“Premier Ignored MLAs and His Own Finance Committee”
VICTORIA: Emerging from today’s budget lockup at the BC Legislature, Alliance for Arts and Culture executive director Amir Ali Alibhai, Victoria Symphony executive director Mitchell Krieger, and ProArt Alliance of Greater Victoria coordinator Scott Walker expressed disappointment at the budget’s half-hearted support for the arts in British Columbia.
Read MoreDecember 30, 2009
The Honourable Gordon Campbell
Premier of British Columbia
PO Box 9041 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC V8W 9E1
Dear Premier Campbell:
Re: Provincial Cutbacks to Cultural Services (original letter)
Read MoreDear artists and arts supporters,
Read MoreA significant first step was taken today when the Select Finance Committee recommended that arts funding be restored to 2008-09 levels in British Columbia. Now is the time to continue the pressure on the government to adopt the recommendations.
Read MoreCanada's long time support of its artists has helped them to achieve incredible heights both nationally and internationally in a variety of disciplines. For me personally, and for The National Ballet of Canada, government funding has allowed us to tour internationally and to keep our dancers and productions in the top tier of dance companies worldwide. Gaining this kind of acclaim on a worldwide scale, not just for our company but for our museums, symphonies, art galleries and artists as a whole, is critical to preserving Canada's place on the world map.
Read MoreCity of Vancouver Cultural Services has announced details of four opportunities to access or participate in the City's cultural grant process.
1. New deadline for Cultural Grants Program
November 2nd, 2009
Please note: there will only be ONE funding deadline for 2010.
Help spread the word. Send this release to anyone you know in media. We need to make some noise on this issue!
Arts community extremely concerned by cuts to the BC Arts Council
The arts and cultural sector in British Columbia is facing an imminent crisis. The Service Plans for the next two years show a 40% reduction in funding for the BC Arts Council. The BC Arts Council is the largest funding body in the province; last year, more than 224 communities throughout British Columbia depended on it for support.
"The impact to the province will be devastating," said Amir Ali Alibhai, the Executive Director of the Alliance for Arts & Culture. "The BC Arts Council supports a sector that employs 80,000 people and generates $5.2-billion annually. It is bigger than the forestry and fishing industries combined. At a time when the government is doing everything they can to create and retain jobs, why are they implementing measures that will trigger layoffs and cause organizations to reduce programming?"
Read MoreAs you know, during the cabinet shuffle the Honourable Bill Bennett was supplanted by the Honourable Kevin Krueger, MLA for Kamloops-South Thompson, as Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts. We have written the following letter to Mr. Krueger, whose Ministry is facing a forty percent cut in the service plans for the next two years.
Read MoreThe announcement by the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, was a pledge to maintain federal arts funding despite the recession.
The press release is available on Mr. Moore's website. The Alliance will follow up with a comment once the details have been analyzed, but Amir characterized the announcement as "good news" in his remarks from the podium.
Read MoreWe received an important release for the The Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation announcing changes to their grant programs. As you know, foundations everywhere have taken a pounding by the economic downturn. The Koerner Foundation has been a stalwart supporter of the arts and we are greatly saddened by their current predicament.
Read MorePerhaps 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 More
Industry Canada has published application guidelines for their Marquee Festivals program, one of the stimulus items in the 2009 budget.
[caption id="attachment_65" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Vancouver City Council"]
[/caption] As many of you know, the Culture Plan was imperiled by the budget cuts and the hiring freeze put forward by the City of Vancouver. We are pleased to announce that amendments to the 2009 City budget have been passed by Council during their recent deliberations that allow the Cultural Services to go ahead with certain aspects of the Culture Plan. Many thanks go out to City Council for acknowledging the extraordinary need for arts and culture during this time of economic upheaval, and to our members and supporters who wrote letters and contacted City Council about this issue. The amendments include:
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:
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