The Ministry of Culture is tiny compared to the other ministries of the Quebec state, but it plays an essential role for Quebec culture. Its impact goes well beyond its size. Your role as minister is therefore important and must be articulated around key areas. I will highlight three in particular: heritage, education and culture in the anthropological sense.
First axis: protect and bring to life the heritage, both the built heritage and the works, those resulting from the visual arts and the living arts. Heritage serves as our benchmark. Our monuments and buildings bear witness to our past. Museums that protect and highlight the great artists of our time and the past contribute to the edification of current and future generations. The performing arts companies that bring to life the words of great authors from here and elsewhere are doing useful work, because if we don’t play the classics, Quebec and foreign, they get lost, and with them our view of us ourselves and where we come from. It is imperative to properly support the institutions dedicated to it.
Second axis: the arts are a work of education. The artist, whether he is a writer, choreographer, playwright or other, destabilizes us, talks to us about our failings, reflects the image of ourselves by making us laugh or cry, forces us to reflect on our values and to the world around us. Artists do this through books, in theaters or on television. In doing so, they participate in the humanistic culture of the individual.
Companies working for children and young people prepare new generations to love the arts while discussing themes that affect children and help them tame their fears or feelings. It is during early childhood that tastes and preferences are formed; for the arts, the phenomenon has been studied and demonstrated by a number of academics and researchers. These companies must be supported, as well as all the others which have a program intended for young people, including museums.
The arts protect our culture because they reflect who we are. They tell us about our fears and our dreams. In song, through films, novels or in the theater, they accompany us in our daily lives. They help anchor our distinction from other peoples, especially in North America.
The needs of the world of the arts are large, the medium, small. It must therefore be supported wisely by asking the following questions: does the proposal before us contribute to preserving our heritage? Does it contribute to public education? And finally, does it help keep our culture alive? Your department is not there to offer free leisure to its citizens. Its mission is quite different, as I hope to have shown by this text.
In closing, I would like to point out that the world of the arts can support other government missions, particularly that of Immigration, in the acculturation of newcomers. Bringing our newcomers to the arts here is a great way to introduce them to and love Quebec culture. Cultural communities also have their artists and cultural organizations. Collaborations are established between the companies of the majority and those of the minorities. The ministry must encourage such exchanges which help us to understand and appreciate each other better.
The Ministry of Culture is tiny, fine, but its impact is “uppercase”. The means are lacking in the face of growing demands. All the more reason not to scatter. Big responsibility for a new minister.