Getting Political: Tom Durrie Joins Forces With Alliance In Pressing Leadership Hopefuls for Answers

Earlier this year the Alliance issued an Open Letter to all provincial party leaders and leadership hopefuls in the Liberal and NDP races. The letter also went to the Green Party leader and to spokespersons for the currently leaderless BC Conservative and BC First parties.

Tom Durrie of Arts Advocacy BC has now joined forces with the Alliance to follow up on our Open Letter, pressing the candidates and party representatives to respond.  We are asking for a yes-or-no answer to four questions that are basic to the arts community's concerns. If elected to their party's leadership, and subsequently elected premier, would they:

1. Restore arts funding to the 2008/09 levels?

2. Honour the 1999 agreement to allocate one-third of gaming revenues to non-profits, or agree to renegotiate that agreement in good faith?

3. Take measurable steps during their first mandate to raise BC's per capita funding of the arts to at least the national average?

4. Engage in an arts commuinty driven consultation to create a cultural development and arts funding policy for BC?

These are pretty straightforward questions, and they require simple yes or no answers. Tom will be pressing the politicians for yes and no answers, and reporting back to us as he gets them --- or doesn't.

We will also be sharing these answers with the media and the public in a series of media releases, making clear to everyone who really supports the arts in BC.

Stay tuned!