civilization), the business support organization (SODEC) and the one that supports artistic companies and artists (CALQ), the national documentary heritage center (BAnQ) and the public television broadcaster (TQ).
Many members of their boards work or have worked for a long time for private companies: KPMG, Saputo, Sid Lee, Norton Rose, Groupe Germain, Dufresne et Gauthier, Groupe Dallaire, etc. There are sixteen lawyers (often graduates in company law), twelve accountants and seven holders of a master’s degree in business administration (MBA), but also six engineers. In contrast, there are only seven university professors, but again in the same specialties (accounting, law, arts management).
Only one person was trained in literature, another in geography and one in design, only, here again, these atypical graduates then branched off into the management of public or private organizations. The painter Marc Séguin, one of the visual artists most involved in business with Les Ateliers 3333, is the only one of the hundred members present on two councils (CALQ and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal) according to the Lists available online.
Since 2011, the law on the governance of state corporations has required gender parity. They now form a large majority of cultural CAs, with 58 positions for 39 occupied by men. Five women, but four men chair a council. The fact remains that, in one genre as in the other, we are indeed talking about extractions from the same managerial matrix.
Nuances
That management professionals sit on cultural boards is nothing more normal. That all or almost all the members are of this utilitarian type and that the artists are not there may be surprising. So why do the boards of state corporations always favor the same professional profile by excluding representatives of community groups, unions, taxpayers or artists?
“Canada has copied the American model, where museums are private organizations,” replies Professor Yves Bergeron, holder of the research chair on museum governance and cultural law at UQAM. He cites the typical case of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (which is not a state corporation), a creature of the business community in the 19the century and which has remained so for a large part.
“We expect members of museum boards to have access to the economic and financial world so that these circles support them,” says Professor Bergeron. Five other professors specializing in the management of cultural organizations did not respond to the interview request.
The National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec replies that, on the contrary, the members of its board do indeed reflect the diversity of experiences in Quebec. “The skills of our administrators cover a wide range of Quebec’s socio-economic diversity, such as research, teaching, tourism, high technologies, medicine, social engagement and much more,” writes Linda by email Tremblay, head of press relations for the museum.
The Musée de la civilization de Québec (MCQ) also qualifies the observation on the concentrated business perspective. “The CA [du MCQ] is diverse,” summarizes Anne-Sophie Desmeules, press relations officer at the museum. She prepared her own table analyzing the composition of her board according to skills and experience. Of the eleven members (not counting the general director), six come from the economy and four from culture (all as managers) and one from the education sector (Nicole O’Bomsawin).
The explanation from the Ministry of Culture concerning the lack of diversity of managers refers to the decree of May 31, 2023 requiring state companies to constitute their board of directors from 2025 by including at least one young person under 35 years old and “ members representative of the diversity of Quebec society.” The rule specifically targets Indigenous people, members of visible minorities, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities.
Currently approximately 13.5% of the members of all CAs are considered representative of diversity as it has been defined, but some CAs are still lacking conformity in this case, including that of SODEC. The rules impose diversity standards (equality, diversity, inclusion) without taking into account different socio-economic categories or the multiplicity of socio-professional backgrounds.