Decimating the Arts in Canada

CBC Petition to ask the Federal Government of Canada to keep its election promise

2011-12-02T22:52:00.000-08:00

Harper government, enemy of the arts?

2011-05-01T22:20:00.000-07:00

Harper government, enemy of the arts?

Excellent article on the Conservative party's complete absence during the election campaign whenever an arts and culture debate presented.

EXCERPT

OTTAWA — Liberal, NDP and Green Party representatives were there. Even Communist and Marijuana candidates made it to Ottawa’s Cube Gallery last week for an all-party debate on arts policy. But there was no Conservative representation — and should we be surprised?
A couple of nights later, the Canadian Conference of The Arts, the country’s leading cultural service organization, organized another such gathering in the national capital — and again, the Tories did not attend.
Meanwhile, in Montreal, more than 70 arts organizations from across the country unveiled a major election manifesto calling for a renewed commitment by all political stripes to support the arts. Arts leaders also requested meetings with party representatives to discuss the document. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff was quick to oblige, as were NDP and Bloc Quebecois candidates. Again, there was no response from the Conservatives.
There’s a pattern here, and it runs across the country…

Read more

New Boss, Same Old Stursberg Manifesto

2011-01-31T14:17:00.000-08:00

New Boss, Same Old Stursberg Manifesto

An article on CBC English Services Stursberg replacement Kirstine Stewart :still waiting for change…

Open Letter to Minister Krueger from Book Publishers of BC

2010-09-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

Click on the title to read the article.

EXCERPT:

Not only is publishing and the arts in general an economic engine in this province, but they also contribute, just as importantly, to the health and welfare of our communities. In the literary arts sector, our authors tell the stories that define who we are as British Columbians whether urban or rural residents, young or old, aboriginal, scholar, worker, child. Our books reflect the lives of our ranchers, wine makers, stockbrokers, fishers, foresters or art critics; as well, they contribute to Canadian literature and scholarship.

Yet, the institutions that make it possible to ensure our books are read in schools or on ferries, by tourists or residents, are still threatened despite the return of $7M to the BCAC budget. For example, BC BookWorld, a magazine that reviews books and includes articles on our many, many writers and publishers, and which reaches all communities in the province, had its funding cut by 100%. The Magazine Association of BC that works on behalf of literary and commercial magazines was cut by 83.5%, and this association, the ABPBC, that ensures the health of the book industry by offering programs that evaluate books for educational use, that coordinates literary programs such as Poetry in Transit in every community in the province with a bus, and that is working to make our non-fiction written heritage available in digital form in libraries throughout the province, has been cut by 91%. A business person yourself, you can appreciate that cuts of over 20% of operating budgets, is unsustainable. As project clients of the BCAC none of these organizations will benefit from the return of $7M in funding to the BCAC, pointing out the continued need to restore the BCAC budget to its previous level, to include the funding from the defunct Arts and Culture section that originally served these clients, and to ensure stable funding for not just ourselves but all artists, arts organizations and cultural industries.

CANADIAN CONFERENCE OF THE ARTS OPEN LETTER TO PREMIER GORDON CAMPBELL

2010-08-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

TEXT OF CANADIAN CONFERENCE OF THE ARTS OPEN LETTER TO PREMIER GORDON CAMPBELL

The Right Honourable Gordon Campbell Premier Government of British Columbia P.O. Box 9041 Stn Prov Govt. Victoria BC V8W 9E1

By mail and email August 20th, 2010 Dear Premier Campbell,

Re: Cuts to the BC arts sector

I am writing again to you today on behalf of the Board of Governors of the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) to express our deep concerns about the devastating cuts of provincial support to the arts and culture communities of British Columbia, as well as about the resignation of the widely respected BC Arts Council Chair, Ms. Jane Danzo.

As the largest and oldest Canada-wide organization in the arts, culture and heritage sector, the CCA does not often intervene in issues of provincial concern. Founded 65 years ago, the CCA’s mission is to be the national forum for the sector and to document and promote the development and implementation of cultural policies at the federal level. Our goal is to encourage and foster the health and growth of this important sector within Canada and to enhance the cultural life of Canadians.

However, we cannot remain silent when we hear how your government abandons its support to arts and culture organizations in British Columbia, many of which are members of ours. Past investments by BC governments, while for decades amongst the lowest per capita in Canada, have yielded remarkable results. Your province ranks amongst the first in Canada for the number and the quality of its artists and creators, notably in the visual arts, who have gained your province and the country an international reputation.

Last year’s success of the BC Scene event at the National Arts Centre was a clear illustration of the incredible talent and creative power of your province’s artistic community. And if further proof were required, all three levels of government recognized the importance of arts and culture by investing considerable sums of money to showcase Canadian and British Columbian talent at the Cultural Olympiad during the very successful Winter Olympics, thus confirming the contribution the arts make to Canada’s image abroad.

It bears repeating once again that the arts and culture sector is at the vanguard of the shift to a post-industrial economy which must be strategically guided by Canada’s various levels of government. According to documents produced by your own Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, BC’s arts and culture sector employs close to 80 000 people and contributes over $5 billion to the provincial economy. BC has the largest percentage of its labour force in arts occupations and, as such, ranks first amongst the ten provinces. The arts are a growth sector in most Canadian cities and Vancouver boasts the third largest concentration of professional artists in Canada.

Moreover, British Columbia’s population represents much of the cultural diversity that increasingly characterizes Canadian society. As such, investing in the arts and culture sector should be a strong component of your government’s strategy to tap this inexhaustible natural resource to advance creativity, boost the economy, lead to greater social cohesion and contribute to our identity as a nation.

In this context, we are appalled to hear the extremely severe financial cuts that BC arts organizations are being hit with further to your government’s decisions, both through cuts to the budget of the BCAC and through the elimination of support from gaming grants. This is made particularly dramatic given the fact that like the rest of the arts and culture sector across the country, those organizations still have to feel the full impact of the recent recession. We are equally concerned that major policy shifts, made without consultation with the BC Arts Council, have set irresponsible and indefensible precedents.

On that front, we want to reassert the importance of the arm’s length relationship which must exist between governments, politicians and cultural granting agencies. Arts and politics do not mix well: this is why so many countries, including Canada and most provinces, have established independent Arts Councils and rely on peer jury systems as the best possible way of granting money to artists and cultural organizations. This is a characteristic of healthy democracies and remains the best way to encourage innovation and creativity in a nation. Like our colleagues in BC, we applaud Ms. Danzo’s courageous decision to resign in protest of both the drastic cuts imposed by your government and the fact that BCAC does not possess the independence normally given to such granting agencies.

For all those reasons, we find it ill-advised that provincial investments in the arts and culture sector be drastically and unfairly cut to help balance the books. With all due respect, we submit that this is a strategic error that will have negative impacts not only on tourism and economic development but also severely compromise the role your province plays in defining Canadian identity at home and abroad.

The Canadian Conference of the Arts therefore urges you and your government to think of the long-term interests of British Columbians and to reverse the current policy regarding the arts, which can only be described as short-view and contrary to the interests not only of British Columbians but of all Canadians. We also submit that the BC Arts Council should be restructured on the model of other Arts Councils in Canada and in other countries and enjoy the independence which is necessary to a thriving arts community.

Yours truly, Kathleen Sharpe President

CC The Hon. Kevin Krueger, Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts The Hon. Colin Hansen, Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier

A Response to Arts Funding Cuts

2010-08-02T21:46:00.001-07:00

A Response to Arts Funding Cuts

Excerpt:

We are the land of Glenn Gould and Nickelback, Jon Vickers and kd lang, Margaret Atwood and Doug Coupland, Luminato and The Fringe — and every kind of art in between.

Where does the government imagine these artists come from? Do they wander in off the street, fully-prepared to perform? Of course not. They are trained, educated, given apprenticeships and innumerable opportunities to perform. They are given forums like festivals and films and much more, and they are given the means to make art.

Some philistines argue that the arts should pay their own way. This is aberrant nonsense. Canadian art is more than arenas full of visiting American rockers. Canadian art is who we are as a people.

Money is NOT the measure of merit. It is a means of supporting merit.

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A less proud country

2010-07-28T10:47:00.001-07:00

A few months ago, Ned Franks, a retired political science professor and constitutional expert, spoke in the wake of the proroguing of Parliament (yet again). He gave compelling statistical evidence that the rapid turnover of MPs and senior ministry staff in recent years has left Parliament weak and dysfunctional. Parliament sits less now, and when things don't go the way the PM likes it, he just shuts it down. A power vacuum has been created, and the PMO is rapidly filling it."We should call him King Stephen the First of Canada," says Franks, "for that, in effect, is the way he is behaving."

A less proud country

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GVPTA | Vancouver Live Theatre News

2010-07-28T10:17:00.001-07:00

GVPTA | Vancouver Live Theatre News

EXCERPT:

Kevin Krueger, BC’s Minister of Tourism, Culture, and the Arts, recently announced that this $10M (curiously similar to the amount missing from the BC Arts Council operating budget) will be allocated to 2010 Sports and Arts Legacy Fund and the creation of “Spirit Festivals.” There are still no details regarding these festivals. Minister Krueger says “[The Spirit Festivals] are intended to build on the phenomenal success of the Cultural Olympiad.” (Read the coverage here or here.)

You know what would be a perfect way to build on the success of the Cultural Olympiad? Not cutting core funding to the professional arts organizations that actually made it happen. Call me crazy.

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Bulk of $10-million arts legacy fund going to B.C. Spirit Festival Days, NDP MLA says | Vancouver, Canada | Straight.com

2010-07-09T14:08:00.001-07:00

Bulk of $10-million arts legacy fund going to B.C. Spirit Festival Days, NDP MLA says | Vancouver, Canada | Straight.com

Excerpt:

“They’ve eviscerated the B.C. Arts Council by cutting them by 50 percent, they’ve decimated gaming funding. People just want stable funding for the arts, distributed by a jury process,” Chandra Herbert said.

“I hope these are not going to be government propaganda festivals,” he added, pointing out the festival will run in the three years that lead up to the next election.

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Terrace: Art gallery future uncertain after losing gaming grants

2010-06-02T21:38:00.001-07:00

Terrace: Art gallery future uncertain after losing gaming grants

EXCERPT:

Members called the gaming commission while filling out grant papers in early April and were told they no longer qualified because the program had changed and only youth oriented groups would be receiving money, said Irving.

The art gallery has been here for 29 years and was free to visit.

About 6,250 visitors come to the gallery every year and about 22 classes have come through the gallery this past school year.

“The loss of the gallery would be a serious blow to local artists,” said Irving.

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The Truth About BC Gaming Grants

2010-05-27T11:51:00.000-07:00

by Spencer Chandra Herbert, MLA, Vancouver West End

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Dear Friends of BC Arts and Culture,

This week we learned that the BC Liberal government has dealt another blow to the arts and culture community. It was brought to light that the limited gaming funds announced in the March 2010 Budget in fact exclude a large number of the arts and culture festivals and programs for children previously believed to be supported by the gaming branch.

In the March 2010 Budget the BC Liberal government announced its 50% cuts to funding for arts through BC gaming grants, and the arts community was understandably disappointed. What remained was funding for youth programming, as well as fairs, festivals and museums.

Arts and culture organizations that work in these areas breathed a sigh of relief that funding for their programs would not be axed, unlike so many other arts and culture initiatives that were denied gaming funding this year. Festivals and fairs as well as youth focused arts organizations have been planning their season’s programming, and spending much time putting in their applications for gaming funds confident that they were eligible to be considered to receive support from the gaming branch.

Unfortunately I learned this week from Ministry officials that the BC Liberal government has decided behind closed doors without notification to anyone that the definition of a "community cultural celebration" does not include "fringe festivals, dance festivals, film festivals, writers festivals, and music festivals" which are now largely ineligible to receive support. I asked what their definition of youth and children's programming was and they told me that unless youth, or children were the performers and the producers of the show then companies that produce shows for young audiences were ineligible.

It seems that the BC Liberal government believes that they know best what is "worthy" arts and culture in BC and which is not. This is a perfect example of why peer reviewed funding bodies like the BC Arts Council are important. They take the politics out of who receives support, and put those decisions in the hands of the community.

Myself as Critic, Carole James, and the entire Official Opposition continue to speak out and call on the BC Liberal government to repeal its devastating cuts to arts and culture in BC. Today I stood up in the Legislature to decry this recent blow to BC's arts community - you can click here to watch my questions to Minister Coleman and read the recent Globe and Mail and Georgia Straight articles on these cuts. We encourage you to write to Minister Coleman and Minister Krueger to protest this unfair and arbitrary decision.

As the summer approaches and I return from Victoria when the Legislature closes in early June - I look foward to working and meeting with artists, arts and culture organizations, and your supporters. I welcome your emails and phone calls with feedback, suggestions and ways that we can work together to restore much needed funding and support for arts and culture in BC.

Sincerely,

Spencer Chandra Herbert
Official Opposition Critic for Tourism, Culture and the Arts
MLA - Vancouver West End
www.spencerchandraherbert.ca

The Tyee — Whose Digital Media Revolution?

2010-05-06T09:34:00.000-07:00

The Tyee — Whose Digital Media Revolution?

EXCERPT:

Why would a media fund dedicated to "innovation" and "leveling the playing field" provide guaranteed envelopes of cash to old media outlets that are the least likely to innovate, while not even consulting with many of the media innovators in this country? Furthermore, why has neither the public nor many media innovators in this country been consulted, especially when there exists clear evidence that public and independent media organizations are more likely to provide innovative content and services.

Most importantly, the industry consultation neglects citizens -- you and I -- who will be responsible for contributing $134.7 million per year to the fund. Shouldn't we have a role in deciding how the money is spent?

On closing music programs and Programs of Choice in the Vancouver Public School System and province-wide

2010-05-03T20:45:00.000-07:00

An Open Letter to the Vancouver School Board and the Government of British Columbia.

On the subject of closing music programs and Programs of Choice in the Vancouver Public School System and province-wide.

I write to you today, on "Music Monday" May 3 (link to press release below), to argue against the closure of music programs and Programs of Choice in BC Schools. My name is John Oliver. I am a full-time freelance composer whose works have been commissioned by major Canadian musical institutions, including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Canadian Opera Company. My composition, "Five-ring Concerto," was commissioned by Vancouver's Turning Point Ensemble as part of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Cultural Olympiad. As part of my collaboration with Turning Point Ensemble, I am working as an invited guest with young composers at a Metro Vancouver secondary school. This music program is so vibrant that there are over 20 young composers eager to learn from a professional composer. I am also the father of two daughters, aged 11 and 13, enrolled in French Immersion programs in the New Westminster school District and active in the school music programs.

I attended Lord Byng High School from 1973-77. At that time, the Byng Band did not have a string section, but it was a respected band program. When I was growing up, there were no band programs in elementary schools at all, but most high schools had music programs with concert band at the core. Because I had demonstrated music talent early, my family paid for private guitar and clarinet lessons while I was in elementary school, though we had to pinch pennies to do so. It wasn't until I entered the high school band program that I was able to explore other instruments, such as flute, the various saxophones, bass clarinet and percussion.

In grade twelve I designed a special "directed-study" course, investigating music notation history from the earliest examples of music being written down to the most avant-garde and contemporary music notation. I was able to do this because during grades ten and eleven I had taken part in a satellite program for gifted, self-motivated students at Byng called "Self." This self-directed studies program encompassed English, History, and Physical Education. Students were required to design their own course of study in these subjects, picking their own activities and topics for study and essay-writing. We also produced our own theatre productions and planned educational trips.

I owe a great deal to the program offerings at my high school. I became a composer because of the breadth and depth of experience I gained within the Vancouver public school system Programs of Choice.

If the Vancouver School Board decides to close the band and other Programs of Choice, they will do irreparable harm. They will deprive our children of a hopeful, bright, interesting, and engaging school experience. They may save some money this year and next, but we will all pay for it in the end, including the cost of servicing the social ills that come with bored youth.

I believe that the BC government must stop funding private schools and put the savings into the public education system. Why should scarce public dollars fund private schools? Why should the wealthy be able to benefit from the mixture of public and private funding that will allow their private school to afford to offer a music program, while kids in public schools have their music program taken away from them?

Music Monday Press Release:
http://weallneedmusic.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/music-monday-2010-press-release/

[Link to this article using tinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/28wj8ut ]

Tovey on cuts to band programs at Vancouver School Board

2010-04-29T12:28:00.000-07:00

Click on the title to read the article. EXCERPT:

The proposal to cease investing in the Band and Strings Program is one that the VSO strongly urges the VSB to withdraw. In many Vancouver schools we have witnessed first hand the benefits of the VSB supported band and strings program. The option of a user-pay or school funded program does not embrace the inner city child whose only connection with live music may be the saxophone or drum set that has been offered to them. The saving of half a million dollars is paltry when considering the life enhancing benefits of this contact with the world of music. In fact, I doubt this amount would even buy a family home within 10 blocks of the illustrious VSB building on West Broadway. When I heard the actual figure I found it hard to believe so much had been achieved with so little.

I do not bring these remarks to you from a lofty aesthetic perch. I grew up in England in the East End of London – my father died when I was a boy. Without the band and orchestra experience that I benefitted from in the state school education that I received, I would never have been able to compete and succeed in the music profession. As a single parent my mother could not have afforded the cost of these activities. I have a personal motive for standing here tonight – I don’t want a kid like me to fall through the cracks because of this proposal.

CALLING ALL PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS - PLEASE WRITE LETTER TO SUPPORT BAND IN VANCOUVER SCHOOLS

2010-04-28T22:44:00.000-07:00

Click on the title to read the article. EXCERPT:

[BACKGROUND: The BC government is requiring BC schools to "meet their budget targets" with far less resources than ever before.]

"The budget shortfall affects all school districts in BC. Band programs across the board are on the chopping block. If children don’t have access to art programs in school, many will not have access, as parents can’t afford private lessons. What state is this province going to be in 5, 10, 20 years if children aren’t exposed to quality artistic practices through school? Please pass this call-out onto anyone who has a story to tell, we need them all."

Notes on a World Class City: Why I have declined to participate in the Olympic Celebrations : Vancouver Verse

2010-02-09T19:59:00.001-08:00

Notes on a World Class City: Why I have declined to participate in the Olympic Celebrations : Vancouver Verse

by Brad Cran, Poet Laureate of the City of Vancouver

Why have you not heard from the Poet Laureate of Vancouver during the leadup to the Olympic games? Click on the title to read the entire blog post from the Vancouver Verse Web Site. Every creative person in the city should read this to understand the corporate sponsorship problem of our Olympics.

EXCERPT:
If the muzzle clause, the harassment of journalists and the decimation of our cultural funding structures on the eve of the Cultural Olympiad were not enough to upset the ghost of George Woodcock then I’m sure this internal Library memo sent out to Vancouver Public Library staff should do the trick:

“Do not have Pepsi or Dairy Queen sponsor your event. Coke and McDonald’s are the Olympic sponsors. If you are planning a kids’ event and approaching sponsors, approach McDonald’s and not another well-known fast-food outlet. “

“If you have a speaker/guest who happens to work for Telus, ensure he/she is not wearing their Telus jacket as Bell is the official sponsor.”

“ If you have rented sound equipment and it is not Panasonic or you can’t get Panasonic, cover the brand name with tape or a cloth.”

“If you are approaching businesses in your area for support and there is a Rona and Home Depot, go to Rona. If there’s only a Home Depot don’t approach them as Rona is the official sponsor.”

If this is coming from our libraries, the custodians of the written word, where do we find the civic freedom that George Woodcock cherished and represented? Where do we find the essence of our highest civic honour, The Freedom of the City?

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The Face of BC Arts Cuts « The Art of the Business

2009-12-30T23:14:00.001-08:00

The Face of BC Arts Cuts « The Art of the Business

EXCERPT:

Recently, the City of Vancouver decided to close the Blodel Conservatory and the petting zoo at Stanley Park. It is my belief that this is because the Olympics are causing huge cost overruns, and the City has to figure out some way to make up that deficit. The Blodel Conservatory costs only about $400,000 to keep open. And closing the Blodel will have an effect on another young company that I work with: ITSAZOO Productions. Their biggest show of the year for the past two years is an annual, outdoor, promenade-style show that regularly sells out because it’s fun and takes advantage of a beautiful park setting in the middle of the summer.

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Canadian Conference of the Arts - Musical Diversity Funding: a pre-Holiday Discordant Report

2009-12-14T15:27:00.001-08:00

CCA Bulletin 30/09
All issues available on the CCA web site.
Disponible en français au site web du CCA.

December 14, 2009

Musical Diversity Funding: a pre-Holiday Discordant Report
Just the facts

On December 9, the Standing Committee on Heritage presented its report on the three hearings on the abolition of the Musical Diversity Programs ($ 1.3m) administered by the Canada Council of the Arts on behalf of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

The programs abolished targeted the recording and distribution of so-called “specialized” music, i.e. “music whose intent or content is not shaped by the desire for wide market appeal – instead, it places creativity, self-expression or experimentation above the demands and format expectations of the mainstream recording industry. Specialized music has significance beyond being just entertainment.” (Report, p.2) Funding will be transferred to FACTOR/MusicAction to support digital market development and international market development.

The Report calls for a return of these funds to the Canada Council for the Arts, for distribution to the sector. The three specific recommendations include:

Recommendation 1

The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage commends the work of FACTOR, MusicAction, the Canada Music Fund and the Canada Council of the Arts for promoting and developing Canadian talent.

Recommendation 2

The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage restore, in its entirety, the Canadian Musical Diversity Component within the Canada Music Fund. In addition, the committee recommends that additional funding be allocated to the Canada Council for the Arts to further support the grants program for recording and distributing specialized music.

Recommendation 3

The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage did not hear evidence from the witnesses or from the Evaluation of 2007 that justified the cuts to the Canadian Musical Diversity Component. (Report, p.8)

This set of hearings was imposed by Opposition members of the Committee and the resulting report is illustrative of the atmosphere that reigned throughout the proceedings. Despite the attempt of several witnesses to portray a clear vision of the system without a political agenda, it was clear from the beginning that Committee members were set on staging the cuts in a political light.

One of the regrettable side-effects of this process is that it pitted FACTOR/MusicAction and the Canada Council for the Arts against each other. The result was that the issue at hand became muddled, digressing from the importance of funding experimentation and exploration from a non-commercial perspective in art and culture in general and in music in particular, just as in other sectors of activity.

This was the point made in the Canadian Conference of the Arts’ presentation to the Standing Committee which the Report summarizes this way:

“The Canadian Conference of the Arts was very pleased that the Canada Music Fund had been renewed for five years, but did not want this funding to come at the expense of other sectors of the music industry. Alain Pineau, the organization’s Director General, said he is very concerned about the elimination of the musical diversity component. Moreover, he stated that asking the Canada Council to use its own annual budget to compensate for the elimination of the program would ?in fact amount to some kind of cut.” (p.5)

It is worth nothing that FACTOR/MusicAction representatives have stated that they actually attach great importance to emerging artists and organizations that support their development - an assertion which apparently does not reassure a number of stakeholders. Time will tell.

Tell me more

On July 31, 2009, the Department of Canadian Heritage announced that the number of CMF components would be reduced from seven to five, with current support for the Canadian Musical Diversity Component and the Support to Sector Associations Component reallocated to the five remaining components. According to the Department’s news release, “this will result in the elimination of overlap in program delivery, a reduction of the administrative burden currently placed on a number of applicants, and better targeting of public funds to emerging priority activities.” The two emerging activities are digital market development and international market development.

One of purposes of the Committee’s study was to “determine how and why the Department of Canadian Heritage decided to make these cuts.” During the hearing, the NDP seriously challenged the value of the 2007 evaluation, which was put forward by Heritage officials to justify the decision.

This approach was taken also by the Bloc Québécois, both during the hearings and in the Bloc’s Complementary Opinion, where it accuses government officials of misreperesenting the evaluation report to cover what it calls an ideological decision by the government:

“Feeling the need to justify an unjustifiable decision after the fact, the Department quoted sentences from the 2007 report out of context and, when it could not find what it needed, it changed words and thereby the meaning and even contradicted statements in the report to justify the decision it had already made.” (p. 13)

The Bloc concludes its Opinion by asking once again that “negotiations be undertaken with the Government of Quebec towards an administrative agreement in order to transfer as soon as possible jurisdiction for the arts, culture and communications to the Government of Quebec, with the associated budgets.”

The government side of the Standing Committee voiced their stance by upholding the cuts. They say that they cannot agree that the summary of evidence presented in the Report provides a full enough picture of what was presented during the study, nor do they agree with the recommendations made in the Standing Committee report. They reiterate that the changes made to the Canada Music Fund were the results of a thorough and widespread consultation, contrary to what the report states.

The Dissenting Opinion repeats what had been a mantra throughout the hearings, namely a recitation of the actions taken by the government in renewing the Canada Music Fund, peppered with a series of selected quotes. One of those was from the CCA:

“The CCA has publicly rejoiced in the fact that the government has committed to a five-year renewal of the Canada Music Fund. We welcome the fact that the Minister of Canadian Heritage has recognized the need to increase the money available for digital and international market development. Those two sectors of activity will certainly benefit from the increased money they will receive through FACTOR and MUSICACTION.” (p. 16)

While this absolutely exact, it overlooks the CCA’s stance that the most welcomed increases to support the excellent work of FACTOR/MusicAction should not have been made at the expense of investing in musical diversity in a non-commercial context.

The government members conclude with assurance that: “Our Conservative Government understands the value of arts and culture to our communities, our identity, and our economy. That is why we have made unparalleled investments in this sector – investing more dollars in arts and culture than any Government in history.”

HERITAGE COMMITTEE CALLS FOR REVERSAL OF CUTS TO DIVERSITY PROGRAM

2009-12-13T10:28:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 9, 2009

HERITAGE COMMITTEE CALLS FOR REVERSAL OF CUTS TO
DIVERSITY PROGRAM

Evidence clearly showed the program’s value to the Canadian music scene: Angus
OTTAWA – Government cuts to the Canada Council should not only be reversed but the council should receive a funding increase, says a report by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage tabled yesterday in the House of Commons.

The cuts to the Canada Council's Grants for Specialized Music Sound Recording and Grants for Specialized Music Distribution had been previously announced by the Government.

The Committee heard in-person testimony from a wide range of witnesses, including representatives from the Heritage department; Canada Council for the Arts; FACTOR; Musicaction; Le Conseil québécois de la musique; and a host of independent musicians, producers and other stakeholders from a variety of disciplines. The committee also received dozens of written submissions from those who weren’t able to appear in person during the committee’s brief study.

New Democrat critic for Heritage and Culture Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay) said that the testimony heard by the committee clearly showed the need to reverse the damaging cuts.

“For whatever reason, the Conservatives made an awful decision here, and this committee’s report outlines, in detail, why the government should reverse these cuts,” said Angus. “The evidence we heard overwhelmingly illustrated how important these grants were, how little consultation there was with those who knew the most about the grants and how a relatively small amount of funding goes a long way with the Canada Council grants.”

The report reflects the testimony of the overwhelming majority of witnesses, who signalled their support for the Musical Diversity Program. Angus said that the report gives the Conservatives an open field to make up for their reckless decision to axe the grants.

“The Committee went step-by-step through the benefits, costs, and impact of the Musical Diversity Program, and came to the conclusion that any reasonable person would: that this program is important to the future of Canadian music,” he said. “The only reasonable explanation for inaction from the government at this point would be political considerations; it’s clear what the practical policy decision should be.”

The report also praised the work of FACTOR, Musicaction and the Canada Music Fund, and pointed out that there was no compelling justification found for the cuts to the diversity program in the first place.

-30-

For more information, please contact: Jeremy Huws – Office of Charlie Angus, 613-992-3165 or jeremy@charlieangus.net

Liberal-arts cuts are bad for B.C.’s economy -Peter Ladner

2009-12-11T19:52:00.001-08:00

www.bivinteractive.com - At Large: Peter Ladner

EXCERPT:

The arts are the infrastructure for a creative economy. Why would we be lowering taxes to attract new businesses and mobile employees, especially in the burgeoning new- media industries, while we undermine the performing artists and organizations that feed those industries and pull creative people into this province?

Flickr: ArtsCutsMemo

2009-12-04T19:04:00.001-08:00

Flickr: ArtsCutsMemo

Get creative about your anger over the arts cuts! Create a work of art that includes sticky notes. Anyone can do it. Click on the title above!

YouTube - "Movie" - BC Arts Funding Cuts PSA

2009-11-30T10:08:00.001-08:00

YouTube - "Movie" - BC Arts Funding Cuts PSA

This is what 92% funding cuts to the arts looks like

2009-11-27T08:49:00.000-08:00

New Arts Cuts PSA

2009-11-27T08:47:00.000-08:00

Life is grey without art

2009-11-26T14:46:00.001-08:00