By Colin Robertson

August 4, 2025

With Donald Trump questioning our sovereignty and national identity, cultural diplomacy has taken on new meaning and importance.

Cultural diplomacy is not just serving maple syrup-glazed salmon at embassy dinners. It’s about how we define the Canadian soul for a global audience.

The spirit of Canada is captured in everything from the unmistakable voices of Shania Twain and Drake, the mysteries of Louise Penny, the Emmy-winning humanism of Schitt’s Creek, the paintings of Indigenous artist Christi Belcourt, the athleticism of NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and gold medalist Summer McIntosh draped in the maple leaf.

As Thomas D’Aquino and Susan Peterson D’Aquino recently argued in these pages, there has never been a more important time to project “Canadian uniqueness” on the world stage.

That uniqueness also generates jobs and business for Canada. A report prepared by Statistics Canada for the Canada Council estimated last year that exports of our culture and sport products was worth over $24.5 billion. Not surprisingly, our biggest markets are the United States and Europe.

A new book and a new essay argue that cultural diplomacy must be an integral part of our new foreign policy, harnessing the talents of our athletes, authors, artists, actors, musicians and scholars.

Sarah Smith, the Canada Research Chair in Art, Culture and Global Relations at Western University, argues that Canada’s cultural contribution reflects our diversity, climate and geography in her scholarly book, Trading on Art: Cultural Diplomacy and Free Trade in North America.

Trading on Art draws on Smith’s ongoing research as well as interviews with curators and artists involved in the visual arts.

Personally resonant was Smith’s account of the 49thParallel Gallery for contemporary art. Located in Soho, a global hub of the international art scene, the 49th Parallel promoted Canadian experimental artists with Michael Snow as the debut exhibition. Operated initially by our Consulate General in New York, the gallery opened in March 1981. I was there, serving then as our most junior vice consul. My responsibilities included cultural diplomacy, especially the promotion of Canadian studies.

The 49th Parallel lasted just over a decade before the bean-counters decided it was both too expensive and too experimental for bureaucratic sensibilities. Sadly, promoting Canadian studies and cultural diplomacy generally is also greatly diminished, victims of short-sighted parsimony.

Assessing cultural diplomacy only in terms of ‘dollars returned’ is like trying to put a price on identity. The art exhibited at 49th Parallel drew an audience, not just the radical chic, but Wall Street bankers, politicians and UN ambassadors — 6,000 visitors every Saturday in its first month.

Colin Robertson interviews author Sarah Smith for his CGAI Global Exchange podcast/CGAI

Consul General Ken Taylor brought his own élan and enthusiasm to the initiative. Hero of the Tehran hostage crisis — for which he received the Congressional Gold Medal and the Order of Canada — Taylor understood the value of cultural diplomacy in advancing our financial interests on Wall Street and our trade in the region. We need to resurrect this appreciation in the new generation of trade commissioners.

Complementing Smith’s discussion of visual art is a new essay Margaret Atwood Inc.: A Force Multiplier in Canadian Literary Diplomacy and Cultural Statecraft by Evan Potter, associate professor in communications and public diplomacy at the University of Ottawa.

For 60 years, argues Potter, through tools like the Canada Book Fund, Canadian statecraft has leveraged Atwood’s work and her frequent appearances at literary festivals to enhance Canada’s image, reinforce bilateral diplomatic relations, increase cultural exports, and promote Canadian values and perspectives globally.

Potter is right. In a world characterized by dis/misinformation so, too, is his conclusion that, “the role of Canadian writers in shaping global perceptions of theircountry has become more crucial than ever.”

My first event as consul general in Los Angeles was the launch of Atwood’s The Blind Assassin, which filled all 1800 seats in UCLA’s Royce Hall auditorium.

Afterwards, while Atwood spent an hour signing books, I worked the line. I learned three things:

First, that for her admirers, Margaret Atwood personifies their idea of Canada as a kinder, gentler version of America. Second, Angelenos are big readers. As the books editor for the Los Angeles Times would later tell me, “The entertainment industry starts with the word…the magic of Hollywood begins with a script and lyrics.” Third, Hollywood is filled with star-spangled Canadians happy to open doors. A priority was promoting film and television production in Canada. It is especially big business in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. In 2021/2022, this industry contributed over $13.73 billion to Canada’s GDP, supporting over 244,000 jobs.

Our cultural diplomacy in Los Angeles also included our annual hosting of Canadian Oscar nominees and inaugurating an annual Juno party for music producers, creating a talent guide of Canadians in the industry and opening the official residence to events supporting our film, music, sports, and literary talent.

Cultural diplomacy helps define a Canada that transcends the divides of language, race, gender and passport.

The Carney government promises a foreign policy review.  Their starting point for reinvigorating our  cultural diplomacy should be the Canadian Senate’s Foreign Affairs committee report (2019) Cultural diplomacy at the front stage of Canada’s foreign policy.

Based on months of testimony and hearings championed by now retired Senator Patricia Bovey, former director of the Winnipeg and Victoria art galleries, the report provides a comprehensive roadmap for upgrading our cultural diplomacy, including developing a strategy with measurable goals and objectives linked to dedicated, long-term funding; cross-government partnerships and coordination; reducing barriers to international cultural exchange; and training in cultural diplomacy.

Both Smith and Potter pay homage to the role of our cultural community as our unofficial ambassadors, crystallizing who we are for a distracted world. At a time when our sovereignty and identity is questioned, that role has never been more important.

Contributing Writer Colin Robertson, a former career diplomat, is a fellow and host of the Global Exchange podcast with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute in Ottawa.