Celebrating the CCA – 60 Years Strong!

The Board of Governors of the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) met in Ottawa on September 29 and 30, 2005, amidst celebrations to mark the organization's 60 th anniversary.

The festivities began with a reception and dinner in the Salon Room of the National Arts Centre on September 28.  The gala evening featured performances by classical Chinese dancer William Lau , new music soprano Janice Jackson , and the Cadenza String Quartet, a group of musicians from the Ottawa Youth Orchestra.  The Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Hon. Liza Frulla, joined the celebrations and gave a warm congratulatory speech to mark the occasion.

The CCA took advantage of the event to present its Diplôme d'honneur award to Québec writer Roch Carrier and the Keith Kelly Award for Cultural Leadership to BC activist and former CCA Board member Nini Baird .  Minister Frulla presented both awards to the recipients.  Also in attendance were many CCA Board members, both past and present, as well as four past National Directors, several former award winners, and four Life Members.

The Board met for two days following the festivities and discussed a wide variety of important topics, including:

• fair tax treatment for artists and arts professionals
• Canada 's new International Policy Statement
• "rules of engagement" for the forthcoming federal election campaign
• the satellite radio decision
• revisions to the Copyright Act
• child pornography legislation (Bill C-2)
• the CCA's pre-budget submission to the Standing Committee on Finance
• a progress report on status of the artist
• priority setting procedures for the CCA

For a variety of reasons, the Board decided it would move the scheduled November 2005 National Policy Conference to March 3-4, 2006 .  The conference will be held in Ottawa , and more details will follow in the coming weeks.

The Board also took advantage of the 60 th anniversary to reaffirm its commitment to a strong focus on cultural policy and advocacy.  It also instructed the Secretariat to redouble its efforts to communicate with members and the cultural sector about those issues that have an impact on the lives of artists, arts professionals and producers.

The Board sees the 60 th anniversary as a time of renewal and is determined to move forward with energy and resolve.  The Board also expressed its appreciation for the loyalty of the CCA's membership and renewed its commitment to engage them more fully in the policy development work of the organization.