In its report, the Royal Commission on Arts, Letters and Sciences wrote the following: “Canada became a national entity because of certain habits of mind and convictions which its people shared and would not surrender.” Do you agree with this argument and view of Canadian history?
How does the commission report situate the modern conditions of leisure in its analysis of arts and culture?
“In a country which boasts of freedom based on law and inspired by Christian principles, it is perhaps unnecessary to say that education is not primarily a responsibility of the state at all, whether provincial or federal. Education is primarily a personal responsibility, as well as a fundamental right of the individual considered as a free and rational being.” Do you agree with the commission’s view of the right of education?
Why did the commissioners describe their work as timely and urgent?
How do the commissioners justify recommending greater state support for fostering arts and letters?
Why did the commission recommend the establishment of a “Canada Council for the Encouragement of the Arts, Letters, Humanities and Social Sciences”?
If another Royal Commission on the arts, letters, humanities, and social sciences were held today, what would you want it to investigate? What should be its mandate?
