CCA BULLETIN / BULLETIN DE LA CCA
ALTERNATIVE FEDERAL BUDGET 2004: REBUILDING THE FOUNDATIONS
"The Alternative Federal Budget continues to subscribe to the view that the federal government should play a leading role in economic, social and cultural policy, in developing national cultural institutions, enforcing standards for social programs, and building a strong national economy."
Alternative Federal Budget 2004, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Ottawa , March 16, 2004 - For the past ten years, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has produced alternative federal budgets, timed to coincide with the federal budget. The goal from the outset has been "to show that governments do have choices*", with the resulting annual Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) demonstrating "what a government could do if it were truly committed to a progressive social and economic agenda".
For the first time, the Canadian Conference of the Arts was involved in the process this year, providing input into the section on culture. This section stresses the need to invest not only in traditional concepts of infrastructure (such as roads and sewers) but also in cultural infrastructure. Linking the presence of the arts in urban regeneration to attracting new businesses, improving quality of life, and promoting tourism, "the AFB will provide increased, stable, multi-year funding to Canada 's national cultural institutions and agencies".
The section on culture focusses this year on broadcasting; the recommendations for specific budgetary measures include:
• Restore and enhance the Canadian Television Fund (an increase of $250 million over four years).
• Increase funding to the CBC ($1 billion over four years, conditional on a CBC commitment to restore capacity at the local/regional level).
• Create a new investment fund to encourage local broadcasting ($100 million annually, phased in over four years).
The plight of Canada 's artists is also outlined in the culture section, with the AFB undertaking to "strengthen the Status of the Artist legislation to ensure improved access to social benefits". Its suggested reform of the Employment Insurance system would ensure access to benefits for artists who are employees for part of their working lives but whose aggregate hours do not qualify them for EI benefits, as well as access to benefits for self-employed artists similar to the model currently in use for fishers.
Other measures which could also benefit Canada 's artists include improved access to af fordable housing and investigating the feasibility of a guaranteed adequate income.
The AFB urges the government to "seek ways to prune back the most egregious aspects of NAFTA - for example, working with NAFTA partners to strengthen social and cultural exemptions.... [through] multilateral forums to forge agreements in the area of ... culture ... that are enforceable and supersede the rules in agreements like the WTO and NAFTA".
The Alternative Federal Budget also covers areas such as public infrastructure, tax fairness, aboriginal peoples, foreign policy, health care, education, and much more. To read the complete AFB, go to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' website at www.policyalternatives.ca
Meanwhile, the "real" Budget is scheduled for Tuesday 23 March. As usual, CCA will be involved in the lock-up, and will provide members with an immediate mini-analysis. This will be followed a few weeks' later by a complete analysis of the Budget and its implications to those in the cultural sector. Stay tuned!
* All quotes have been taken from the Alternative Federal Budget 2004, produced by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
For more information:
Kevin Desjardins
Communications and Public Relations Manager
(613) 238 3561 ext.11
Fax (613) 238 4849
12/04
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