NEWS RELEASE

Ref: 830-596/16

 

Federal-Provincial-Territorial Meeting of Ministers responsible for Culture and Heritage

St. John’s, Newfoundland - November 3, 1997

 

P-10/97-113

CC970885

ARTS, CULTURE AND HERITAGE PROMOTED

ST. JOHN’S, November 3, 1997 – Federal, provincial and territorial Ministers responsible for culture and heritage today agreed to closer co-operation in order to promote cultural and heritage tourism, encourage new partnerships to further develop the cultural sector, and create more cultural and heritage content for the Information Highway.

The St. John’s meeting was co-chaired by Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps and Newfoundland and Labrador’s Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, Sandra Kelly. The meeting provided Ministers with the opportunity to review issues of importance that affect the cultural and heritage sectors across the country.

Within the unique circumstances of their respective jurisdictions, the Ministers agreed to:

• Encourage stronger public and private sector partnerships in order to develop the arts, heritage and culture.

• Examine ways to further promote initiatives for cultural and heritage tourism through partnerships with governments, the private sector and not-for-profit groups, and to pursue with the Canadian Tourism Commission the identification of significant cross-country themes for the purpose of future tourism development.

• Encourage and support the development of content for the Information Highway. Special attention will be paid to the development of French language content.

The importance of the culture and heritage sector, one of the fastest growing in Canada’s economy, was affirmed by Ministers. These sectors will continue to provide significant employment throughout the country and will become increasingly important in our knowledge-based society.

Ministers have asked officials, with a view to standardization, to undertake an assessment of the contribution of culture and heritage to the economy and to report on the results at their next meeting. Ministers also directed officials to investigate the implications of international trade agreements on cultural industries.

The Ministers will meet again in Hamilton, Ontario in 1998 to continue their collaboration on arts, culture and heritage issues.

 

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Information:

Len Westerberg Media Relations Department of Canadian Heritage (819) 994-5589 George Earles Communications Specialist Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (709) 729-5456

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