Department of Canadian Heritage: Supervising and Regulating Canadian Cultural Industries

Case Study: Topic B - Department of Canadian Heritage
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Executive Summary
The case study relates to the Department of Canadian Heritage and its efforts at conserving and revitalizing indigenous culture and languages. Canadian Heritage is the department within the Government of Canada charged with promoting and sustaining Canadian values, identity, heritage, and cultural development. The essay will describe the organization’s challenges in reversing the long-term effects of colonist policies on the indigenous way of life and identity. This case study will analyze the department’s funding approach about how it has availed resources to protect Indigenous culture through its Indigenous Languages and Cultures Programs. It will employ the political economy theoretical framework to analyze the significance of protecting and conserving indigenous culture and languages from cultural and economic perspectives. The case study will use documentary sources, policy frameworks, and reports from the Department of Canadian Heritage or department representatives to understand the department’s issues in restoring and revitalizing indigenous culture and language. It will also discuss the nature of the changes required or proposed by different stakeholders involved in the indigenous languages and cultures programs. After analyzing the solutions arrived at by the Department of Canadian Heritage, the case study will conclude by discussing how the case study was instrumental in adding to existing literature and theoretical framework.
Case Study: Topic B - Department of Canadian Heritage
Introduction
The case study that will form the basis of this paper is tied to the Department of Canadian Heritage, otherwise known as Canadian Heritage. The department has developed numerous partnerships with public institutions, private creative businesses, and non-governmental organizations to foster cultural experiences, bolster Canadian identity, and support sports and indigenous communities. Canadian Heritage also engages with citizens through various programs that foster multicultural commemorations and celebrations, youth exchanges, and performance sports. This case study will focus on Canadian Heritage’s efforts at preserving indigenous culture as part of its broader responsibility of promoting and protecting the identity and culture of Canadian peoples. Indigenous heritage is a critical part of Canada’s heritage and the cultural industry at large. Canada has over 600 indigenous communities that have helped shape the land and the nation’s identity and life. Moreover, Canada’s indigenous economy is estimated to be worth $30 billion and is projected to double over the next five years (Amato, 2020). Therefore, the Canadian Heritage must protect the identities, languages, practices, cultures, and customs of the First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples. The paper will start with a literature review before describing the case study within industrial and organizational contexts. It will also analyze a moment of change within the theoretical framework and provide a suitable conclusion.
Literature Review
Canada’s cultural industries significantly impact the country’s identity and economy. Cultural industries are all enterprises producing, developing, and distributing cultural goods and services. The Trade Commissioner Service categorizes Canada’s arts and cultural industries into six subsectors: music, performing arts, audiovisual, written and published works, heritage and museums, and visual and applied arts (Global Affairs Canada, 2015). A 2017 study by Statistics Canada showed that the cultural industries in the country generated $58.9 billion in revenue in 2017, roughly 2.8% of the national GDP. The overall impact of the cultural industries surpassed that of other industries, including accommodation and food services; sports; utilities; agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting. Furthermore, the culture industries created six times more jobs than the sports industries: 715,400 compared to 125,500 (Canadian Art, 2019). Protecting indigenous culture is central to promoting the Canadian cultural sector, which helps to create jobs, strengthen the economy, and, more importantly, foster Canadian identity and heritage. The relationship between Canada’s culture, including indigenous culture, and economy can be explained using the political economy of communication theoretical framework. Cultural studies and political economy are entwined, and the theoretical political economy traces its roots to three families of thought: Marxists, Mercantilists, and Liberal. Within the political economy framework, cultural industries are defined as those institutions (mostly corporate companies but also state enterprises and non-profit enterprises) that are directly engaged in generating social meaning (Wasko & Meehan, 2013). The Department of Canadian Heritage classifies as a cultural industry in this context since it conserves Canadian identity, values, and practices (social meaning). While the department is more involved in conservation than in the production, distribution, and exhibition of cultural goods and services, protecting indigenous culture fosters Canadian identity and drives Canada’s economy. Therefore, the political economy framework helps analyze the case study.
Description of Industrial Context
The Government of Canada, through the Department of Canadian Heritage, recognizes the value of indigenous arts and heritage from a cultural and economic perspective. Indigenous culture is central to the country’s cultural, economic, and civic life. While there is limited information about the exact impact of indigenous culture on Canada’s economy, several studies highlight the value of public funding for the conservation of indigenous arts and culture. For instance, a study conducted by the Canada Council for the Arts in conjunction with Archipel Research and Consulting Inc. shows that the Inuit Arts economy is a full-time employer of over 2,100 people. The Inuit performing arts contributes significantly to the country’s GDP and is responsible for creating 208 full-time jobs. Furthermore, the study shows that over 26% of the Inuit aged 15 years and above directly participate in the community’s visual arts and crafts economy (Amato, 2020). In addition to creating employment, indigenous culture contributes to Canada’s economy through personal expenditures on cultural goods and services. The Canadian Framework for Culture Statistics includes consumer spending on indigenous works of art, carvings, and vases; antiques; cameras and accessories; indigenous artists’ materials, handicrafts, and hobby craft kits; movie admissions; live performing arts; and magazines as part of indigenous culture’s contribution to Canada’s GDP. Other personal expenditures included in indigenous culture GDP include consumer spending on indigenous books; admissions to indigenous museums and other activities; sheet music and other printed material; and admission to indigenous venues, among others.
Description of Organizational Context
The Department of Canadian Heritage is responsible for all issues affecting Canadians' cultural, civic, and economic life, including creating solid communities where indigenous peoples express their dynamic cultural values and celebrate their cultural heritage. One of the most significant issues facing indigenous populations in Canada is the country’s colonial praxis, which has broadly defined the government’s relationship with aboriginal peoples (Schulte, 2017). Indigenous communities have experienced a marked deterioration and eradication of their languages, cultures, identities, and inherent rights due to Canada’s assimilation policies, particularly the 1876 Indian Act and the Indian Residential School System (IRSS). Entire generations of youngsters were kidnapped from their families and forced to attend residential schools where they were forced to unlearn their cultures and languages and instead learn English and French. The acculturation and adoption of Euro-Canadian identity, culture, values, and languages devastated indigenous peoples’ heritage. For instance, a study by Statistics Canada showed that only 3 of the 53 indigenous languages found in Canada are expected to survive until 2100 (Pokotylo & Mason, 2014). However, while most indigenous languages face extinction, the Department of Canadian Heritage is committed to taking immediate action to prevent further cultural and language loss.
The Department of Canadian Heritage has committed significant resources to decolonizing indigenous people and helping them revitalize, develop, and transmit their languages, experiences, literature, and oral traditions to future generations. The Department of Canadian Heritage is c...