This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

041847Z Jan 06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 OTTAWA 000016 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SECSTATE FOR ECA ASSISTANT SECRETARY DINA POWELL; 
INFO SECSTATE FOR WHA/PD JCARPENTER-ROCK; ECA/PE LPerez 
and DSchuman 
Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver for PAO; Calgary for PA 
Field Rep 
Calgary, please pass to Winnipeg 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO SCUL OEXC
SUBJECT: REINVIGORATING PUBLIC DIPLOMACY CULTURAL AND 
SPORTS PROGRAMS 
 
REFERENCE:  STATE 222516 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Cultural programming 
comprises an integral part of public 
diplomacy efforts in Canada, and the 
Mission greatly appreciates ECA and 
WHA/PD support for these efforts. 
Such programming reaches not just 
traditional audiences, but more 
importantly, youth, ethnic and 
religious minorities.  (Canada is 
home to a growing Islamic population, 
of which a small number are known to 
have aimed to inflict harm on the 
U.S., a critical concern in a country 
which shares a 5,000-mile, porous 
border with the United States.) 
Through cultural programming, the 
post counters mass media, superficial 
portrayals of American culture, often 
offensive to certain minorities, with 
art forms that convey our human side, 
promote deeper understanding of 
American policies and the attitudes 
that shape them, raise awareness of 
U.S. diversity and its positive 
impact on our society, and reinforce 
the sense of shared values and shared 
histories that undergird our 
friendship with Canada.  The modest 
public diplomacy staffing levels and 
funding at the Embassy and seven 
Consulates in Canada limit the 
Mission's ability to conduct 
independent cultural programming. 
Rather, collaborative efforts with 
Canadian cultural institutions, in 
which we augment programming they 
support logistically, work best. 
Responses to questions posed in 
reftel follow.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. 
¶Q.  WHICH OF YOUR MISSION OBJECTIVES BENEFITS FROM CULTURAL 
PROGRAMS OR COULD BE BETTER SUPPORTED BY CULTURAL PROGRAMS, 
INCLUDING SPORTS PROGRAMS?  PLEASE BE SPECIFIC IN 
DESCRIBING HOW THESE PROGRAMS SUPPORT YOUR OBJECTIVES.  FOR 
EXAMPLE: DO THEY CREATE AN EVENT THAT GETS EMBASSY ACCESS 
TO OTHERWISE INACCESSIBLE AUDIENCES, BUILD DIRECT PUBLIC 
SUPPORT FOR U.S. POLICY OBJECTIVES, OR CHALLENGE AND CHANGE 
NEGATIVE PUBLIC OPINION OR STEREOTYPES THAT THWART U.S. 
INTERESTS? 
 
Post response: 
Cultural programming supports the following Mission Canada MPP Themes 
--Prevention and Response to Terrorism  (Counterterrorism) 
--Border Agreements  (Homeland Security) 
--Close Ties with Allies and Friends  (Regional Stability) 
--Environmental Protection  (Social and Environment Issues) 
--International Public Opinion  (Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs) 
 
U.S. Mission Canada cultural 
programming, undertaken by the Embassy 
and seven Consulates across Canada's 
diverse regions, supports post's 
objectives in multiple ways, sometimes 
with specific, immediate impact, and 
other times with longer-term, 
attitudinal impact. 
 
A few examples of how arts programming supports Mission objectives 
follow. 
 
a) Countering Terrorism/Homeland Security-complementing dialogue with 
images: 
 
While Canada plays a critical, major 
role in the war against terror, with 
its troops in Afghanistan and close 
border cooperation essential to the 
success of U.S. efforts to combat 
terrorist threats, the Canadian public 
continues to question U.S. views in 
balancing security measures against 
civil liberties, as well as the 
resources devoted to increased border 
security.  With Canada's growing Moslem 
population including a small number of 
extremists who wish harm to the United 
States and are near enough to inflict 
it, buttressing Canadian will to 
counter terrorism is the Mission's top 
public diplomacy priority.  The U.S. 
Embassy and Consulates have, since 9- 
11, focused public attention on the 
impact of 9-11 on U.S. perceptions and 
actions, and urged Canada's full- 
fledged efforts against the terrorist 
threat, through the Ambassador's 
speeches, U.S. speakers, 
videoconferences, and document 
outreach. 
 
The exhibition of Joel Meyerowitz' 
photo series "After Ground Zero," 
displayed in conjunction with a 
University of British Columbia/Simon 
Fraser University joint videoconference 
in downtown Vancouver, and the 
traveling exhibition of the "Headlines 
of History" 9-11 paper show, displayed 
in six towns across Manitoba, with 
their graphic, emotion-evoking images, 
underscored the human suffering 
dimension, beyond the facts and 
figures, that underlie the profound 
change in the American psyche since 
attackers leveled the World Trade 
Towers.  The images reached thousands 
of viewers, and the Headlines of 
History show is permanently displayed 
at the International Peace Garden on 
the Manitoba-North Dakota border. 
Mission Canada also supported the 
travel of a museum curator to Montreal 
to offer his perspectives on 
communicating the impact of 9-11 at a 
professional dialogue on documenting 
disasters. 
 
b) Mutual Understanding-complementing arts with dialogue: 
 
Canadians, particularly in 
metropolitan locales, enjoy a steady 
stream of American film, music, 
dance, and visual arts imported by 
commercial and non-profit arts 
organizations.  The presence of 
American cultural products does not 
necessarily translate into 
understanding of American culture, 
however.  Canadians commonly make 
many false assumptions about the 
U.S., e.g. that the U.S. is less 
embracing of diversity than Canada, 
or that U.S. culture is powered by 
greed, not pursuit of artistic 
excellence or community building. 
The U.S. Embassy and Consulates have 
partnered with Canadian organizations 
to enrich selected groups' 
understanding of American society and 
diversity, as expertly articulated by 
artists themselves.  A few examples 
follow. 
 
A Consulate Vancouver-organized 
program added two program days to the 
textile symposium visit of several 
Gee's Bend Quilters.  The elderly 
African-American quilters shared their 
family histories and first-hand 
memories of the economic, political 
and social events that shaped their 
remote village of Gee's Bend in 
Alabama, from their ancestors' arrival 
and sale by slave traders to the 
aftermath of the Civil War, the trauma 
of the depression, the impact of FDR's 
New Deal on their town, the civil 
rights struggles of the mid-1900's, 
the somewhat sudden "discovery" of 
their quilting craft by major American 
museums and curators in the 1990's, 
and the impact of the modern economy 
on their descendants.  The women 
related how faith and their community 
have sustained them through difficult 
periods.  African-Canadians, youth, 
journalists and artists in Vancouver, 
and, by videoconference, in Calgary, 
Winnipeg, Ottawa and Halifax, joined 
their spirit of gratitude and 
celebration, illustrated with a 
documentary on their quilts and capped 
by the women's moving gospel sing- 
along. 
 
New York-based landscape artist April 
Gornick traveled to Halifax to 
personally interact with visitors to 
the Nova Scotia Art Gallery's 
exhibition of her work.  American 
photographers featured in Montreal's 
Mois de la photo exhibition traveled 
to Montreal to participate in dialogue 
on their avant-garde art and its 
relation to society.  The Mission 
provided travel grants to offset the 
artists' costs. 
 
The Mission helped bring a Hopi 
potter to the Gardiner Museum of 
Ceramics' summer workshop series, 
adding to the Toronto public's visual 
appreciation of Hopi art a deepened 
understanding of the underlying 
philosophy and spiritualism. 
 
Secondary students at an Ottawa 
Francophone high school and young 
vocalists from Ottawa and Montreal 
interacted directly with mezzo-soprano 
superstar Denyse Graves, who shared 
not only her passion for excellence as 
a vocalist but also stories of the 
determination, family and church 
support that led her from modest means 
to the pinnacle of opera stardom in a 
country that rewards perseverance. 
State Department Cultural Ambassador 
Graves and the Culture Connect office 
helped arrange this program prior to 
Graves' National Arts Center gala 
performance in Ottawa. 
 
Master classes in Montreal by the 
Stephen Petronio Dance Company, 
supported with an honoraria grant from 
the Mission, offered young Canadians 
insights into the devotion, commitment 
and creativity of a renowned 
contemporary American dance troop. 
When the Houston Ballet performs in 
Montreal and Ottawa in April/May 2006, 
the Mission plans similar outreach in 
coordination with Canadian host 
organizations to stimulate the 
interest and imaginations of youth and 
dance students in this traditional art 
form and the Houston-based artists who 
keep it alive. 
 
WHA/PD's support for the Tim Laughlin 
New Orleans Jazz Quartet to visit 
Canada (after Peru and Mexico) in 
October 2005 enabled the Embassy and 
Consulates in Toronto and Montreal to 
present quintessential New Orleans 
jazz with contemporary flair to 
university and secondary students, 
jazz aficionados, and some of the many 
Canadian volunteers, officials, and 
emergency personnel who rushed to the 
aid of Hurricane Katrina victims.  Tim 
Laughlin and his quartet conveyed the 
timeless spirit of their hometown, 
while joining the Mission in thanking 
Canada for friendship in time of need. 
 
c) Close Ties with Allies and Friends-institutional collaboration. 
 
Canada rightly asserts its 
independence and distinctiveness from 
its large southern neighbor in 
respectful (and sometimes less 
respectful) debates on public policy. 
The discussion of Canada-U.S. 
contrasts often morphs into perceived 
diverging values, to the point where 
some polls of Canadian youth indicate 
they consider the United States a 
greater threat to their country than 
China is.  The Mission places a 
priority on countering such 
perceptions with genuine dialogue on 
the historical bases for our separate 
tracks of development, but in the 
context of the tremendous common 
values we share, namely, a respect for 
the rights and dignity of the 
individual, the rights of citizens to 
choose their political leaders, and 
freedom of speech, religion and 
association.  The Mission has 
supported several efforts to highlight 
for the Canadian public our shared 
histories.  A few examples follow. 
 
The Embassy partnered with the 
National Library of Canada to present 
and publicize an exhibit of archival 
books, manuscripts, maps, posters, and 
artworks that illustrated the cross- 
border journeys, communications and 
cooperation that have helped build our 
countries and cultures.  Research 
librarian Jan Cellucci co-curated the 
"On the Road" exhibit. 
 
The Embassy supported an exchange of 
documents and production of microfilm 
of original manuscripts held by the 
Massachusetts Historical Society to 
enrich the Library and Archives 
Canada's ability to interpret the 
colonial period political, economic, 
and social interaction between eastern 
Canada and the northeastern (U.S.) 
colonies.  The material will help 
balance the New France digitization 
project materials, undertaken in 
coordination with the National Library 
of France, in describing Canada's 
development and relations with what 
would become the United States. 
 
International Partnership Among 
Museums grants have enabled Canadian 
institutions to present to the public 
a) timeline and cross-border 
migration displays developed between 
Pier 21 Museum in Halifax and the 
Ellis Island Museum; b) exhibits and 
school curriculum to compare and 
contrast approaches to the British 
colonial power by colonies in what is 
now the United States and in then- 
British Canada during the 
revolutionary war period, to be 
undertaken by the Chateau Ramezay 
Museum in Montreal and Colonial 
Williamsburg in Virginia. 
 
¶3. 
¶Q.  WHAT KIND OF SPECIFIC CULTURAL OR SPORTS PROGRAMS OR 
INITIATIVES ARE, OR WOULD BE, MOST EFFECTIVE IN SUPPORTING 
THOSE OBJECTIVES?   PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR ASSESSMENT OF THE 
RELATIVE USEFULNESS OF VISUAL ARTS PROGRAMS (EXHIBITIONS, 
PAPER SHOWS), PERFORMING ARTS ACTIVITIES (MUSIC, THEATER, 
DANCE), FILM AND VIDEO PROGRAMS, AND SPORTS PROGRAMS. 
PLEASE ADDRESS ALSO THE VALUE OF INDEPENDENT SHOWS OR 
PERFORMANCES, PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE OR 
INSTITUTION-TO-INSTITUTION EXCHANGES, AND BROADCAST 
CULTURAL INFORMATION/EVENTS.  IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS NOT 
COVERED ABOVE, PLEASE INCLUDE THEM. 
 
Post response: 
The usefulness of cultural 
programming tools relies less on the 
media/genre and more on the message 
they convey.  As noted above, the 
post has both enhanced dialogue with 
visual arts exhibits, and conversely, 
enhanced music and dance performances 
with dialogue.  With Halifax hosting 
the 2014 Commonwealth games and 
Vancouver hosting the 2010 Olympic 
games, programming sports figures may 
work well in coming years.  In 
general, the post seeks opportunities 
to engage Canadians in direct 
interaction with artists, speakers, 
and Embassy/Consulates/USG officials 
to increase support for U.S. policies 
(counterterrorism, regional 
security), and to overcome 
misconceptions and stereotypes of 
U.S. government and society that 
impede progress on MPP goals. 
Exhibits, paper shows, cultural 
performances, workshops, and 
institutional linkages all support 
these objectives. 
 
¶4. 
¶Q.  WHAT CONSTRAINTS DOES YOUR MISSION FACE IN EFFECTIVELY 
UTILIZING CULTURAL, ARTS, AND SPORTS PROGRAMS?  ARE THERE 
ART FORMS, SPORTS, OR CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS THAT DO NOT 
ENGAGE AUDIENCES IN YOUR COUNTRY?   ARE THERE OTHER 
CONSTRAINTS THAT LIMIT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THESE KINDS OF 
PROGRAMS IN YOUR COUNTRY?  DO YOU FACE INTERNAL STAFFING OR 
FUNDING CONSTRAINTS? 
 
Post response: 
Canadians enjoy a wide range of 
American cultural expressions.  The 
post can add value to existing 
cultural exchange by stimulating 
awareness of MPP issues through art, 
challenging stereotypes through 
interaction with artists, and building 
awareness of shared values and 
interests through art forms not 
commonly accessed via mass culture 
products.  However, public diplomacy 
staffing, spread thinly across the 
Mission's eight locations, and funding 
limit the amount and kind of cultural 
programming the post can undertake. 
 
The Mission regrets that Washington 
funding for Cultural Specialists, who 
might engage in extensive dialogue 
with youth and faculty audiences at 
art institutions, have been exhausted 
or unavailable for recent Canada 
requests.  We also regret that the 
Festival Fund, which once supported 
U.S. artist participation at overseas 
festivals, has been discontinued. 
These kinds of programs could 
contribute substantially to the 
Mission's efforts to influence target 
audiences. 
 
¶5. 
¶Q.  HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO PARTNER WITH THE PRIVATE 
SECTOR IN YOUR COUNTRY TO SPONSOR CULTURAL / SPORTS EVENTS, 
OR TO OVERCOME RESOURCE (STAFF AND FUNDING) CONSTRAINTS? 
PLEASE INCLUDE SPECIFIC EXAMPLES. 
 
Post response: 
Per the examples in paragraph 2 above, 
the post's cultural programming takes 
place primarily in collaboration with 
the presentations or projects of 
Canadian cultural institutions.  The 
post's budget and staffing do not 
generally support coverage of 
professional performance fees or 
rental of exhibition venues, but can 
sometimes offset artists' travel 
costs, master class honoraria or 
associated costs to involve youth 
audiences with visiting artists.  In 
some cases, the post co-hosts 
representational events to promote 
dialogue between target audience 
members and visiting artists. 
Wilkins