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CCA Bulletin 34/11 - Standing Committee on Finance Report and the Arts

2011-12-19T13:34:00.001-05:00

The Standing Committee on Finance presented last week a report on its pan-Canadian consultations. The Canadian Conference of the Arts was the first of five cultural organizations to appear before the Committee. This report comprises 53 proposals targeting four areas: federal finances, businesses, communities and individuals.

In the introduction, the Committee describes arts and culture as one of the factors contributing to the strength of a community. Additionally, three pages out of this 77-page report are dedicated to arts and culture, thereby placing the sector on par with the principal players in the Canadian economy. This chapter presents a very good summary of the presentations made by witnesses but, unfortunately, the Committee’s report did [more]

CCA Bulletin 33/11 FROM THE DESK OF Alain Pineau: A little of this, a little of that . . .

2011-12-01T16:52:00.000-05:00

Well, this week has been a little different than others. For once, I was able to put aside my primary preoccupation of the last few months – the reinvention and financial autonomy of the CCA (I will come back to that at the end of this bulletin!) – to participate in other forums where the stakes were just as important. [more]

Federal budget: Economic and Fiscal Update and the Second Set of Supplementary Estimates

2011-11-17T14:01:00.001-05:00

Last week, the government released its Update of Economic and Fiscal Projections. One main message emerged from the document: owing to continued weakness in the global economy, downward revisions for economic growth in Canada and considerable economic uncertainty going forward, the government will not return to fiscal balance until 2015-2016, a year later than projected in Budget 2011.

This does not alter the seriousness and resolve of the government to adhere to the Strategic and Operating Review process, through which it aims to identify $4 billion in annual ongoing reductions in expenditures by 2014-2015. At the heart of this process, all federal organizations must identify five and ten-percent funding reduction scenarios (see the CCA’s 2011-12 Federal Budget Analysis for full details of the review process).

The government also announced that it is reducing the maximum potential increase in Employment Insurance premium rates in 2012 to five cents (down from 10 cents) and is extending the Work-Share Program enhancement, which provides an extension of up to 16 weeks for work-sharing agreements.[more]

CCA Bulletin 30/11 - Bill C-11, the Legislative Committee Has Been Struck

2011-10-31T12:28:00.002-04:00

It is Halloween: what could be more terrifying than to speak of copyright! So here is the bulletin promised in our last missive.

Just the facts

Several names were circulating for a few days and as per its obligation to name committee members within five days of the start of the second reading debates, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs has established the Legislative Committee on Bill C-11. The committee is made up of 12 members and cannot begin its work before the House passes the motion in second reading. By this time, the House Speaker will have named the committee chair who will not be any of the twelve M.P.s identified below. Only four of the C-11 committee members, three of whom represent the governmental party, were part of the C-32 committee. [more]

CCA Bulletin 29/11 FROM THE DESK of Alain Pineau: What is happening with the CCA?

2011-10-25T10:08:00.001-04:00

I am back from pre-consultation sessions in Toronto and Montréal, with my head full of the several expressions of support and the constructive suggestions offered, and I realize that I have not communicated with you in a long time. I can assure you that it is not because we have been idle at the CCA during the past month, far from it! I will come back to the consultation process at the end of this bulletin, but first, here is a quick wrap-up of highlights of what’s been happening in Parliament and at the CCA. [more]

REMINDER! Deadline for CCA Award Nominations is Nigh.

2011-09-22T13:02:00.002-04:00

All CCA members are invited to present nominations for the 2011 Diplôme d'honneur and the Keith Kelly Award for Cultural Leadership.[more]

Thnking Culture Forum on Oct 11, 2011 - Culture and Sustainable Communities

2011-09-19T12:55:00.002-04:00

Come and join us for an overview of the conceptual issues facing municipalities working to integrate culture into sustainability plans, along with a brief discussion about how Agenda 21 for Culture is unfolding in European cities. Closer to home, attendees will gain an understanding of Quebec municipalities’ experience implementing Agenda 21 for Culture. [more]

FROM THE DESK of Alain Pineau: The old and the new as the House returns

2011-09-15T15:22:00.002-04:00

I have always had mixed feelings with regards to autumn. I like the autumn because we get to meet up with our good friends and fall into routines that fit us like an old pair of slippers; I like the frenzy that comes with a new school year and the excitement of knowing what lies ahead. But at the same time, autumn can be wet and chilly and the old slippers, not so comfortable after all. [more]

CCA Bulletin - Cultural funding: where will the axe fall?

2011-09-12T14:42:00.001-04:00

Just the facts

The Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) today presents its analysis of the 2011 federal budget, which was adopted in June by the 41st Parliament, further to the May general election.

Like last year, this year’s budget analysis reveals that overall, federal funding to the cultural sector remains stable, which has more or less been the case since 2006 under successive Conservative minority governments. While the CCA characterized this ‘holding pattern’ as reassuring last year, we projected that this state of affairs would not likely endure given the tightening fiscal situation of the government, and the conclusion of stimulus spending to address the 2008/09 recession. [more]

CCA Bulletin 26/11 - The CCA urges the government to invest in a renewable resource: culture

2011-08-11T14:14:00.001-04:00

Just the Facts

Today, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) submitted its 2012 pre-budget submission to the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Finance. In consultation with our membership, we encourage the government to maintain and if possible, increase its investments in Canadian artistic creativity, a renewable, non-polluting natural resource that contributes greatly to the economy, to our quality of life and to our standing in the world.

Tell me more

The CCA has taken a reasoned stance as to why the federal government should invest in arts, culture and heritage. This sector makes a strong contribution to the Canadian economy, and must be supported in order to create more jobs and induce creative growth within the knowledge economy. The CCA’s arguments echo this statement recently made by the Minister of Canadian Heritage, James Moore:

“To invest in arts and culture and to support the creative economy is to support the economy as a whole.” (The Hon. James Moore, Heritage Minister, on CBC’s Q, Tuesday, July 12, 2011) (more)

CCA Bulletin 25/11 - Canadian programming: the CRTC returns to regulation

2011-08-08T10:27:00.011-04:00

The CRTC requires private English television service providers to support the production of domestic programming, including "programs of national interest" such as drama or comedy series, documentaries and awards shows that promote Canadian culture.

Following the group-based licence renewal process, the CRTC now requires Bell Media, Corus Entertainment and Shaw Media to devote at least 30% of their gross annual revenues to Canadian programming production. The majority of these funds go towards the production of information programming, although 5% must be devoted to programs of national interest, with the exception of Corus, which must spend at least 9% of its annual revenue on this type of programming. (more)

CCA Bulletin 22/11 - Who will be on the Heritage Standing Committee?

2011-06-15T08:57:00.001-04:00

Just the Facts

The 41st Parliament resulting from the May 2 general election is getting set up. While a number of MPs are still moving in and out of their offices, reflecting the sea of changes that has brought 111 new members to Parliament Hill, responsibilities are slowly being assigned. On June 13, we learned a bit more with the announcement of the various standing committees in the House of Commons.

Understandably, the CCA is particularly interested in the members who sit on the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. At the opening of the 41st Parliament, these members include:

Charlie Angus, NDP (Timmins – James Bay)
Scott Armstrong, Conservative (Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley)
Tyrone Benskin, NDP (Jeanne – Le Ber), Official Opposition critic for Heritage
Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDP (Hochelaga)
Gordon Brown, Conservative (Leeds – Grenville)
Paul Calandra, Conservative (Oak Ridges – Markham), Parliamentary Secretary for Canadian Heritage
Parm Gill, Conservative (Brampton – Springdale)
Jim Hillyer, Conservative (Lethbridge)
Rob Moore, Conservative (Fundy – Royal)
Pierre Nantel, NDP (Longueuil - Pierre Boucher)
Scott Simms, Liberal (Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor), Liberal Party critic for Heritage
Terence Young, Conservative (Oakville)

To reach the committee’s clerk, contact Christine Holke David. (more)

CCA Bulletin 21/11 - Throne Speech and Federal Budget: it’s almost business as usual

2011-06-07T10:30:00.001-04:00

Just the Facts

On Friday, June 3, the Governor General gave a speech from the throne heralded by many as primarily ceremonial. The speech toed a safe line without introducing any new drastic policy measures, and we saw the same approach again in yesterday’s tabling of the federal budget by the Minister of Finance, the Hon. James Flaherty.

Minister Flaherty tabled his second 2011 federal budget, The Next Phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan: A Low Tax Plan for Jobs and Growth. The government’s first budget was presented on March 22, but died on the order paper when the minority government fell, leading to an election.

As the CCA expected, there are no major program cuts to arts and culture in this budget. In fact, all measures mentioned by the CCA in its March 22nd analysis of the budget remain in this second version. They include:

Introducing a new 15% Children’s Arts Tax Credit, provided on up to $500 of eligible expenses for programs associated with children’s artistic, cultural, recreational and developmental activities. This should translate into annual returns of $75 for parents;

Providing $25 million over five years to renew funding for the Harbourfront Centre;

On-going funding of $15 million per year to the Canada Periodical Fund to support a broad range of publications and ensure a diversity of Canadian content in 2011-12 and 2012-13;

Renewal for 2011-2012 of the $60 million granted to CBC/Radio-Canada for the “production of high-quality Canadian programming”;

Granting of a one-time investment of $7.5 million to the Royal Conservatory of Music to launch a national examination system in partnership with Carnegie Hall;

Renewal on an on-going basis (as opposed to an annual renewal) of $100 million per year to the Canada Media Fund to invest “in the creation of convergent digital content across multiple platforms, including television and leading-edge applications for Internet, wireless and other emerging platforms”.

Now entering the 41st Parliament with a majority, there is no doubt that the government will pass its budget before the summer recess. (more)

CCA Bulletin 19/11 - The cultural sector and the new Conservative cabinet

2011-05-24T12:30:00.009-04:00

Just the Facts

On May 2, 2011, Canadians went to the polls and elected a Conservative majority, the first majority government in seven years. On Wednesday, May 18, the first cabinet under the 41st Parliament was sworn in at Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor General of Canada. The new cabinet is comprised of 38 ministers, with nine new faces and 10 women.

On June 2, Parliamentarians will convene for a first time to elect the new Speaker of the House of Commons. Parliament will officially open the next day, Friday, June 3, with the speech from the throne. The speech will deal with the immediate priorities of the government. The 2011-12 budget, which could not be adopted because of the election, is expected to be reintroduced on June 6. The session will likely be prorogued soon after the budget has been adopted, meaning Parliament would reopen with a new speech from the throne in early fall.

In this bulletin, we look at the ministers who will be responsible for the files of direct importance to the arts, culture and heritage sector. (more)

CCA bulletin 18/11 - Participate in the 2011 census and the National Household Survey!

2011-05-04T10:51:00.002-04:00

Just the facts

In addition to being federal election day, Monday marked the debut of the 2011 mandatory short-form census. On May 2, 2011, the eight-question document began to make its way by mail to approximately 15 million households across the country. According to the Statistics Act, all Canadian residents are legally required to complete the census questionnaire. The census questionnaire can be completed online or on paper. To complete the forms online, Canadians will need the secure access code located at the top of the letter or paper questionnaire.

Approximately four weeks after the mandatory short-form census, some 4.5 million Canadian households will also receive the new National Household Survey (NHS). The voluntary NHS has replaced the mandatory long-form census questionnaire after a controversial decision by the government in June 2010. If you receive the NHS, it is very important that you complete this voluntary survey in full! (more)

CCA Election Monitor: Week 5

2011-04-29T14:20:00.001-04:00

Following a historic non-confidence motion that brought down Canada’s 40^th Parliament, the 2011 federal election will take place on May 2. As part of our election coverage, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) will be providing a weekly media monitoring report that provides news stories, resources and event listings that are relevant to the arts, culture and heritage sector during this campaign period.

Please note that during the 2011 federal election, the CCA will operate under the Federal Election Rules of Engagement approved by the CCA Board of Governors. These rules reinforce the non-partisan character of the information and other services that the CCA will provide during the campaign.

Time has flown by as we are already approaching the end of the 2011 election campaign. On Monday, Canadians will head to the polls to decide the future direction our country. Contrary to the surprising editorial in yesterday’s Globe and Mail, this campaign has turned out to be one of the most exciting and puzzling to date. We will not likely know the election results until late on Monday night and in the following weeks, it will be interesting to see the various analyses on the impact of social media on the campaign.

Go Vote!

Voter turnout at last weekend’s advanced pool was up by 34 per cent compared to 2008. We can only hope that this level of civic engagement continues on May 2. The CCA urges you all to not only exercise your right, but fulfill your responsibility to vote! This is the most fundamental action in a democracy, one that will help orient the future of the country. If you have any questions or concerns about the voting process, visit Elections Canada’s website.

Media Monitoring

After a slow start, over the last two weeks, the cultural sector has garnered more attention from the political parties and the media.

Conservative Party

News Release - Harper announces Children’s Arts Tax Credit

Conservative Party of Canada, April 24, 2011

Harper reminds voters of children's arts tax credit

canoe.ca, April 24, 2011

Bryn Weese

Stephen Harper martèle son message économique (available in French only)

Radio-Canada, April 24, 2011

Copyright- C-32

Canadian Political Parties Clarify Their Positions on Copyright

ZeroPaid, April 26, 2011

Drew Wilson

Arts and culture during the election

Why aren't the arts performing in the election?

OpenFile, April 26, 2011

Jeff Kubik

Funding Outside The Box

SEE, April 28, 2011

Kathleen Bell

Élections fédérales - Murmure culturel (available in French only)

Le Devoir, April 26, 2011

Marie-Andrée Chouinard

Tories give arts groups the silent treatment

The Vancouver Sun, April 27, 2011

Jamie Portman

Consultations sur la culture : les conservateurs absents (available in French only)

Rue Frontenac, April 21, 2011

Claude Giguère

Advocacy

B.C. arts groups leading the signatories on the national Common Arts Platform

Georgia Straight, April 21, 2011

Jessica Werb

Musicians come out swinging against Harper

Ottawa Citizen, April 27, 2011

Peter Hum

Resources

Canadian Conference of the Arts

The CCA has been active in maintaining a Federal Election webpage that features all of the election-related resources we have published over the last five weeks, in addition to other useful links. The page includes: bulletins on cultural funding under the 40^th Parliament and comparisons of political platforms; party responses to our election questionnaire; the CCA’s Doorstep Kit; and more! We encourage you to visit our site to keep informed on the relevant issues before voting.

Culture Montréal

Following a communiqué it issued in support of the cultural sector’s common electoral platform, Culture Montréal received a response from the Liberal Party, further reinforcing its arts platform.

Read the full response here. (available in French only)

Yesterday on CBC’s Q, Jian Ghomeshi hosted a debate on arts and culture in the election, featuring Charlie Angus (NDP), Dean Del Mastro (Conservative) and Bob Rae (Liberal). Following the short debate, each participant had the opportunity to have their final say and explain what they would do to promote arts and culture and how their party could best meet the needs of the cultural sector.

Listen to the full debate here (segment begins at 00:24).

Thinking Culture Recap - Election 2011: What about arts and culture?

2011-04-28T19:33:00.001-04:00

How are the major political parties addressing the needs of the cultural sector during the 2011 federal election campaign? To help answer this question, on April 20, the CCA hosted a debate at the University of Ottawa with local election candidates, focusing on their arts, culture and heritage platforms. As it turned out, the debate was more of an informal discussion, as Mauril Bélanger (Liberal candidate for Ottawa-Vanier) and Paul Dewar (NDP candidate for Ottawa Centre) were the only participants in attendance. The Bloc Québécois representative had to back out at the last minute and the Conservatives declined our invitation.

Nonetheless, the debate proved to be informative, as the candidates each had five minutes to present their respective platforms before launching into an extended audience Q and A session. The discussion focused on topics such as support measures for Canadian artists, increased investments for museums and cultural institutions, new copyright legislation and the development of an international Aboriginal arts centre.

Over the course of the evening, Bélanger and Dewar voiced their opinions on the importance of long-term support for the cultural sector. Both stated that their parties would increase the Canada Council’s budget, and agreed that museums and galleries needed more funding for sustainable growth and development. Along those lines, they also expressed their disappointment over the fact that plans for a National Portrait Gallery had been scrapped by the current government.

Another significant theme that emerged from the discussion centered on the development of initiatives to support Canadian artists and creators. Dewar called for the introduction of a national platform to encourage artists to stay in Canada and not move abroad. On the other hand, Bélanger had a very different outlook, highlighting the importance of international exposure for our artists, and citing programs such as PromArt and Trade Routes which were cut in 2008.

Both candidates were able to agree on the issue of copyright however, noting that legislation needs to be amended to better balance artists’ rights with those of consumers.

Overall, the forum raised many interesting questions, and provided an opportunity to get arts and culture on the agenda during the election campaign.

CCA Election Monitor: Week 4

2011-04-26T11:15:00.008-04:00

Due to the long weekend, our recap of election week 4 was delayed until today.

Last week proved to be eventful, as cultural organizations from across the country rallied to get increased recognition for the arts during the election campaign. Some of the party leaders have also been more vocal, announcing their plans to support our country’s artists and cultural sector.

Media Monitoring

Bloc Québécois

Communiqué- Au Québec, la culture est au coeur même de notre identité et de notre existence (available in French only)

Bloc Québécois, April 18, 2011

In Quebec, culture is fundamental: Duceppe

The Montreal Gazette, April 19, 2011

Peggy Curran

Duceppe appelle les électeurs à voter de façon stratégique (available in French only)

Radio-Canada.ca, April 18, 2011

Liberal Party

Media Release - Michael Ignatieff announces new support for Canadian artists

Liberal Party of Canada, April 21, 2011

Ignatieff tries to woo artists with past work as novelist, screenwriter

The Canadian Press, April 21, 2011

Ignatieff tente de rassurer le milieu culturel (available in French only)

La Presse Canadienne, April 21, 2011

Lia Lévesque

Advocacy

Make arts an election issue, stars urge

CBCNews, April 20, 2011

Arts groups launch election manifesto

The Montreal Gazette, April 21, 2011

Jamie Portman

Plateforme culturelle de la conférence canadienne des arts (available in French only)

canoe.ca, April 21, 2011

Concerning the 2011 Federal Election

Canadian Art Museum Directors Organization, April 15 2011

Common Cultural Platform

Last Thursday, more than 70 cultural organizations from across the country joined forces to launch a common electoral platform, calling on federal parties to make more sustained commitments to Canadian arts, culture and heritage. The common platform covers four broad themes: investments in the production of Canadian cultural content in the context of a national economic strategy; investments in developing domestic and foreign markets; making arts and culture an integral component of Canadian foreign policy; and implementing the National Museum Policy that was originally conceived in 2005.

Common Cultural Platform

Resources

Canadian Conference of the Arts

Last week, the CCA issued two bulletins relating to the federal election.

In early April, the CCA sent the leaders of the five major federal parties a series of questions relevant to the arts, culture and heritage sector. We have now posted their responses in table format for easy comparison.

CCA Bulletin 16/11 - Federal Election 2011: Political party responses

We also published a bulletin that provides a comprehensive overview of cultural funding under Canada’s 40^th Parliament.

CCA Bulletin 17/11- Federal Election 2011: Public Cultural Investments under Canada’s 40th Parliament

Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFA)

The Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFA) has a comprehensive Election 2011 website with resources and tools for the Francophone community to keep informed and engaged during the campaign. (available in French only)

Canada Arts Connect Magazine

Canada Arts Connect Magazine offers a useful review of four of the major political parties’ arts platforms.

A Comparison of the Four Major Political Parties’ Arts Platforms

Canada Arts Connect Magazine, April 20, 2011

Rebecca Coleman

CCA Bulletin 17/11- Federal Election 2011: Public Cultural Investments under Canada’s 40th Parliament

2011-04-20T12:25:00.000-04:00

In 2008, the CCA published a bulletin analyzing the investments made under Canada’s 39th Parliament in the arts, culture and heritage sector. In order to give you a broad perspective, we used several years’ worth of budget analyses to explain funding to the sector. In today’s bulletin, we will aim to do the same thing. By using funding figures from the Department of Heritage, its agencies and programs, we will break down themes surrounding cultural spending under Canada’s 40th Parliament. In this bulletin, we will also outline how funding to Canadian institutions and cultural programs, along with government processes such as Strategic Reviews, have impacted the overall cultural budget of the federal government.

In this analysis, the numbers end with the 2010/11 federal budget as that was the last budget that passed under the 40th Parliament. Though a 2011/12 federal budget was tabled in March 2011, the budget died on the order paper once the writ was dropped and the current general federal election was called. For that reason, we have not included the 2011/12 estimates. (more)

CCA Bulletin 16/11 - Federal Election 2011: Political party responses

2011-04-18T17:31:00.000-04:00

On April 5, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) sent the leaders of the five major federal parties a series of questions relevant to the arts, culture and heritage sector. We are publishing the responses we received in their entirety, without any edits or commentary. In order to facilitate comparison among the parties' responses, we have formatted their answers in a table format, according to each individual question asked. An empty table indicates that we did not receive an answer to that particular question. Please note that the CCA translated the Bloc Québécois' answers from French to English.(more)

CCA Election Monitor: Week 3

2011-04-15T20:29:00.001-04:00

Following a historic non-confidence motion that brought down Canada’s 40^th Parliament, the 2011 federal election will take place on May 2. As part of our election coverage, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) will be producing a weekly media monitoring report that provides news stories, resources and event listings that are relevant to the arts, culture and heritage sector during this campaign period.

We recently passed the midway point in the 2011 federal election campaign, and as of now, all of the major political parties have released their platforms. This was a particularly important week in the campaign as Gilles Duceppe, Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff and Jack Layton gathered in Ottawa for the much anticipated English and French-language leaders’ debates. Unfortunately, as has been the case throughout the campaign, arts and culture was not on the radar for the party leaders.

Media Monitoring

Bloc Québécois

Bloc Québécois Policy Statement – Parlons Qc

Bloc Québécois, April 2011

Bloc Québécois Election Platform – Parlons Qc (available in French only)

Bloc Québécois, April 2011

(Excerpts relevant to arts, culture and heritage on pages 26, 40-45 and 103)

Conservative Party

Conservative Platform – Here for Canada

Conservative Party of Canada, April 2011

(Excerpts relevant to arts, culture and heritage on pages 15-16, 27 and 42-43)

NDP

NDP Platform – Practical First Steps

New Democratic Party of Canada, April 2011

(Excerpts relevant to arts, culture and heritage on pages 15-16 and 18)

NDP election platform makes familiar promises on arts and culture

Georgia Straight, April 11, 2011

Jessica Werb

Canada-EU trade negotiations

Federal election will impact Canada-EU trade talks

Embassy Magazine, April 6, 2011

Anca Gurzu

Copyright – C-32

Who wants to charge a $75 iPod tax? Uh, no one

CBCNews, April 12, 2011

Laura Payton

Advocacy

Débat des chefs: le MAL réclame des engagements en culture (available in French only)

Le Devoir, April 13, 2011

Leaders’ debate

If you happened to have missed either of the leaders’ debates, they are now available online.

English-language leaders’ debate

French-language leaders’ debate (English translation streamed)

Resources

Canadian Conference of the Arts

The major party platforms can all be found on the CCA’s 2011 election site under the heading “Parties and electoral platforms”. Today, the CCA also published a bulletin that compares these platforms in relation to several broad themes of interest to the cultural sector.

On April 5, the CCA sent the five leading federal political parties a copy of the questions found in our election Doorstep Kit. The Bloc Québécois, Green Party, Liberal Party and NDP have completed the questionnaire, which offers insight on their respective arts, culture and heritage platforms. Early next week, the CCA will publish a bulletin comparing the parties’ responses, in addition to an analysis of arts, culture and heritage funding under the 40^th Parliament.

Quill and Quire

Quill and Quire has published a useful primer comparing each political party’s arts and culture platform, taking in to account the issues affecting the publishing industry.

Publishing at the polls: Arts and culture platforms

The Arts Advocate

The Arts Advocate has compiled an interesting report, Election 2011: Is arts and culture an issue?, that gauges the importance of cultural matters for Canadians voters. To obtain a copy of this report, visit the The Arts Advocate’s website.

Events

· Election 2011: What about arts and culture?

Date: April 20, 2011

Time: 5 pm – 6:30 pm

Location: University of Ottawa, Desmarais Building

A part of our Thinking Culture forum series, the CCA will host a free bilingual debate with local election candidates, focusing on their arts, culture and heritage platforms. To date, confirmed participants include: Mauril Bélanger (Liberal candidate for Ottawa-Vanier), Paul Dewar (NDP candidate for Ottawa Centre) and Richard Nadeau (Bloc Québécois candidate for Gatineau). Visit our website for more information.

· Winnipeg Federal Election Forum on Arts and Culture

Date: April 20, 2011

Time: Noon – 1:30 pm CST

Location: Manitoba Theatre for Young People

ArtsVote Winnipeg will host a federal election forum on arts and culture. Participants include Rod Bruinooge (Conservative candidate for Winnipeg South), Denali Enns (Green candidate for Charleswood - St. James - Assiniboia), Anita Neville (Liberal candidate for Winnipeg South Centre) and Pat Martin (NDP candidate for Winnipeg Centre). Visit the ArtsVote Winnipeg website for more information.

CCA Bulletin 15/11 - Federal Election 2011 – The party platforms : what about culture?

2011-04-15T12:31:00.005-04:00

The Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) has taken the platforms available from the five major federal political parties and broken them down for you. Below, you will find all pertinent elements of the party platforms divided into different priorities identified by the CCA. These priorities are areas of focus for the arts, culture and heritage sector in terms of public investments in culture, cultural policies, regulation and taxation. We have not edited any elements of the platforms: we have simply divided them into relevant categories. We also have not omitted information in any of the sections below. Empty columns indicate that we did not find any relevant information on that particular topic in the party’s platform. As a final note, with regards to the Bloc Québécois’ platform, we ourselves completed the French to English translation.

Next week, we will complete our analysis of the political parties’ platforms from the cultural perspective by publishing their responses to the questionnaires we sent them on April 5.
(more)

CCA Election Monitor: Week 2

2011-04-08T11:49:00.003-04:00

The second week of the election campaign has been more eventful for the cultural sector, as both the Liberal and Green parties released their full platforms, which included their plans for the arts, culture and heritage industries. Surprinsly, culture has not been a prevalent topic among the major political parties, which has not gone unnoticed by the media.

Media Monitoring

Liberal Party

Liberal Platform - Your Future. Your Family. Your Canada.

Liberal Party of Canada, April 2011

(Excerpts on arts, culture and heritage on pages 18-19 and 60)

Federal Liberals pledge to double Canada Council for the Arts budget

Georgia Straight, April 4, 2011

Jessica Werb

Le plan d'Ignatieff penche à gauche (available in French only)

Le Devoir, April 4, 2011

Hélène Buzzetti

Green Party

Green Party Platform – Vision Green

Green Party of Canada, April 2011

(Excerpts on arts, culture and heritage on pages 94-96)

Media Release - Canadian media issues, pledges stable funding for CBC

Green Party of Canada, April 4, 2011

Green platform includes $450 M for CBC, Radio-Canada

Montreal Gazette, April 4, 2011

Cindy E. Harnett

Les Verts seraient très généreux avec Radio-Canada (available in French only)

canoe.ca, April 4, 2011

Copyright: C-32

MPs vow to quickly revive Copyright Bill in next Parliament

The Hill Times, April 4, 2011

Bea Vongdouangchanh

Advocacy

Les artistes plongent dans l'arène électorale (available in French only)

Le Soleil, April 1, 2011

Isabelle Houde

Jian Ghomeshi on arts and culture

On April 5, Jian Ghomeshi, host of Q on CBC, opened his show asking “Who will speak for support for arts and culture in Canada?” In his essay, he voiced his concern over the lack of coverage for arts and culture by the major political parties during the election campaign.

Click here to listen to the entire segment.

Toolkits

Canadian Conference for the Arts

The CCA has released its 2011 Federal Election Doorstep Kit. The CCA has identified six broad areas of interest for the arts, culture and heritage sector. Accordingly, we have developed a set of questions pertaining to each topic. These questions can be posed to candidates when they come knocking at your door or during larger debates.

2011 Federal Election Doorstep Kit

Canadian Arts Coalition

The Canadian Arts Coalition has also published its Arts Vote Toolkit, in addition to presenting five initiatives to help arts service organizations during the election campaign.

Events

· Leaders’ Debates

Dates: English Debate – April 12, 2011; French Debate – April 14, 2010

Time: English Debate - 7 pm – 9 pm EST; French Debate - 8 pm – 9 pm EST

Next week, the Broadcasting Consortium, which includes CBC/Radio-Canada, CTV, Global and TVA, will hold both the English and French-language leaders’ debates. The English-language debate will be moderated by TVO’s Steve Paikin, while Radio-Canada's Anne-Marie Dussault and TVA’s Paul Larocque will co-moderate the French-language debate.

· Election 2011: What about arts and culture?

Date: April 20, 2011

Time: 5 pm – 6:30 pm

Location: University of Ottawa, Desmarais Building

A part of our Thinking Culture forum series, the CCA will host a free bilingual debate with local election candidates, focusing on their arts, culture and heritage platforms. To date, confirmed participants include: Mauril Bélanger (Liberal candidate for Ottawa-Vanier), Paul Dewar (NDP candidate for Ottawa Centre), and Richard Nadeau (Bloc Québécois candidate for Gatineau). Visit our website for more information.

· Winnipeg Federal Election Forum on Arts and Culture

Date: April 20, 2011

Time: Noon – 1:30 pm CST

Location: Manitoba Theatre for Young People

ArtsVote Winnipeg will host a federal election forum on arts and culture. Confirmed participants include Rod Bruinooge (Conservative candidate for Winnipeg South), Anita Neville (Liberal candidate for Winnipeg South Centre) and Pat Martin (NDP candidate for Winnipeg Centre). Visit the ArtsVote Winnipeg website for more information.

Thinking Culture - Election 2011: What about arts and culture?

2011-04-06T14:06:00.005-04:00

The Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) invites you to attend the next installment of our cultural forum series, Thinking Culture.

Election 2011: What about arts and culture?

Date: April 20, 2011

Time: 5 pm to 6:30 pm

Location: University of Ottawa, Desmarais Building, 55 Laurier Avenue East, 12th floor, Room 110

With the 2011 federal election set to take place on May 2, the political landscape in Canada will inevitably change. No matter the outcome, the arts, culture and heritage sector will be impacted in one way or another. As it now stands however, are the arts even a priority for the country’s leading political parties?

Join us as we seek to answer this question and more during a bilingual debate with local election candidates. We have invited candidates from the political parties currently represented in the House of Commons to share their vision for the future of the arts in Canada, and address topics related to policy development and funding models for the cultural sector. This presents an important opportunity for anyone with a vested interest in the arts and all citizens to be better informed on the issues before heading to the polls.

Confirmed participants to date include*:

• Mauril Bélanger (Liberal candidate for Ottawa-Vanier)

• Paul Dewar (NDP candidate for Ottawa Centre)

• Richard Nadeau (Bloc Québécois candidate for Gatineau)

* We are awaiting confirmation from the Conservative Party. Continue to check our website for updated information.

This forum will be free of charge. Seating is very limited so please register by contacting Annie Caporicci at annie.caporicci@ccarts.ca.

For more information, visit www.ccarts.ca.

Can’t attend the forum? You can still participate in the discussion through social media!

• Follow the CCA on Twitter as we live tweet from the event. Over the course of the debate, you can tweet us your questions or comments using hashtag #ccartsvote

• We will also be pulling questions from our blog. Just leave us your question in the comment box at the bottom of this entry.

CCA Bulletin 14/11 - Federal Election 2011: What to ask your local candidates (Part 2)

2011-04-06T09:09:00.001-04:00

The Canadian Conference of the Arts’ main mandate - one that has been financially supported by the federal government for over 40 years - is to contribute to an informed public debate on cultural issues. In keeping with this mandate and in order to assist Canadians interested in learning about how arts and culture are being discussed during the 2011 electoral campaign, the CCA has identified six broad areas of importance for artists, creators, cultural institutions and industries. The CCA has developed a set of questions pertaining to each issue. These questions can be presented to candidates when they come knocking at your door or during larger debates.

The second part of our election Doorstep Kit includes questions that touch on three important issues affecting the arts and culture sector in Canada. The topics raised include: 1) the issue of modernizing copyright legislation; 2) telecommunications, new media and broadcasting; and 3) Canada’s heritage institutions. Each set of suggested questions is preceded by a short background summary on the issue. We encourage you to disseminate the responses you receive, either in writing or in a public forum.

These questions have also been sent to the leaders of each political party. As is made clear in the CCA’s Federal Election Rules of Engagement, the CCA will present an analysis of the positions of each federal party as they affect the interests of Canadians with regards to arts, culture and heritage. The CCA will not endorse any candidate or political party. The decision to cast a ballot is the right and duty of every Canadian citizen, who can form their judgments on an individual basis. (more)

CCA Bulletin 13/11 - Federal Election 2011: What to ask your local candidates (Part 1)

2011-04-05T12:57:00.001-04:00

The Canadian Conference of the Arts’ main mandate - one that has been financially supported by the federal government for over 40 years - is to contribute to an informed public debate on cultural issues,. In keeping with this mandate and in order to assist Canadians interested in learning about how arts and culture are being discussed during the 2011 electoral campaign, the CCA has identified six broad areas of importance for artists, creators, cultural institutions and industries. The CCA has developed a set of questions pertaining to each issue. These questions can be presented to candidates when they come knocking at your door or during larger debates.

Today’s bulletin includes the first of two doorstep kits the CCA will publish. The questions we have put forth touch on three important issues facing the arts and culture sector in Canada. The topics raised question: 1) the role of the federal government in fostering a creative digital economy; 2) the role of culture and arts in international diplomacy; and 3) fiscal measures to support the growth of the sector. Each set of questions is preceded by a short backgrounder on the issue. We encourage you to disseminate the responses you receive, either in writing or in a public forum.

CCA Election Monitor – The first week in review

2011-04-01T12:40:00.014-04:00

Following a historic non-confidence motion that brought down Canada’s 40th Parliament, the 2011 federal election will take place on May 2. As part of our election coverage, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) will be providing a weekly media monitoring report that provides news stories, resources and event listings that are relevant to the arts and culture sector during this campaign period.

Please note that during the 2011 federal election, the CCA will operate under the Federal Election Rules of Engagement approved by the CCA Board of Governors. These rules reinforce the non-partisan character of the information and other services that the CCA will provide during the campaign.

In this first week, the major political parties disclosed little to no information pertaining to their arts and culture platform. The exception may be the Bloc Québécois, who ran a full page ad in Le Devoir with the slogan Let’s talk culture, a theme which they apparently want to weave in their campaign. The Liberal Party will also be launching its platform online this Sunday, April 3 at 11 am EDT during a town hall. Party leader Michael Ignatieff will take questions live. This presents an opportunity to see what the Liberals have to say with regards to arts, culture and heritage.

This week, our digest provides you with a few articles of interest, in addition to resources that will help you stay active during the election period.

Media Monitoring

Free trade

Harper promises push to complete free-trade deals with EU, India

Globe and Mail, March 31, 2011
Steven Chase

Libre-échange: les négociations avec l'UE retardées (available in French only)
La Presse, March 31, 2011
Hugo de Grandpré

C-32-Copyright

Some panic, few weep over the death of Bill C-32
Toronto Star, March 28, 2011
Greg Quill

Demi-vérités (available in French only)
La Presse, March 31 2011
Marc Cassivi

Toolkits

As we have done during past elections, next Tuesday, the CCA will publish its Doorstep Kit of questions to ask local candidates.

The Canadian Arts Coalition is also working on an Arts Vote Toolkit for the cultural sector.

Arts Vote Toolkit

Imagine Canada recently released a useful toolkit to help individuals and organizations involved in the not-for-profit sector engage in the election process.

Imagine Canada’s Election Kit 2011

Social Media

Social media will help you stay on top of the latest news from the election frontlines and communicate with individuals of shared interests. Here are some tips on how to effectively use social media during the election period:

• Follow each political party or their leaders on Twitter:

Bloc Québécois: @BlocQuebecois and @GillesDuceppe

Conservative Party: @PMHarper

Green Party: @CanadianGreens and @ElizabethMay

Liberal Party: @liberal_party and @M_Ignatieff

NDP: @jacklayton

• When you’re tweeting and looking for election related tweets, use the following hashtags: #elxn41, #cdnpoli, #fed2011 and #artsvotecan. If you’re tweeting about a specific political party, you can also use the following hashtags:

Conservative Party: #cpc

Green Party: #gpc

Liberal Party: #lpc

NDP: #ndp

• Follow each party or their leaders on Facebook:

Bloc Québécois

Conservative Party

Green Party

Liberal Party

NDP

How to vote

If you have any questions or concerns about the voting process itself, we encourage you to visit Elections Canada’s website. It includes information on:

• How to vote;

• Finding your electoral district and member of Parliament;

• Backgrounders on the electoral process;

• And more

CCA Bulletin 12/11 - Off to the races! The CCA welcomes you to your 2011 general federal election!

2011-03-28T12:26:00.002-04:00

Just the facts

On March 26, 2011, a day after a vote of no-confidence defeated the current Conservative minority government, the 2011 general federal election was called, ending weeks of rising political fervor and speculation. The Governor General dropped the writ this past Saturday sending us all to the polls on May 2nd. In this bulletin, you will find:

What you can expect from us in the next 35 days;

An analysis of the state of culture related bills at the end of the 40th Parliament (with the exception of budget bills, which will be the object of a separate analysis).

CCA’s Election 2011 Plan

Over the next several weeks, the CCA will provide you with:

An analysis of cultural spending under Canada’s 40th Parliament;
A comparison of the federal parties’ platforms that have an impact on the arts, culture and heritage sector;
A Doorstep Kit that will include questions you can use and adapt when engaging with your local candidates in order to gauge their approaches and that of their party with regards to arts and culture policy;
Weekly election e-communiqués will provide you with media monitoring for arts and culture as the political parties campaign across Canada. We will also give you a weekly update of current events in the arts and culture sector in relation to the election. Look out for these each Friday throughout the campaign.
Thinking Culture debate: On April 20th, in partnership with the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Continuing Education, Centre on Governance and School of Political Studies, the CCA is planning to host a debate among local political candidates to discuss their parties’ platforms on arts, culture and heritage. In order to involve our members across Canada, we will take questions via Twitter using hashtag #ccartsvote and on our blog. We will also post a summary the next day covering where the parties stand on the issue of culture.(more)

CCA Bulletin 11/11 - 2011 federal budget from the arts and culture perspective

2011-03-22T20:27:00.007-04:00

Just the Facts

After releasing the 2011 Main Estimates several weeks ago, the Hon. Minister of Finance, James Flaherty, today tabled a much anticipated 2011 federal budget. Titled: The Next Phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan: A Low-Tax Plan for Jobs and Growth, this is the first budget following the end of the government’s Economic Action Plan.

According to the government, the recession has ended, and thus, the economy no longer requires stimulus funding. The big question was whether the budget would offer enough goodies to at least one of the opposition parties to keep the government in power and avoid an election. As it turned out, all three parties, including the NDP, rejected the budget immediately and it is evident that Canadians will soon go to the ballot boxes.

Today, the CCA provides a first blush review of how the 2011 federal budget would have impacted Canada’s arts, culture and heritage sectors had it been passed.

Tell me more

The general thesis of the 2011 budget claims that the government will build on the success of the Economic Action Plan. Support for the creative economy in the Economic Action Plan amounted to $335 million in investment. According to the government, the next phase’s low-tax plan for jobs and growth will lay the foundation for long-term prosperity by supporting key drivers of economic growth – innovation, business investment, families, communities, education and training – in a responsible manner that preserves Canada’s fiscal advantage (59). (more)

CCA Bulletin 10/11 - An alliterated update: CRTC, C-470 and CETA

2011-03-21T13:40:00.002-04:00

Just the Facts

CRTC - On March 7, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved BCE’s acquisition of CTVglobemedia (CTVgm) and laid out the benefits package and conditions linked to its approval. In its submission to the consultation on the sale of CTVgm to BCE, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) had 1) asked for a robust public benefits package for Canadians commensurate with the magnitude of the transaction; 2) raised concerns about the vertical integration of the Canadian broadcasting and multi-platform distribution companies which puts the latter in the driver’s seat.

Bill C-470 (charitable status) is heading for second reading in the Senate today. It may reach Royal Assent before the writ drops… if an election is called at all!

CETA negotiations are progressing but at a slower pace. The next round is set to take place in Ottawa on April 11. (more)

CCA Bulletin 9/11 - Revenue at risk through C-32: The CCA stands by its estimate of $126M a year

2011-03-14T18:07:00.001-04:00

Just the facts

On February 7, 2011, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) published a bulletin presenting the revenue received by creators and other rights holders which are at risk if Bill C-32 is adopted without amendments.

In his March 3rd blog titled “The CCA's $126 Million Wheel of Fortune: Guessing at Bill C-32's Costs”, University of Ottawa Professor Michael Geist raised serious questions about the CCA’s credibility stating, among other things, that “the $126M does not stand up even to mild scrutiny” and that “key sources of ‘losses’ are simply fabrications.”

The CCA takes such accusations very seriously. In this bulletin, we will respond to all the main points raised in Professor Geist’s blog. We wish this bulletin were more succinct, however, in order to re-establish facts and not just challenge them, it had to be lengthier.

A general comment and a correction
The broadcasting ephemeral exception
The public performance of video in schools
The private copying levy
Education and fair dealing
Potential revenue for photographers

(more)

CCA Bulletin 8/11 - National Digital Strategy: the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage makes a series of recommendations

2011-03-01T11:02:00.004-05:00

Just the Facts

Almost a year after it began its study of digital media, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has published its report Emerging and Digital Media: Opportunities and Challenges.

The context for the study relates to two earlier reports published by the committee: one on the impact of emerging and digital media on Canadian public broadcasting (CBC/Radio-Canada: Defining Distinctiveness in the Changing Media Landscape) and another on local television (Issues and Challenges Related to Local Television). In those studies, it was concluded that the developments in emerging and digital media are changing the environment for other cultural industries such as radio broadcasting, book publishing, magazine publishing, music publishing and film distribution. Given the rapidly changing media environment and the profound impact emerging and digital media are having on all aspects of culture, the committee decided that it should study the overall impact of emerging and digital media. (more)

CCA Bulletin 7/11- The CCA weighs in on private television group-based licence renewals

2011-02-25T12:59:00.008-05:00

Just the Facts

The Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) recently submitted a brief to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regarding group-based licence renewals for English-language television.

Why does this issue matter?

Television programming is the most consumed cultural product. TV is the format through which the government invests the most taxpayers’ dollars, both directly and indirectly. Television is also the most popular cultural form and according to the objectives of the Broadcasting Act, it should reflect Canadian realities and culture. Due to the consolidation of ownership in the audio-visual sector and the relaxed nature of past regulation, it is imperative that the CRTC set a proper course to ensure that Canadian programming is offered to Canadians across the various platforms now available. This is necessary because for the foreseeable future, traditional television programs will remain as the primary source of such programming.(more)

CCA Bulletin 6/11 - What exactly is the financial impact of C-32 on artists and other rights holders?

2011-02-07T16:16:00.007-05:00

Just the facts

Several seemingly contradictory numbers have been quoted over the course of the debate on the financial impacts of Bill C-32 on artists and other copyright holders.

In order to help facilitate debate on this most important issue, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA), with the cooperation of its members and other stakeholders, has prepared a list of revenue sources for artists and rights holders which are at risk unless Bill C-32 is amended.

There is no exact science to tracking revenue losses. This is compounded by the fact that many of the new exceptions in the bill such as education and fair dealing are poorly defined. This viewpoint has been supported by Dan Glover, a copyright lawyer from McCarthy Tétrault LLP, who mentions in his response to professor Michael Geist that, “the fairness test is notoriously soft and subjective, an eye-of-the-beholder test that will be left in almost every case to the judgment of the copier.” (more)

CCA Bulletin 5/11 - The cultural sector mobilizes around copyright reform

2011-02-03T10:14:00.002-05:00

Just the Facts

Earlier today, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) participated in a press conference held on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to make public Canada’s Cultural Industries’ Joint Statement on Bill C-32, the Copyright Modernization Act. The statement is signed by 88 national and provincial arts service organizations from all arts and culture disciplines. Bill C-32 is currently the object of study by a special legislative committee of the House of Commons.

The Joint Statement brings together an unprecedented coalition of organizations from the arts and culture industries representing writers, performers, actors, illustrators, musicians, composers, publishers, poets, playwrights, producers and songwriters who are all urging Parliamentarians to make changes to Bill C-32. This coalition is part of a $46 billion industry that employs more than 600,000 Canadians and that, as often stated by Heritage Minister James Moore, contributes twice as much to the GDP as the forestry industry.(more)

CCA Bulletin 4/11 - From the Desk of Alain Pineau: Members of Parliament return to the Hill

2011-01-31T10:32:00.005-05:00

With January already behind us, politicians are back in Ottawa today to resume their legislative business. All this in the midst of increasing speculation that the life of this Parliament may come to an end as soon as the Minister of Finance stands up in the House of Commons to deliver the budget speech. Speculation will likely continue for the next eight to 10 weeks.

As it happens, the CCA will be very active around the Hill this week with a number of events. Here are some key activities to look out for.

Copyright Bill C-32 hearing

The CCA will appear before the legislative committee on Bill C-32 tomorrow, February 1, at 11 am (EST) . We will be on the same panel as Bill Freeman of the Creators' Copyright Coalition. Tune in on Parlvu to hear us discuss why we believe that as it now stands, Bill C-32 is not in the best interest of artists and creators and detrimental to Canada’s global competitiveness. The main criticism that will be raised by the CCA is that the bill proposes a “one-size-fits-all” approach which clearly satisfies the big players and international business interests, but which is totally irrelevant to the majority of Canadian musicians, writers, actors, painters and other artists and cultural creators. In its current form, C-32 sets the stage for the destruction of the collective system of rights management. As an alternative, the bill offers an unworkable remedy of implementing digital locks and relying on litigation, two options artists neither want nor can afford. Worse still, the bill takes away recognized rights and revenue – over $ 126 million a year and counting - in exchange for vague promises of a better future. (more)

CCA Bulletin 3/11 – Nothing like a CRTC submission to start the year off right!

2011-01-24T11:49:00.002-05:00

Just the facts

On February 1, the CRTC will begin hearings on the application by Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. (BCE) to acquire full control of CTVglobemedia Inc. (CTVgm) and its licensed broadcasting subsidiaries. The Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) has filed a short brief in which it presents its position on the two fundamental issues raised by BCE’s application, namely: the necessary public benefits package to be included in this large transaction and the impacts of the ever increasing conglomeration of broadcasting and media platforms in Canada

There is little doubt that the transaction will be approved, as in late October, the Commission approved the takeover of Canwest properties by Shaw Communications. Interestingly enough, the same day it authorized the Shaw/Canwest deal, the Commission announced it would hold a hearing to examine the implications of such a mega-acquisition. Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein was quoted as saying, “The broadcasting industry is being significantly reshaped by a series of major transactions. As a regulator, it is only prudent that we study the implications to ensure we have the right tools to deal with competitive concerns as they arise." (more)

CCA Bulletin 2/11 - The US government turns up the heat on cultural diplomacy: Can we hope that Ottawa will do the same?

2011-01-17T10:38:00.004-05:00

Just the facts

For the past four years, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) has deplored the fact that the federal government no longer has a coordinated strategy for the promotion of Canadian artists and cultural works to national and international audiences and markets. Beyond the purely economic aspects, we have also expressed concerns about the fact that Ottawa has all but abandoned cultural diplomacy as part of its foreign policy. This is why we were particularly interested in examining our neighbours south of the border, where the concept of cultural diplomacy seems to be enjoying a revival after having been somewhat cast aside after the end of the Cold War.

On Friday, January 7, the United States Embassy in Ottawa hosted a livestream viewing party and discussion on cultural diplomacy. The presentation, titled “Culture in Diplomacy: A New Era for Arts & Cultural Relations,” was led by Ann Stock, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, and broadcast from the annual conference of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) in New York City. The panel included the Quebec Minister of Culture and Communications, Ms. Christine St-Pierre.(more)

CCA Bulletin 01/11- From the Desk of Alain Pineau: A nice way to start the year!

2011-01-11T12:38:00.006-05:00

I hope the holiday break was great for all of you! It sure was for the CCA secretariat and frankly, it’s a good thing because we have a very busy calendar ahead of us! On the policy front, Bill C-32 and copyright are major priorities, but there are also the upcoming CRTC hearings regarding the purchase of CTVglobemedia by BCE. We are in the final stages of preparation for our third Thinking Culture forum (on copyright on January 25). Internally, the secretariat is organizing the upcoming election of CCA board members and is in the process of planning the new board’s first strategic session in June. We have also launched a call for nominations for the 2010 CCA awards. And of course, there is the possibility of a federal election in the spring which could throw a wrench into the works!

I returned to work last week to a piece of good news. The Department of Canadian Heritage has published the results of the five-year summative evaluation of the Arts, Culture and Diversity Program under which the CCA and the Coalition for Cultural Diversity (CCD) are funded. Since we are the only two recipients of this program, its evaluation amounts to a third party appraisal reviewing not only how the program fits in with the government’s priorities, but also how well the two organizations deliver through their contribution agreements with Heritage. This report is therefore critical to the future funding of the CCA and the CCD. As you will see below, the report also includes conclusions of interest for the whole arts, culture and heritage sector. (more)

CCA Bulletin 32/10 - Of this and that and other things: A pre-holiday wrap-up (Part 2)

2010-12-20T16:43:00.001-05:00

This will most likely be our last bulletin of the year, but before we wish you all the best for the New Year, we must finish our year-end wrap-up of a number of important issues:

An update on the 2010-11 federal budget
An update on the Canada/European Union negotiations
The latest on the long-form census
Culture Days 2010 revisited

Federal Budget 2010-11: the CBC does not fare as well as initially thought!

The government released the second set of supplementary estimates for the 2010-11 fiscal year (The CCA reported on the first set, supplementary estimates A, in its 2010 Federal Budget Analysis).

One of the findings to emerge from the CCA’s analysis of this most recent set of supplementary estimates pertains to the source of some new funding. Budget 2010 announced that organizations would be expected to undertake ‘cost containment measures’ to reduce the pace of growth of operating expenditures. That means that only some of the new funding to organizations in the supplementary estimates is truly ‘new’. A portion of the funding is sourced by the organizations themselves from cuts taken internally. (more)

CCA Bulletin 31/10 - Of this and that and other things: A pre-holiday wrap up (Part 1)

2010-12-16T17:03:00.002-05:00

Well, it’s that time of the year again. Parliament Hill is ablaze with holiday lights, the House of Commons is in recess until January 31 and we are all fretting for a well deserved break after a remarkably busy fall.

Before wrapping the season’s gifts, it is time to wrap-up a number of issues before we all take off. In this first bulletin, you will find the latest on:

C-32 - Revision of the Copyright Act
The next federal budget: no input from the parliamentary committee!
Where is Bill C-470 at?

C-32 – Revision of the Copyright Act: The political battle lines are drawn

Parliamentarians have been at it since November 25, when the newly formed legislative committee began its public hearings with both Ministers Moore and Clement. So far, 14 individuals or organizations have appeared in front of the committee, whose work is set to resume on February 1, the date at which the CCA has been invited to appear. The list of expected witnesses is long and still growing.(more)

CCA Bulletin 30/10 - Why Bill C-470 should be defeated

2010-11-17T10:15:00.000-05:00

Just the facts

As reported in CCA Bulletin 22/10, Bill C-470 has passed second reading in the House of Commons and is now heading for study by the standing committee on finance. Introduced by the Hon. Albina Guarnieri (Liberal, Mississauga East – Cooksville), this private member’s bill would allow the Minister of National Revenue to deregister any charitable organization, public foundation or private foundation that has paid any employee $250,000 or more in total compensation. This would put an unprecedented compensation cap on charitable organizations and foundations. It would also allow the minister to publish the names and compensation details of a charitable organization’s or a foundation’s five highest earning employees, regardless of their compensation level.

While many cultural workers in Canada need not lose sleep over having their salaries capped at a quarter million dollars, Bill C-470 has consequences not only for a number of major arts organizations, but also for the smaller ones. This is why the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) has asked to appear in front of the committee and at the request of the committee’s clerk, has sent, like many other charitable organizations in Canada, a one pager which outlines the reasons for its opposition to the bill, at least in its current form. (more)

From the Desk of Alain Pineau: CCA National Policy Conference

2010-11-11T17:15:00.007-05:00

I am grateful to each and every one of you for attending, participating and voicing your opinion at our National Policy Conference last week. Artists: Powering the Creative Economy? proved to be a thought provoking two days which placed artists at the centre of the conversation.

We explored questions regarding where artists stand in Canadian society and how artists interact with Canadian and international audiences. We spoke about how the roles of artists are changing in our urban, rural and cultural communities. We also debated the types of new business models necessary for artists to participate in a society and an economy transformed by the digital revolution.

I am extremely pleased to thank the diverse voices heard over the two days – from artists to leaders of major arts organizations, from emerging arts professionals, to participants from both English and French Canada, and delegates from every province and two territories!

As we explained during the conference, this diverse gathering was part of a process for the CCA.

I invite you all to join the CCA as we move on to the next steps in the discussion of arts, culture and heritage in Canada. This conversation will be brought to the CCA’s National Advisory Committee on Priorities and to the Board of the CCA, both of which will outline priorities for cultural policy in the coming two years and the methods we will use to research and advocate these themes.

You can help us by starting this process today! Please read Garry Neil’s summary of the conference and post your comments below.

Also, be sure to check out our photo album for the CCA’s 65^th anniversary gala celebration and awards ceremony, as well as the conference!

Conference resources

2010-11-10T17:14:00.006-05:00

In the past week, we have come across a few insightful blogs which have done a great job of capturing the main themes and recapping the various sessions at our 2010 National Policy Conference, Artists: Powering the Creative Economy? Check out the links below.

Arts leaders connect with Ottawa decision makers
(The Arts Advocate Blog)

Artists: Powering the Creative Economy? or "What does the Economy Have to Learn From Artists"
(Calgary Arts Development)

Artists: Powering the Creative Economy? - Conference notes
(CAMDO)

Partnerships, Collaboration, Ben Cameron and the Creative Economy
(The Arts Policy Diaries)

CCA Bulletin 28/10 - The Economic Update: what does it mean for the cultural sector?

2010-11-08T10:48:00.000-05:00

Just the facts

On October 12, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered his Economic and Fiscal Update. The speech provided updated information on Canada’s economic and fiscal context and did not contain any spending announcements, as has sometimes been the case in past years.

On the economic side, so far, Canada is performing quite strongly in relation to its G7 counterparts, notably the United States. On the fiscal side, things are less rosy, particularly in the short-term. This year’s deficit will be the largest ever at the updated level of $55.6 billion, up $1.8 billion from the March estimate (most of the increase is due to accounting changes that shift expenditures for transitional assistance payments to the provinces from the 2010/2011 fiscal year to 2009/2010).(more)

Artists within communities

2010-11-03T16:15:00.003-04:00

The second day of the conference began with a panel exploring the role of artists within communities. Here is a quick overview of the panel’s discussion:

Tim Jones - President and CEO, Artscape

Tim Jones talked about Artscape’s pioneering role in transforming under-used buildings into affordable living and work spaces for artists in the Toronto area. Notable projects have been developed in the Queen Street West, Distillery and Liberty Village neighbourhoods. Tim emphasized Artscape’s role as an intermediary between artists, investors and stakeholders, and discussed the need for a strong collective voice in the cultural sector to encourage investment in artistic communities.

René Cormier - Manager of Strategy and Regional Cultural Development Strategy, Association acadienne des artistes professionnel.le.s du Nouveau-Brunswick

René Cormier discussed the tools and techniques developed by the Association acadienne des artists profesionel.le.s du New Brunswick to integrate Acadian arts and culture in the broader community. The Acadian community has a strong identity and a high quality of cultural production. To recognize this, a "global strategy" was published for Acadian arts and culture.

Dan Taylor - Economic Development Officer, Prince Edward County
Dan Taylor discussed his involvement in the Strategic Cultural Plan for Prince Edward County. He recognized how artists and other creative workers have helped diversify the region’s economy and build a vibrant community. Once depressed financially, Prince Edward County is now attracting and retaining a new generation of youth and urbanites. Dan was quick to mention that prosperity in the community is driven by a broad stroke of creativity, meaning in addition to artists, wine makers, cheese makers, etc., are changing Prince Edward County's landscape.

André Dudemaine - Director, Land InSights
André Dudemaine emphasized the importance of arts and culture in First Nations' communities, where artists play a significant role in reconnecting people with their spiritual being. Through hard work and dedication, several festivals have been organizaed in the Montreal area to celebrate First Nations arts, culture and heritage such as the the Montreal First Peoples' Festival. In the long term, through Land InSights, André hopes to create a permanent festival in the Montreal area to showcase indigenous art and create a creative space for First Nations people.

The NEW RAW

2010-11-03T15:07:00.003-04:00

We decided to end the first day of the conference with a screening of The NEW RAW, a short video series by Eilís Quinn.

The market for Inuit art has favoured more traditional pieces, but contemporary artists are now more interested in creating art which depicts social issues and climate change. The documentary explores the economic and social challenges that have arisen from this changing dynamic.

If you missed it, here is a link to The NEW RAW.

Emerging Thinkers

2010-11-02T15:49:00.004-04:00

To bring new ideas and fresh perspectives to this year's conference, we decided to integrate a Pecha Kucha format through the Emerging Thinkers Speed Speaker Series. Moderated by Shannon Litzenbeger, Metcalf Arts Policy Fellow, speakers included Kwende Kefentse, Janet Naclia, Devon Ostrom and Alex Rogalski. Here are a few interesting points they brought up:

-Artists are now engaging in a variety of different practices and their jobs are becoming more diverse.

-Technology is an invaluable tool for emerging artists, but it does not necessarily replace interpersonal networks.

-Community, space and place all play integral roles in how art is created and used.

-Arts policy education needs to be promoted in diverse sectors and settings (e.g. post-secondary institutions).

How should artists be valued?

2010-11-02T15:03:00.003-04:00

Over the course of this morning's discussion, an overarching theme emerged. Instead of framing the importance of artists in the creative economy, delegates and panelists agreed that more emphasis needs to be placed on the value of artists in society.

Kevin Stolarick noted that when Richard Florida's research emerged on the "creative class" and the importance of innovation to drive the economy, many artists were thrilled. They now had the proof and research to demonstrate their value to policy makers and the public at large. As Kevin put it though, artists have always been important and should not be solely defined by their economic footprint.

The Role of the Artist in the Creative Economy

2010-11-02T14:17:00.004-04:00

Our first panel addressed the theme “The role of the artist in the creative economy.” Each panelist, all from different milieus of the cultural sector, offered their perspective on the term creative economy and what it means to them.

Kevin Stolarick – Research Director, Martin Prosperity Institute

Kevin noted that the creative economy has been a useful concept for broadening the scope of who can be considered creative and how creativity can contribute to the economy. However, the term has also been overused and abused. For some, artists are now mainly valued based on how much they can contribute to the economy. According to Kevin, artists should be valued for their contributions to society as a whole, not just the economy.

Gaétan Morency- Vice-President, Citizenship, Cirque du Soleil

Gaétan discussed the importance of arts education to help develop the next generation of cultural workers. Artists constantly engage with different communities and technologies, and it’s important that they are equipped with the tools and resources to contribute in a meaningful way.

Jian Ghomeshi - Host of Q, CBC Radio One and bold TV

Finally, Jian shared his experience working as a busker, street performer and musician in the Canadian cultural sector. He noted that the term creative economy is not a part of a typical artist's vocabulary. Instead, it is a term most often used by policy makers. That being said, Canada is a disproportionately artistic country and the economy needs to be rebranded to recognize that fact.

Artists; Powering the Creative Economy?

2010-11-02T09:22:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone! Welcome to our 2010 National Policy Conference, Artists: Powering the Creative Economy?

We have a packed schedule over the next two days and we will be blogging along the way. Here's an overview of the schedule:

8:45 am	Panel: The role of the artist in the creative economy
10:30 am	Break
10:45 am	Reaction Session
Noon	Lunch and networking session
1:30 pm	Emerging Thinkers Speed Speaker Series
3:15 pm	Break
3:30 pm	Whiteboard content modules
5 pm	THE NEW RAW - A Video Series by Eilís Quinn
5:30 pm	Adjournment

We're hoping to create an interesting dialogue so please join the conversation and post your comments below!

CCA Bulletin 27/10 – After 30 years, what has UNESCO’s Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist achieved?

2010-10-26T10:57:00.001-04:00

Just the Facts

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist. With the support of the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) has conducted a critical review of this initiative in Canada. After 30 years of efforts, what exactly has been achieved for artists and creators in this country and abroad? The question is particularly relevant as we prepare for the CCA’s upcoming conference Artists: Powering the Creative Economy? Many of the issues analyzed in Status of the Artist in Canada will frame the panels, debates and conversations held on November 2 and 3 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. (more)

CCA Bulletin 26/10 - Copyright: the Parliamentary debate about to begin

2010-10-25T17:34:00.001-04:00

Just the Facts

Bill C-32, the Copyright Modernization Act, is scheduled to be presented in the House of Commons for second reading next week, on Tuesday, November 2. Debate in second reading covers the basic principles of the proposed piece of legislation. In an exceptional turn of events, in the case of C-32, the government has obtained the agreement of the three opposition parties to limit debate to a minimum so that the Bill may proceed to committee review as quickly as possible.(more)

CCA Bulletin 25/10 - The CCA Publishes its Annual Analysis of the Federal Budget

2010-09-14T13:11:00.000-04:00

Just the Facts

Having received answers to the questions raised with the government, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) is now pleased to publish its annual Analysis of the Federal Budget from the perspective of the arts, culture and cultural industries.

The analysis of the 2010 budget examines federal funding to the Department of Canadian Heritage, cultural agencies and Crown Corporations; organizational and funding changes within the Department of Canadian Heritage; federal funding of key programs across the arts, heritage and cultural industries; and other noteworthy developments affecting the sector.

While there is little in the way of “bad news” in the budget – indeed, it is status quo in the funding of programs and Strategic Reviews of the Canada Council, the CBC, the National Film Board and Telefilm, which did not face any cuts – all eyes are on next year, and the shape of things to come.(more)

CCA Bulletin 24/10 – From the Desk of Alain Pineau: A Summer Roundup

2010-09-07T14:26:00.001-04:00

Labour Day weekend has come and gone, and one can only hope that the summer weather will last a little longer. In just two weeks, the House of Commons will resume its work after the traditional summer BBQ circuits most MPs have been trekking on come to an end. Speculation is rife as to whether or not we will have a fall election, and the first few days of sitting may shed some light on the likelihood of such an event.

However, the summer was not recess time for everyone. While the House was away, the CCA was hard at work submitting briefs and joining in on national debates! We had a busy summer voicing the concerns and needs of the arts and culture sector to federal decision makers, in addition to some provincial ones. As the summer comes to a close, and in case you missed some of the action, here are the highlights of what the CCA did for you during those hot months! (more)

Thinking Culture - Cultural Forum Series

2010-08-31T15:32:00.002-04:00

Are you interested in learning more about current issues and policy developments affecting the arts, culture and heritage sector?

Then mark your calendars for Thinking Culture, a new cultural forum series touching on diverse aspects of arts, culture and cultural policies. Presented by the Canadian Conference of the Arts in partnership with the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Continuing Education, Centre for Governance and School of Political Studies, the series will launch on September 23 at 4:30 pm at the University of Ottawa’s Desmarais Building with a presentation by Marc Mayer, the director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada. Don't miss out on this stimulating and thought provoking event!

For more information, visit www.ccarts.ca/en/events/.

CCA Bulletin 23/10 - Arts Education and the CCA

2010-08-31T12:32:00.000-04:00

Just the Facts

As educational institutions across the country rev up their programs for the fall semester, many arts educators, practitioners and patrons wait with bated breath to see how enrolments will fare. Programs in arts education are as diverse as the country itself. They offer a plethora of essential learning outcomes including creative development, self expression, aesthetics and bolstering self-determination. Creative processes and diverse approaches are seen in the development of arts education programming by arts specialists, artists and generalist teachers.(more)

CCA Bulletin 22/10 – Remuneration for charity staff: the CCA joins chorus of concern over Bill C-470

2010-08-23T11:47:00.007-04:00

Just the Facts

As reported in CCA Bulletin 16/10, Bill C-470 passed second reading in the House of Commons in April and is now on its way to hearings by the Standing Committee on Finance. Introduced by the Hon. Albina Guarnieri, Liberal MP for Mississauga East – Cooksville, this bill would allow the Minister of National Revenue to deregister any charitable organization, public foundation or private foundation that paid any employee $250,000 or more in total compensation (including salary, paid benefits and unpaid benefits). Effectively, this would put a compensation cap on charitable organizations and foundations. It would also allow the Minister to publish the names and compensation details of a charitable organization’s or a foundation’s five most highly paid employees, regardless of their compensation level. (more)

CCA Bulletin 21/10 - CCA urges the government to keep investing in arts and culture beyond Canada’s Economic Action Plan

2010-08-16T11:15:00.006-04:00

Just the Facts

On Friday August 13, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) submitted its pre-budget brief for 2011 to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. In it, the CCA frames the manner in which the federal government should invest in arts and culture, and emphasizes the need for the government to continue its commitment of stable funding for arts and culture as we come to the end of Canada’s Economic Action Plan.

The CCA outlines priorities to stabilize and enrich the economic capacity of the creative sector. The complete submission defines six recommendations for investment:

1. Audience and market development at home and abroad: The CCA asks the government to dedicate $40 million of “new money” in order to expand its capacity to support market development nationally and internationally for Canadian artists, cultural institutions and industries.

2. Canada Council for the Arts: The CCA asks the government to increase the base budget of the Canada Council for the Arts by an additional $30 million per year beginning in 2011-12, with a view to reach $300 million by 2015.

3. Training and Internship/Mentorship Opportunities: The Department of Human Resources and Skills Development (HRSDC) should expand access to EI training support for the self-employed. Also, HRSDC should dedicate $1 million per year for five years to foster the professional development of cultural workers through internships and mentorships.

4. National Museum Policy: The CCA asks that in the context of a new National Museum Policy, the government dedicate an additional $50 million to promote Canada’s national heritage, exhibit Canadian stories and preserve our culture.

5. Cultural Statistics: The CCA requests that the government give an additional $1 million to the Department of Canadian Heritage (PCH) to develop and maintain a satellite account for culture at Statistics Canada, as is done for tourism and the voluntary sector.

6. Investment Incentives: Finally, the CCA supports Imagine Canada’s suggestion to establish a “stretch” tax credit that would increase the federal charitable tax credit by an additional 10% on all new giving up to $10,000, in order to increase the flow of charitable gifts from Canadians. (more)

CCA Bulletin 20/10 - The Long-Form Census Controversy and the Arts

2010-07-20T17:18:00.014-04:00

Just the Facts
On June 26, as Canadians were focused on the G-8 and G-20 meetings in Toronto, the government discretely announced its decision that the long-form census would no longer be compulsory. The census, which is sent every five years by Statistics Canada to a fifth of Canadian households, would be replaced by a voluntary survey of a full third of Canadian households. The short version of the national census, which contains only eight questions, remains compulsory and protected by the Constitution.

Statistics Canada was not consulted on this decision but simply asked to provide alternative solutions, none of which, they recognize, will provide the same quantity and quality of information. While no solution can adequately compensate for the change in methodology, the extended voluntary Household Survey will cost Statistics Canada an estimated $ 30 million more to administer a system which all statisticians describe as faulty. (more)

CCA Bulletin 19/10 - What are the Department of Canadian Heritage's Priorities for 2010-11?

2010-07-19T14:52:00.010-04:00

The Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) is still working on its detailed Analysis of the 2010 federal budget, which is delayed as we wait for answers from the government on a number of issues.

As part of its Budget Analysis on arts, culture and heritage, the CCA examines the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Report on Plans and Priorities published in the spring. This document is the expenditure plan for the Department. It provides details on priorities, human resource requirements, major capital projects, grants and contributions, and net program costs. As such, this document reflects the intentions of the Department to take action on certain files, and presents a comprehensive examination of the Department’s priorities, program architecture and management structures. (more)

What are your thoughts on the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Report on Plans and Priorities? Comment below.

CCA Bulletin 18/10 - Arts, Culture and a National Digital Strategy

2010-07-12T12:13:00.010-04:00

In a brief filed as part of the nation-wide consultation launched last May, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) urges the government to make content creation a centrepiece of the national strategy for the digital economy. The consultation, which was due to end on July 9, has been extended to July 13, midnight.

The CCA’s fundamental approach to a national strategy is based on the belief that infrastructure, wires, cables and corporations will not be enough to sustain a robust digital economy, let alone a vibrant digital society, if content creators are not included in this strategy. Canada’s digital economy relies on the expertise of its creative workers. Their content creation must be encouraged by a national strategy, protected by regulations, supported by appropriate training and distributed on as many digital platforms as possible. (more)

What are your priorities for the national digital strategy? Comment below!

CCA Bulletin 16/10 - The House of Commons is off for the summer

2010-06-22T12:15:00.008-04:00

Just the Facts

Last week, members of the House of Commons left the Hill for the summer, with MPs returning to their ridings to mull over the work ahead in the fall. Meanwhile, the Senate is still trying to deal with the massive omnibus budget bill, C-9. Members of its Finance Committee are saying that they will stay as long as it takes to get through the 904 page document.

So, from the arts and culture perspective, what has been accomplished in the 65 days that the House has been sitting since the infamous prorogation that was granted by the Governor General last December? Notably, since the opening of the third session of the 40th Parliament on March 3, there has been more policy making with regards to our sector in comparison to the two preceding sessions. Several important pieces of legislation are now on the table for the House of Commons and Senate, making the fall session a likely platform for lively debates. The only deterrent would be another federal election, a scenario currently deemed unlikely by most observers! In this bulletin, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) looks at the state of affairs on Parliament’s Order Paper and reviews current consultations which may affect the arts, culture and heritage sector. (more)

CCA Bulletin 15/10 - Amending the Copyright Act: What’s in it for Artists?

2010-06-03T17:13:00.007-04:00

Analysis

Yesterday, the Conservative government tabled for first reading in the House of Commons Bill C-32, an Act to modernize the Canadian Copyright Act. This much awaited piece of legislation has been the object of much speculation and concern from both sides of what has been, and will no doubt continue to be a hot public debate.

The document has 65 pages of references for changes to the current Act and the deciphering of this information has started in various offices across the country. Some amendable deficiencies have already been identified by both sides of the great divide between copyright holders and copyright users/consumers. C-32 is the most recent attempt – and the third one in five years - at bridging this divide for at least for five years. One of the most interesting aspects of C-32 is that it makes for a quinquennial mandatory revision of the Copyright Act.(more)

What are your thoughts on copyright reform? Comment below!

CCA Bulletin 14/10 - Harmonized Sales Tax: What does it mean for the arts?

2010-05-25T14:48:00.004-04:00

Just the Facts

In December 2009, the Ontario legislature and the House of Commons and Senate enacted legislation for a harmonized sales tax (HST) to be implemented on July 1, 2010. Bill C-62 received Royal Assent in the House of Commons on December 15, 2009 and laid out the Provincial Choice Tax Framework Act.

This legislation replaces Ontario’s retail sales tax (RST) with the HST. The HST will have a combined sales tax rate of 13% (combining the existing 5% federal goods and services tax (GST) and 8% from Ontario). All businesses currently registered for GST will automatically be registered for the Ontario HST on July 1, 2010. British Columbia is also set to merge its 7% provincial sales tax with the GST on July 1, 2010. (more)

Comment below and let us know what you think about the implementation of HST.

CCA Bulletin 13/10 - Towards a Canadian national digital strategy?

2010-05-14T10:32:00.004-04:00

Just the facts

The federal government launched this week a nation-wide consultation, on the development of a national digital strategy. The announcement was made jointly by Ministers Clement (Industry), Moore (Heritage) and Finley (Human Resources and Skills Development) at the Canada 3.0 Conference on digital media.

Minister Moore is quoted as saying that “Our government is committed to ensuring that creators, inventors and entrepreneurs have the incentives to innovate, the confidence to take risks and the tools to succeed. We recognize the important role the digital media and content sector plays in the digital economy, and we intend to develop a long-term plan that will stand the test of time.” (more)

What factors need to be taken into consideration when developing a national digital strategy? What issues matter to you most? Read the rest of our bulletin and post your comments below!

CCA's 2010 Federal Budget Analysis

2010-03-05T13:17:00.004-05:00

Here is our executive summary of the 2010 Federal Budget:

The 2010 Budget includes stable funding to arts and culture with no cuts, but also yields no new investments into the creative economy. The CCA sees no investment towards cultural infrastructure, or funds for promotion abroad and audience development. It is encouraging that charities are given more flexible means to conduct business, and research granting associations will have an increased ability to fund higher education within the knowledge economy. Moving forward, some concerns include administrative reforms, freezes on departmental operating budgets, and changes to strategic reviews. These measures may not be viewed as cuts at the moment, but may lead to financial difficulties for the arts sector down the road.

To read the whole analysis, go to our website, then post your comments here - we'd love to hear from you!

2010 Federal Budget

2010-03-03T13:04:00.004-05:00

Today, as the third session of Canada's 40th Parliament is launched with the Speech from the Throne, participate in an online discussion!

The CCA will publish bulletins analyzing how the Speech from the Throne and how the 2010 Federal Budget will impact arts and culture in Canada. Specifically, we will look at new funding initiatives for arts and culture, spending on cultural infrastructure, promotion of arts abroad, and development of new audiences.

We also hope to see plans to implement a digital strategy, new copyright legislation, and other innovative steps in the realms of telecommunications and taxation.

Over the next couple of days, and the following weeks look out for our evaluation of the Main Estimates, and the impact of deficit reduction on the Department of Canadian Heritage and other cultural agencies. We will also be keeping a watchful eye on how federal deficit reduction will be compounded by steps taken by provinces.

We hope this post will be the first in creating a dialogue about this new session of Canada's 40th Parliament. Use this thread to post comments, questions, links, and anything those interested in the arts would like to learn!

CCA Cultural Policy Workshops!

2009-11-06T10:27:00.005-05:00

Thanks to the support of the Trillium Foundation, the CCA is traveling around Ontario this fall to conduct workshops on cultural policy in Canada. In coordination with local arts groups from around Canada, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) will host workshops, available in both official languages, which will inform participants about how public policy shapes the nature of arts, culture, and heritage in Canada. We hope to show you the best ways of making an impact on these policies.

The Politics of Arts and the Art of Politics is a half-day workshop designed for a small group of 20-40 participants. The workshops are open to all Canadians interested in arts and culture: from all disciplines and practices within the sector itself, artists and creators, municipal and provincial officials, educators and students, arts activists, volunteers, arts organization Board members and the business community.

We hope that by going from community to community, those involved in the actual workshops, and those who can only join us on this online forum, will be able to continue the discussion!

Please post your comments from your experience at our Cultural Policy Workshop, or share your thoughts from afar. The discussion does not have to end with the workshop...let's hear what you have to say!

Please also note the upcoming dates, to see if the CCA will be in your community:

Peterborough, with the Artspace Artist-Run Centre,
- November 4, 2009 1:30 – 4:30 pm
  Artspace, 3/378 Aylmer St. N
  To register, contact Artspace at info@artspace-arc.org or 705-748-3883

Kingston, with the Kingston Arts Council,

November 5, 2009 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Kingston Frontenac Public Library, Wilson Room,
130 Johnson Street
To register, contact the Kingston Arts Council at info@artskingston.com or 613-546-2787

Sudbury, with the Sudbury Arts Council,
- November 11, 2009, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
  Marguerite Lougheed Community Centre,
- 328 Albert St. at Regent St.
  To register, contact the Sudbury Arts Council at sac.contact@gmail.com or 705-560-5412

Sault-Ste-Marie, with the Arts Council of Sault-Ste-Marie and District and the NORDIK Institute,
- November 12, 2009, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
  Algoma University, Room EW204, 1520 Queen St. East
  To register, contact Jude Ortiz at the NORDIK Institute, jude.ortiz@algomau.ca or 705-949-2301

Waterloo, with Communication, Leadership, and Social Innovation & the Centre for Cultural Management, University of Waterloo
- November 18, 2009, 7:00 – 10:00 pm
  Council Chambers (3rd Floor), Waterloo City Centre
  100 Regina St. South (at William)
  To register, contact Bill Poole at the Centre for Cultural Management, wpoole@uwaterloo.ca or 519-888-4567 x 35057

Next Steps

2009-03-12T17:24:00.002-04:00

Sounds like a preliminary report will be circulated before the summer, and further refinement and work will take place in the fall. Or sooner! It was suggested that we are entering another election cycle and so we need to make some key decisions more quickly.

Check the CCA website and bulletins for further updates.

Thank you! Please circulate the link to this blog to your friends and colleagues and encourage them to leave a comment on the blog. Folks at the CCA will be most interested in seeing the outcomes of this blog experiment.

Signing off,
Helen Yung

reporting back

2009-03-12T16:23:00.005-04:00

Anne is inviting the roundtables to report back to the room on the discussion they just had. Fascinating stuff but virtually impossible (dangerous) for me to share with you on the fly (without context). Instead, I suppose this is a good time to reflect on today's experiment and ask you for feedback.

This live blow-by-blow blog was an idea from CCA's Policy Analyst, Jessica Litwin but it wasn't put into action until about 10 days ago when I found out about this idea she had had and volunteered to take on the challenge. So, given that the CCA office was already well-laden with work to prepare for the real-life workshop, there wasn't really any lead time to develop this cyberspace counterpart.

I say counterpart because I see, and (as I understand it) the CCA has it in their long-term plans, great potential for something like a 'live blog' to become more than just a running commentary or set of notes. A cyberspace counterpart to workshops like this would create space online for greater engagement across Canada from diverse constituents. The questions are: how to do this? And how to maintain engagement?

My two cents.. (and then you share yours please!)

How to do this: When I was working at a membership-based organization, I had an idea about engaging members by 'commissioning' specific individuals at regular intervals to post a short message about a recent challenge/success/question in a members-only online forum, to encourage exchange between peers who might otherwise have little communication with each other. I write 'commissioning' in quotes because these would be voluntary, not paid communications.

How to maintain engagement:

Keep content relevant. It's what gets people to come back and read more.
Use personal voices and personal (organizational) details to animate the content. (Avoid grantspeak!)
Make it easy to read, and to talk back.

What do you think? What's it gonna take to get you to leave a comment and to read more?

note about the roundtables

2009-03-12T16:11:00.002-04:00

Scanning the room it's clear that there are great discussions taking place at every roundtable. People are talking through the break; everyone wants to hear more and to share more.

As you may expect, discussion often bounces between anecdotes (stories about specific successes and challenges) and theoretical considerations. Knowledge-sharing is important... meanwhile the questions that Anne posed to each Action Area roundtable help focus the discussion on mapping out our assets so that these can become useful notes moving forward.

a Federal Funding / Advocacy Roundtable

2009-03-12T15:19:00.005-04:00

I've joined one of several Federal Funding / Advocacy Roundtable (closest to my AC outlet!). Around the table we have individuals who represent music, visual arts, media, arts administration and others, from emerging artists to professionals and arts organizations. A glimpse:

The Canadian Public Arts Funders (CPAF) is a 3-year old network of arts funders across Canada. CPAF allows funders to talk to each other and share best practices. Overall objectives: communications, improve professional practices of arts funders, create stronger arts funding environment.
In mapping out the advocacy players, audience members have to be part of our constituencies. They have always been included, but Anne's presentation gave an interesting model (parents as spokespeople in arts education advocacy).
How do we build a broader base? (to advance grassroots advocacy efforts)
Those who support arts and culture should be better leveraged. Those who seem to have anti-arts-and-culture views could be targeted with a campaign that creates awareness and appreciation for arts and culture.
Maybe we need to come to a consensus as to whether we want a single centralized place for arts and culture funding?
It's not clear what the messaging is.
Positive messages aren't always carried forth efficiently and effectively, in unison.
In the U.S. every member of Congress can be convinced of a same view regardless of their political affiliation.
Examples of grassroots advocacy successes were shared.

breakout groups

2009-03-12T15:08:00.002-04:00

The breakout groups will be themed. Each group will address a different Action Area:

arts education
federal funding
creative economy
other issues

Those interested in arts education will start by mapping research available, looking at current issues. What research can we borrow? What new research is needed? Who has research capacity?

Those interested in federal funding will start by mapping out advocacy issues. Who are the constituencies, where are the networks, who is taking action today, what are the current messages?

For creative economy, we'll start with professional development. Who (what city, which network) is succeeding in this area? What are they doing so well?

Other issues will look at strategic alliances. Who are our natural allies in this area? Who could be common partners in success?

The Will & The Way for Arts and Culture in Canada

2009-03-12T14:59:00.002-04:00

Anne reviewed some of the conclusions drawn in the Regional Forum Report.

CURRENT CLIMATE

economic uncertainty - "never waste a good crisis"
public image of the arts - see, for example, the views expressed last federal election
cuts in national funding
concern for arts education
policy opportunity

WORKING TOGETHER

inclusion and consensus - diversity (of opinion, of expertise, of experiences) is a fundamental value for arts and culture workers; we would never back an initiative that didn't have a strong consensus
partnerships
communication within sector - must overcome isolation in our work
long-term strategy
dealing with short-term limitations

TOP PRIORITIES

federal funding
creative economy
arts education
determining full policy agenda >> we're going to do some of this work today!

TOOLS WE NEED

mapping the sector
valid research
coordination - so we can sing together!
regular information
advocacy training - our issues are deep and complex so it takes specific training to boil it down to the words most important to the media-watching public

So now we're going to do an Asset Exercise in breakout groups to map assets in each policy area.

introduction to breakout sessions

2009-03-12T14:49:00.003-04:00

Breakouts will happen in two 30-minute sessions with a short break in between.

Anne started in the research department of Americans for the Arts. Her job was to answer any research question that came in from their diverse constitutencies on a daily basis. During this time, she became focused on policy issues. Inspired, she figured "all we've gotta do is to get some very specific, technical policy changes and voila it'll [be resolved]". She found out that that wasn't quite all that was needed. (But it was a start!)

Two key points: create a context around the issue you want to advance; and present arts and culture as the solution.

In creating a context, you need:

intelligence (information) informing the discussion - not just my opinion
constituencies knocking on doors
examples of good outcomes
recommendations
evaluation of our work

Ultimately, it's most important that arts and culture be presented as a solution to equally busy policymakers. We are not a weak link, a charity, or a handout. We are a solution to the problems of the day. For example, an old historic building that is empty and underused, in an area full of empty storefronts. You turn the historic building into a multi-use building: mix of market-rate and subsidized housing, create ways for artists, arts organizations and schools to use the space somehow. Show how arts and cultural investment can create multiple public benefits (takes the conversation out of the silo).

sustaining values

2009-03-12T14:23:00.004-04:00

Americans for the Arts holds the following as its core values:

arts are alive in every community - large and small
asset-based strategy: what do you do well and how can we advance that? (remember that arts are alive in every community)
diversity is the best asset of the arts and cultural sector
authenticity is key to economic value: an economic strategy that destroys the cultural asset is no way to go
art is more than economic value
network of leaders makes the difference: this is what makes Americans for the Arts work (and what I think everyone in this room and reading this blog believes will work to advance our sector:) having a network of leaders across diverse constituencies at all levels who are committed to leveraging the knowledge, resources, and strategies to make it all possible.

On this note, Anne has ended her presentation. After a short break, folks will gather round in small breakout groups to discuss common advocacy needs and priorities.

advocacy

2009-03-12T14:14:00.004-04:00

Anne gave us a glimpse of what is possible:

during most recent campaign, Americans for the Arts was able to galvanize supporters and generate 85,000 messages that were sent to Congress over a few days in support of a $50-million dollar ask.
Sometimes they "bust a representative's phone system or voicemail system because of all the calls we make".
From 2008 to 2010, they made sure that in every stop in every city made by the presidential candidates, they made sure that someone posed a question regarding their arts and cultural policies.

At the same time, says Anne, "we always make sure we work to advance the visibility and the authority of the local [arts agencies and advocates]."

arts education

2009-03-12T14:06:00.002-04:00

An important area of focus for Americans for the Arts is in arts education. Much of their work in this area is centred around empowering parents to influence change and to demand more arts. Their public awareness campaign, Art. Ask for More., for example, rallies the support and influence of parents to ensure full access to high-quality arts education for all students.

More information here: http://www.artsusa.org/networks/arts_education/arts_education_004.asp

Phoenix Metro Light Rail

2009-03-12T13:52:00.002-04:00

An example of the work that Americans for the Arts has helped realize is the Phoenix Metro Light Rail. Each station on the light rail features beautiful, well-designed public art. Moreover, artists, arts workers and designers were involved early enough in the planning and building of the rail system that many of the stations are located strategically near significant cultural centres in the city.

Read more about the public art commissioned for the Phoenix Metro Light Rail system here:
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2008-12-25/culture/light-rail-stations-ride-the-line-between-public-art-and-construction-detail

Tale of Two Organizations

2009-03-12T13:43:00.003-04:00

Americans for the Arts was founded as a result of a 1997 merger between American Council on the Arts and the National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies.

Anne noted that this merger continues to leave a legacy of animating tensions within Americans for the Arts between the national and local perspectives. She emphasized that this is a positive tension; the dynamic animates the work of Americans for the Arts.

Their constituencies include:

local and state arts service agencies
arts disciplines
arts education
creative economies
public art and civic design
community development
emerging leadership
diverse cultures
arts in higher education
arts and business partnerships
philanthropic communities

For more information about Americans for the Arts, visit their website.

arts infrastructure in the U.S.

2009-03-12T13:35:00.002-04:00

Anne just reviewed the founding of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) which occurred in 1965 as part of the Kennedy / Johnson Great Society program. This piece of legislation provided matching grants to state agencies. Prior to this legislation, there were only a small handful of agencies. Overnight, this legislation sparked much more infrastructure to develop over the past 50 years.

Can't find an exact number of agencies today, sorry. There's a Wikipedia article here dealing with Great Society, but not a lot of useful information related to the points that Anne has highlighted. Check back later; the CCA may have links to more information for those who are interested.

Anne L'Ecuyer

2009-03-12T13:33:00.001-04:00

Anne L’Ecuyer holds policy expertise in cultural diplomacy, creative industries, cultural tourism & trade, as well as the contributions of the arts toward educational, social, and economic goals in communities throughout the United States.

She most recently served as Associate Vice President for Field Services at Americans for the Arts. In this role, she produced an annual program of leadership development events for a national audience of cultural professionals and their allies in government, business, and education. Anne consulted directly with hundreds of local arts leaders to provide strategy and support for their efforts and routinely met with delegations of foreign cultural leaders on visits sponsored by the U.S. State Department. She served as editor of the Americans for the Arts Monograph Series, and is the author of Public Funding for the Arts at the Local Level.

Regional Forum Report

2009-03-12T13:16:00.002-04:00

Alain Pineau is giving an overview of the CCA's recent Regional Forum Report. A copy of the report is available here. A good and important read.

The report is subtitled: If There's a Will, There is a Way. Alain's presentation highlighted the will expressed by the 430+ participants in the Regional Forums, which leads us to today's workshop, which has been structured to find us a way.

Agenda

2009-03-12T13:11:00.002-04:00

Kathleen Sharpe, CCA President is making opening remarks right now.

1:15 - 1:45pm Regional Forum Report, presented by Alain Pineau, CCA National Director

1:45 - 2:30pm Keynote Address, presented by Anne L'Ecuyer, Americans for the Arts

2:30 - 2:45pm Networking Break

2:45 - 3:30pm Breakout workshops to form consensus on common advocacy needs and priorities

3:30 - 3:45pm Coffee Break

3:45 - 5:00pm Conclusion to Breakout workshops and plenary discussion, moderated by Anne L'Ecuyer

5:30 - 7:30pm CCA Awards Ceremony, presided by Senator Tommy Banks

Introductions

2009-03-12T12:59:00.002-04:00

Hello out there!

This is officially the first blog post live from the CCA's National Cultural Strategy Workshop at the Lord Elgin in Ottawa. My name is Helen Yung and I will be your blogger for the afternoon. ;)

A bit about me: I am a writer, artist and freelance arts manager. A graduate of the UC Drama Program at the University of Toronto, I have been working in arts and culture since 2003. I was previously Programs and Services Coordinator at the Canadian Dance Assembly, the national advocacy organization for dance, and General Manager of the Little Pear Garden Collective, a Chinese-Canadian opera and dance company. Currently I am involved with Culture Days, Canadian Arts Coalition, and Pixel Gallery. I am also a Steering Committee member of Cultural Pluralism in the Performing Arts Movement Ontario. My website is here.

Now it's your turn! Please post a comment introducing yourself.

Don't be shy. It can be something as simple as "Hello, this is Jane Doe from [place]." Let us know how you're involved with arts and culture - as a volunteer, professional, artist, writer, critic, educator etc. We want to know who's out there reading!

Live Blogging!!!

2009-03-03T14:20:00.001-05:00

Join us here for live blogging of the National Cultural Strategy Workshop
March 12, 2009 starting at 1:00pm EST

ConnectCP Canada

2007-06-04T11:14:00.000-04:00

Since the CCA is a member of the Editorial Working Group for Culturescope.ca, an interactive service of the Canadian Cultural Observatory, we thought we'd share with you an extremely useful feature on Culturescope.ca: ConnectCP Canada.

ConnectCP Canada is a database of cultural policy experts in Canada which is a subset of connectCP, an international database being developed by IFACCA (International Federation of Arts Councils and Cultural Agencies) and the Boekman Foundation.