CCA BULL ETIN / BULLETIN DE LA CCA
THE SUN SHOULD NEVER SET ON CULTURE
Ottawa , December 10, 2004 - The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage sent a message to Cabinet and the Minister of Canadian Heritage yesterday, calling on them to announce the renewal of the Tomorrow Starts Today funding by next week's end of the Fall session of Parliament.
The Standing Committee's regular meeting on December 8 was primarily focused on the renewal of TST , the three-year funding program initiated in 2001 by the Liberal government of the day (and renewed for a single year last spring). The program “sunsets” again on March 31, 2005, and the Martin cabinet has yet to make any decision on the funding's renewal, leaving many in the cultural community anxious and unable to reasonably plan for the 2005-2006 fiscal year and beyond.
At the meeting's conclusion, members of the committee passed the following motion, brought forward by Conservative Culture Critic Bev Oda ( Durham, ON ):
That, in response to the request by the artists and cultural communities across Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for the renewal of Tomorrow Starts today, the Minister of Canadian Heritage report in the House the intent of this government to renew or not renew this program before the end of this session of the House and whether it will be renewed as an A based program or not.
“A based” programs are long term funding programs without sunset dates which are evaluated every five years. There was discussion and agreement amongst the members of the Committee on the need for TST or its successor to be an A based program.
Representatives from the Department of Canadian Heritage were present at the Committee meeting to present the members with background material on TST , and to answer questions from the members. The DCH officials emphasized that TST is not merely a single program, but actually a collection of distinct programs, including Cultural Spaces Canada, Book Publishing Industry Development Program, Canadian Culture Online, and the Cultural Capitals of Canada. In total, TST funds represent more than 65% of the Department's support for the arts, book publishing, sound recording, new media industries, and cultural export programs.
Though members of the committee were ultimately supportive of the funding, some expressed concerns on the manner in which it was distributed. Conservative MP Gary Schellenberger ( Perth-Wellington , ON ) expressed concern that the funding had been used in the past by the Liberal government as a political tool, while Bloc Quebecois Culture Critic Maka Kotto ( Saint-Larent , QC ) noted that his party would prefer to see all of the TST funds administered by the provinces.
The DCH representatives noted that they are continuing to serve their “clients” by accepting applications for funding programs for the 2005-2006 fiscal year, but with an expressed caveat that the funding is contingent on the renewal of TST. NDP Culture Critic Charlie Angus ( Timmins-James Bay , ON ) expressed frustration at the manner in which the renewal was being held up, and stated his concern that the funding would be renewed, only after the arts community was subjected to a “dance of a thousand veils”.
Conservative Bev Oda followed on this point, expressing the sentiment that “It's appalling that arts groups have had to come to Ottawa to lobby for this renewal.”
Representatives of the Department noted some of the key successes of Tomorrow Starts Today :
For more information:
Kevin Desjardins
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(613) 238 3561 ext.11
Fax (613) 238 4849
61/04
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