C'mon, people… let's start talking about arts and culture during this election! We’re trying, but not everyone running for office wants to engage in this important discussion. We tried to arrange a live debate between candidates from the different parties regarding their respective arts and cultural platforms - no luck.
Read MoreDear Mr. Campbell,
Congratulations on your victory last night. You must be honoured to be among of a select group of Premiers who have been elected for a third term.
Read MoreCitizens in Metro Vancouver’s 24 cities, municipalities, villages and districts went to the polls on Saturday, November 19th to elect their respective mayors, city councilors and, in Vancouver, park board commissioners, and your Alliance for Arts and Culture prepared for the elections by sending the candidates a survey to determine their views on the role of arts, culture, and heritage in a civil society in general and your community in particular.
Read MoreCitizens in Metro Vancouver’s 24 cities, municipalities, villages and districts go to the polls on Saturday, November 19th to elect their respective mayors, city councilors and, in Vancouver, park board commissioners.
To ensure that arts and culture are part of the campaign conversation, the Alliance for Arts and Culture has developed a survey to ask the positions of candidates on arts, culture, and heritage issues facing the creative sector in our society and local communities.
All candidates have been asked the following questions:
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Some of our Alliance members have been reporting some disturbing news regarding current investments in the arts. Music BC, for instance, has reported that the funding it receives from the province to administer a grant program for touring has been frozen. There are also reports about multi-year gaming grants recipients being told that their funding has been frozen due to the election. The response from officials has been, "As there is an election in process, only interim budgets were approved. We are still sorting all of that out. We should be done with that soon.”
How many more of you are able to confirm these freezes? Is this just because there is currently an election being run or are these portents of future cuts to the arts? We should ask these questions during this election.
This is a guest post on the behalf of all the artists and administrators working tirelessly to restore the cuts to the BC Arts Council, and a call to action for British Columbians everywhere. It’s time to step up.
Our BC Arts Council’s budget has been dealt a devastating blow.
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The NDP rolled out their provincial campaign platform this weekend, and the Alliance responded:
Read MoreReaction to arts pledge cautious By Mary Frances Hill, The Vancouver Sun April 11, 2009 An arts and culture lobby group is taking a cautious approach to the New Democratic Party's campaign promise to restore funding to cultural programs across the province and create a capital plan for the B.C. Arts Council. In Take Back Your B.C., the NDP's 46-page campaign platform, the party devotes half a page to pledges to aid arts, culture and tourism. Leader Carole James promised to restore the provincial government's arts funding cuts for this year, increase the B.C. Arts Council's budget, and award the council -- a government agency -- a $50-million capital fund to invest in cultural projects. Alliance for Arts and Culture executive director Amir Ali Alibhai said he was pleased to see a mention of arts and culture in any election platform. "The arts are part of stimulating growth and recovery," he said. But he was wary of campaign promises. "I'm cautious because of the track record of the NDP," Alibhai said. "The last time they were in, there was a 25-per-cent cut in the B.C. Arts Council's [budget]." That was during the recession of the early 1990s. The Alliance advocates for the interests of about 350 arts and cultural groups in B.C., such as theatres and dance companies, and individual artists. The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts' 2009-2012 service plan shows the projected base funding for arts and culture programs dropping from $19.5 million in 2008-09 to $11.9 million in 2009-10 and $9.6 million in 2010-11. Alibhai said history has seen governments consider arts and culture spending as a frill. Spencer Herbert, NDP MLA for Vancouver-West End, said arts funding acts as an economic stimulus, generating about $1.36 in taxes for every dollar spent, "just from the multiplying effect of keeping the dollars in the economy locally."
As we gear up for a provincial election, it is more important than ever to engage with our provincial leaders (and aspiring leaders) to let them know that arts and culture are a vital part of a sustainable future for British Columbia. As you know, there are significant and potentially devastating cuts to arts and culture in the 2009 service plan for the Province of BC. The Alliance has sent a letter to Minister Bill Bennett about the issue, and we are urging all our members to write their own letters to Minister Bennett and your local MLA, and to please copy the Alliance on any correspondence.
We are advising everyone to adhere to the following talking points:
Read More[caption id="attachment_156" align="alignright" width="150" caption="All-Candidates Debate at Stanley Theatre (photo by Mischa Bartkow)"]
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In an innovative departure from the usual all-candidates debates, the Alliance for Arts & Culture will host a “live-blogging” forum on May 4th at 4pm with Spencer Herbert (NDP candidate), Vanessa Violini (Green Party candidate). At this point, no Liberal Party candidate has chosen to participate; however, Bill Bennett, Liberal candidate and former Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts – who cited prior commitments - will post a prepared statement on behalf of the Liberals. We have asked each candidate to begin the session with a response to the two questions:
We will then begin with questions submitted online.
Read MoreJessica Werb wrote an interesting article for the Georgia Straight about the conspicuous absence of arts and culture in the BC Liberal's election platform. In it, she notes that, "While the arts have taken a back seat in the election to talk of the economy and public safety, both the NDP and the Greens made a point of including cultural support in their election promises." For the complete article, click Read More
Perhaps it is because of the election, but according to the latest report from the Canadian Conference of the Arts, which gives an overview comparing different Canadian provinces’ responses to the economic crisis, only BC has made cuts in their budget for arts and culture.
Read MoreThe Alliance for Arts and Culture is a proud partner in Arts Coalition BC, a network of British Columbia's arts service organizations. Together, we strive to raise the profile of arts and culture and address common issues with a unified voice. The coalition's new website summarizes our positions on key provincial topics such as the BC Arts Council, Community Gaming Grants, and the newly formed Creative BC.
Read More [caption id="attachment_146" align="alignleft" width="135" caption="Photo by Trevor Brady, The Georgia Straight"]
[/caption] A message from the Executive Director: So yet again the arts and cultural sector seem to fall off the table. The NDP and Green platforms for BC Election 2009 addressed arts and culture and made some encouraging promises. The Liberals have, thus far, described their rather impressive track-record, without addressing the large cuts to come to the BC Arts Council in the near future, nor including the significant arts and cultural industries in their platform, except a minor mention of the Film sector. I get it. This election is clearly about the Economy; it is about Health, Education, Environment; it is about Social Services and values; it is about the next four years – our future. It is about the sustainability of our families and communities. It is about survival.
Today (Monday, April May 4, 2009), at 4pm, we will be hosting a live debate on arts and culture with Spencer Herbert (NDP) and Vanessa Violini (Green Party) in the comments section of this blog post. To participate, simply submit a question in the comment field. (Note: submitting a question does not guarantee inclusion in the debate - we have a wide range of topics to cover and may not have time to address all issues). Important note: To watch this event unfold in real-time, you may need to continually refresh your browser.
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