Communiqués

Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, Quebec leads ratification campaign

Quebec is the first state in the world to approve the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions

-Québec premier Jean Charest

Quebec, Thursday November 10, 2005 - “Quebec is the first state in the world to approve the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions,” said Québec premier Jean Charest in applauding the unanimous vote of the National Assembly on November 10 in favor of the government’s motion that the National Assembly approve the international Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, adopted at the 33rd session of the UNESCO General Conference on October 20.

“With this Convention’s approval by the National Assembly, we’ve turned an important page in our cultural and diplomatic history. While Québec stepped up as a leader in the defense of the special nature of culture in international trade negotiations, today it has become the first government in the world to approve the Convention. I am proud of this unanimous vote, which illustrates the attachment Quebecers feel toward our creative talents,” declared the Prime Minister on this occasion.

“The next steps will be crucial, underlined Ms. Line Beauchamp, Minister of Culture and Communications and Minister responsible for the Montréal region. We also have to ensure that the Convention is ratified and implemented by as many UNESCO member states as possible. This will be a long process, and Québec will continue to play an active role. I make a point of paying homage to Mrs Pierre Curzi and Robert Pilon for everything they had achieved and I am convinced that we will keep working together to continually better defend and promote our culture.”

According to Ms. Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, Minister of International Relations and Minister responsible for the Francophonie, “we have to make the most of this success by Québec diplomacy to ensure progress gets made. The premier, my colleagues at Culture and Communications and at Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade, Québec’s foreign representatives, and I will do everything we can to make sure our foreign contacts understand how important it is that the UNESCO Convention be ratified widely and quickly. Personally, I will take advantage of the Conference of Ministers of the Francophonie in Madagascar to raise my francophone colleagues’ awareness of the importance of such ratification.”

“The UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions is just what we need. It will be a reference tool for states facing pressure to liberalize their cultural sectors and help legitimize their cultural policies on the international stage,” added Claude Béchard, Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade.

By virtue of the Act respecting the Ministère des Relations internationales and Québec’s jurisdiction in matters of culture, the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions had to be approved by the National Assembly to ensure implementation once it is ratified by Canada, “We hope that this gesture will encourage all members of UNESCO to move rapidly to ratify the convention,” concluded Premier Charest.