SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Deputy House leader of the Bloc Québécois

Christine Normandin

  • Member of Parliament
  • Deputy House leader of the Bloc Québécois
  • Bloc Québécois
  • Saint-Jean
  • Quebec
  • Voting Attendance: 65%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $109,900.56

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 177 - Mar/31/23
Ms. Christine Normandin (Saint-Jean, BQ)
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise this last Friday before the break to speak to Bill S‑202, which would create the position of visual artist laureate for the House. I want to draw some parallels to something similar that we are already familiar with and that my colleagues mentioned, the position of poet laureate. I will even refer to some speeches that were made at the time. We will go back to 2001 when that position was created, and I will speak about certain differences and also certain similarities between the two positions. When the position of poet laureate was first created, the Bloc Québécois was concerned about the language issue. Indeed, a poem in its original language is never the same as its translation. We used to joke that in this chamber there are always two official languages, English and simultaneous translation. Other than the fact that we do not anticipate any linguistic issues with the visual arts, one of those differences is that the role being created does not have the same scope. Back when there was a poet, that person was asked to try to poetically express the rhythm of Parliament, which is in itself an enormous task, consisting of bringing our work to life artistically. However, the poet also faced a challenge to create works destined to be read in the House or during official events. In this case, the artist will have a somewhat different role. The artist will be able to produce works themselves, but they will also be able to cause work to be produced, sponsor artistic events, give advice to the Parliamentary Librarian, in particular, regarding acquisitions. They will also be able to perform such other related duties as are requested by the Senate or the House of Commons. The role of the future visual artist is, then, slightly different from that of the poet. The nature of the art will also be different. Poetry is a bit more limited in terms of scope, whereas, here, the visual arts can include drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, photography, videography and filmmaking. The choice of medium that the artist can use is much broader than words, which is what the parliamentary poet laureate uses. Our Conservative colleague mentioned the matter of cost. We are not really bothered by that because, for $100,000 a year, we expect the parliamentary visual artist to be much more cost-effective in terms of productivity than the Governor General, for example. The Bloc Québécois therefore does not feel the cost to taxpayers is an issue here, and we are hoping that the works that are produced will be a great source of inspiration for everyone. There are perhaps some things, however, that might bother me about the position. Art can be an extremely effective political weapon, so I hope that the position of visual artist will not be politicized. We do not want there to be a mandate to politicize the art, and we hope that the artist will have as much freedom as possible in their work. I am indulging in some wishful thinking about the artist's work. If their art is meant to reflect the diversity of Canada, I would hope that the diversity will include the fact that there is a francophone minority outside of Quebec and that Quebec itself is a francophone minority within Canada. That should not be forgotten; it is part of Canadian diversity. We dare to hope that this will be reflected in the artist's work. I was talking about politicizing art and here is an example. As recently as last December, we were in the midst of a pre-holiday discussion, if not storm, in the House about the role that the National Gallery had taken on in decolonizing art. There, in the middle of Riopelle's centennial year, members ruled out the idea of having an exhibition dedicated to this artist. When I talk about politicizing art, that is exactly what I am hoping will not happen with the role of the visual artist. I was also talking about the freedom that an artist has if we avoid giving mandates. I will take the liberty of quoting from a speech by Madeleine d'Alfond-Guiral, who spoke about creating the position of poet at the time. I understand that this speech earned her the biggest laugh from the current member for Montarville in the House. I have promised myself that I will look up the video excerpt of that speech someday. I would like to read a more serious portion of it. The second question concerns me most. Is freedom the poet's most precious asset? I know that it is for me, and there is no end to the number of people who have chosen to die for freedom. What about poets? Some of the greatest have mouldered in prison in the defence of freedom. As prisoners, they were no less free. Who can name a single poet who agreed to trade freedom for money or power? Honestly, I cannot think of one. It is true that Bill S-10 would give the poet laureate the great responsibility of writing poems to be read in parliament at official ceremonies. Could we conclude that the poet laureate is non partisan? Probably. And yet, it is hard not to imagine that finding oneself promoted to the position of poet laureate of parliament for two years would not of necessity create obstacles that, insidiously, would limit later speech and give it serious bias. How to be free when the choice of poet laureate would be made by a few persons, some of whom had received political appointments? As the saying goes, “Don't bite the hand that feeds you”. “Elementary, my dear Watson”. I hope that a mandate that would undermine their freedom would not explicitly or implicitly be imposed on the artist. Still, good things will result from creating this position. In the context of a pandemic that made life difficult for artists, it is a good thing to promote the work of artists. I will give a few examples. We know that, during the pandemic, many cultural events were cancelled and exhibit spaces were limited or even closed to the public. There were problems with funding for artists. Even artists experienced psychological distress because they were unable to work and earn a living with dignity. We know that the income of artists is often much lower than that of the rest of the population. Many live below the poverty line. There is still a power imbalance between broadcasters and artists. Their precarious financial situation worsened even before the pandemic. We may have lost our sense of philanthropy and desire to fund the arts. As to the precarious situation of artists, I think the beauty of the bill is that it sends a message to artists. I only hope that it will not be the only one and that arts funding will never be a partisan issue in the House, although that might just be wishful thinking. In this context, creating this position is a beautiful thing. I wonder what impact creating this position will have on the House of Commons. I want to quote two people who lived in very different eras. The first, Hippocrates, said, “Life is short, and art is long”. A more contemporary take on this comes from Bob Dylan, who said, “The purpose of art is to stop time”. We have an incredible ability in the House to play with time. We could say right now that it is June 23 at 2:00 p.m. and that we are all going home to celebrate our national holiday. We have a lot of latitude in the House when it comes to time, but we do not have the power to stop it entirely. Who knows, perhaps, with the arrival of the new visual artist in the House, we will have given ourselves one more way to play with time.
1358 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border