Summary of Recommendations
1. Increase the Canada Book Fund from its current level of $39million per year to $48million, to maintain competitive capacity in Canadian publishing, support innovation in the sector, and strategically address the realities of today’s industry. This measure, first proposed in August 2013, will enable publishers to compete more effectively in discovering new voices, in developing new sales channels, in producing and marketing ebooks, and in raising the profile of all Canadian-authored books.
2. Increase the budget of the Canada Council for the Arts by $35million, as recommended by the Canadian Arts Coalition, in order to address the effects of inflation and to reflect the cultural sector’s important contributions to Canada’s economy. These funds will support a wide range of cultural organizations and artists, including writers and publishers of literary works, as they evolve to serve a diverse and growing Canadian population.
3. Ensure that reading and literacy programs for new Canadians, Aboriginal communities, at-risk youth, and others are well supported and maintained where they already exist and established where they do not.
4. Support the invitation for Canada to be Guest Country at the Frankfurt Book Fair, 2017, the most important gathering of the global book industry. As part of the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Confederation, this designation will provide Canada with an international showcase, not only for its authors and literature, but for all its arts and culture as well as foods, wines, tourism, and industry.