CCA Bulletin 21/10
August 16, 2010
CCA urges the government to keep investing in arts and culture beyond Canada's Economic Action Plan
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.
Tell me more
According to a report prepared by the Conference Board of Canada for the Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC), “the cultural sector of Canada’s economy will be hit harder by the global recession than the overall Canadian economy.” The real value-added output in the cultural sector “is expected to be 4.8% lower in 2009 than it would have been had there not been a recession”. This reduction, which amounts to $2.2 billion, is more significant than the 4.0% reduction expected in the overall Canadian economy. On the other hand, revenues for Canada’s culture sector are expected to be 4.3% —or about $3.1 billion—lower in 2009 than they would have been in the absence of a global recession.
Apart from government funding, cultural non-profit groups rely on philanthropy to survive. This is why it is worrying to note that, “endowment, donations and other revenues are expected to be most strongly affected (a 16% reduction), due to the weak economy and the decline in stock markets.” The [CHRC] report indicates that this will likely have the largest effect on the performing arts and heritage sectors. Certain arts and culture fields depend heavily on business advertising, and endowments will suffer an even greater loss in revenues because of the impact of the global recession on these two revenue sources.
In its submission, the CCA applauds the decision of the government to allow cultural agencies under review to keep the 5% of their funds which they had identified as “lower priority”. The CCA welcomes the view of the government that the CBC, the National Film Board, Telefilm and the Canada Council for the Arts are all meeting the objectives and priorities of this government. However, the CCA opposes the decision to replace the mandatory long-form census with a voluntary household survey, whose quality and usefulness has been criticized by all experts. The CCA deems it contrary to responsible management of Canadian taxpayers’ money to waste an extra $30 million to gather data that cannot be relied upon to develop fact-based public policies.
In conclusion, the CCA states that while it understands the necessity to start eliminating the annual federal budget deficit, it would be very short-sighted to slash investments in the arts and culture sector, particularly given the fact that it still has to experience the main impacts of the recent economic crisis.
Arts and culture are important components of the creative economy - where Canada’s future lies. In the digital age, it is of utmost importance for a nation to not only invest in digital infrastructure, but also in content development. Canadians have a duty to support the development of all forms of cultural content that reflects their identity as a nation, contributes to the country’s reputation abroad and supports our commercial objectives on the international scene, while at the same time, making an important financial contribution to the domestic economy.
What can I do?
Voice your support for the CCA’s recommendations by sending an email to your MP, Minister James Moore, Minister Jim Flaherty and Prime Minister Harper. Also contact the Leader of the Opposition and the leaders of the NDP and the Bloc Québécois.
What are your thoughts on the CCA's pre-budget submission? Let us know on our blog.
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