Question Period Note: Cultural Property Export Permit Issued to Emily Carr painting Skedans

The Globe and Mail is reporting that a painting from Emily Carr, Skedans (1912), valued at several millions of dollars, was cleared for export despite an error on the cultural property export permit. This reflects negatively on the Expert Examiner component of the cultural property export permit application process. Canadian Heritage’s view is that this was a simple administrative error that would not have changed the granting of the permit itself.

• Expert Examiner recommendations are based on an assessment of objects meeting - or not - the “Outstanding Significance / National Importance” criteria. Due process for this application was followed and a recommendation for a permit to be issued for Skedans was made.
• The administrative error on the permit application regarding the Control List is the result of a misunderstanding with CBSA and not the rationale for the Expert’s recommendation to issue the permit. The Expert confirmed that the painting was on the Control List.
• The Government of Canada remains committed to the Expert Examiner process regarding export permit application reviews under the Cultural Property Export and Import Act.

• The Cultural Property Export and Import Act (CPEIA) offers a balance between allowing individual owners of cultural property to sell their private property on the international art market and the governments role to provide opportunities for heritage institutions to acquire significant examples of Canadas heritage. The Act sets out an export permit process for this purpose, and in the case of the Emily Carr painting Skedans (1912), that process was followed.
• The CPEIA authorizes the Minister to designate expert examiners to review permit applications and to recommend whether a permit be issued or refused based on an object meeting (or not) the “Outstanding Significance/ National Importance” (OS/NI) criteria. The Minister has designated 76 institutions across Canada to fulfil this function. Each designated expert examiner institution determines which of its curators or subject matter experts will review permit applications.
• The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) issued a permit for Skedans in June 2019. Before issuing the permit, the application was reviewed by the Assistant Curator of Canadian Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario (a designated expert examiner institution). Although the painting is on the Control List, the expert examiner found that the painting did not meet the criteria of “outstanding significance and national importance” (OS/NI) as set out in the CPEIA and recommended that the export permit be issued.
• CBSA issued the permit based on the expert examiner’s recommendation but made an administrative error while issuing the permit, based on a misunderstanding with the Expert Examiner, using whiteout and changing the “yes” to a “no” in the question related to the painting being on the Control List or not. The administrative error does not affect the conclusion to issue the permit, and the Expert Examiner has confirmed that the painting was on the Control List.
• While the export permit was issued in accordance with the process in the CPEIA, the Globe and Mail and other media outlets have expressed concern about the painting having been granted a cultural property export permit. The use of whiteout in particular is being questioned, likely as a potential rationale for the Expert Examiner’s decision to recommend issuance of the permit, which is not the case.
• Notwithstanding the error on the Control List bullet, the correct step was undertaken by CBSA who issued the permit as was recommended by the Expert Examiner. The Department remains committed to the expertise system in place to ensure proper implementation of the CPEIA.

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