Canadian cultural policy

Abstract

In this chapter, we will engage with the most important policy rationales that shape public discourse on culture in Canada. Some policy theorists describe these ideational components of policy as “referentials”– dominant ideas and shared meanings that serve to structure policies and policy sub-sectors (e.g. cultural policy). In Canada, identity is a dominant referential that has shaped cultural policy development. Discussions about democratization of culture, accessibility, and elitism (Mulcahy, 2006) are part of the federal and provincial cultural policies’ history, but not to a lesser extent. What is distinctive about the debate over Canadian cultural policy and identity is the growing place it has afforded to discourses on citizenship and human rights– discourses that are increasingly part of the policies’ fabric. Multiculturalism remains the most important rationale in Canadian cultural policy. This is perceptible in the federal cultural policy, but is also noticeable in many of the provinces’ approaches to the cultural sector– with the exception of the province of Québec, which entertains a different idea about culture, citizenship, and cultural inclusion.