2000-2001 Budget / Budget Speech |
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VII. Enhanced support for culture
Promoting Québec culture remains a basic preoccupation for our government. A great Quebecer who passed away this year, Rosaire Morin, wrote, "A people that defends its culture, defends much more: it defends its dignity, its liberty and (even) its prosperity".
Québec's culture is alive and well and its influence is felt far beyond its borders despite our relatively small population. The people of Québec are proud of this and support their creative artists with love, admiration and pocketbook.
The Québec government is in complete accord with the public in its commitment to culture. Even in the darkest hours of our struggle with the deficit, resources for culture were preserved and even increased. Accordingly, the budget for the ministère de la Culture et des Communications, which was $392 million in 1997-1998, will exceed $430 million in 2000-2001, not counting the various tax measures in support of culture I have announced on a regular basis.
This Budget espouses the same philosophy, introducing a new form of tax support for culture. Because of the small scope of the Québec market for books, our publishers cannot easily publish all the Québec authors who deserve to have their works in print.
That is why I am announcing today the introduction of a tax credit for book publishing that will cover up to 40% of the labour costs of preparing a book and 30% of the labour costs of printing it. This tax credit fulfills a commitment made by the Premier at the Sommet sur la lecture et le livre and will come into force immediately.
The affirmation of our national culture relies on institutions and museums able to inspire a renewal in creation by refreshing their collections and showcasing Québec's creative genius in major artistic events. These institutions also count on the financial support of the government.
I am therefore pleased to announce today the allocation of $29.5 million to enable the Minister of Culture and Communication to support a variety of initiatives in these two areas. This money will make it possible, in particular, to increase support for major artistic institutions such as Les Grands Ballets de Montréal and the national capital's Orchestre symphonique. The Musée national du Québec will be able to create a Jean-Paul Riopelle Hall where his masterpiece "Hommage à Rosa Luxemburg" will be exposed, among other works.
Now that our public finances are in order, it is time to begin reinvesting in the development of cultural facilities. I am therefore announcing today investments of $30 million in programs to support cultural facilities and restore cultural property. We will thus be able to carry out the most pressing work to maintain existing properties in good condition and bring up to standard various facilities required for the dissemination of culture, for the performing arts and for museum works.
The TV5 television station is the flagship of multilateral cooperation in the French-speaking world, broadcasting continuously in 120 countries programs produced in various member countries of La Francophonie. It thus burnishes the image Québec projects to the world, and creates jobs in Montréal, its second strategic centre. At the most recent Sommet de la francophonie, Québec promised to intensify its support for the development of this station. Today I am announcing additional funding of $8 million for that purpose.
The preservation of the architectural heritage, one of our national treasures, calls for essential and substantial financial resources.
The government must set the example. Indifference to the state of buildings that it owns is difficult to justify. The Séminaire de Nicolet building, for instance, one of the most beautiful examples of Québec's educational architectural heritage, which belongs to what is soon to become the École national de police, has for years been a desolate monument of blackened ruins. I am therefore announcing the allocation of $43 million to be invested in this jewel to adapt it to its new mission and restore its elegance of Québec's yesteryear.
The same goes for the Institut de tourisme et d'hôtellerie building on rue Saint-Denis in Montréal. This building has not been burnt but its legendary aesthetic shortcomings appear to detract from a cultural and historical neighbourhood that deserves better. We will therefore invest $18 million in this project.
We are continuing to help various groups working to preserve Québec's religious heritage. Five years ago, we set up a program for this purpose and since then we have injected $80 million into it. I am pleased to announce today an additional $20 million for this program.