CCA Bulletin 22/07
FROM THE DESK OF ALAIN PINEAU
National Director
Canadian Conference of the Arts
Ottawa, June 6, 2007
Investing in Canadian Arts and Culture: Distinguishing “Need” From “Demand”?
Securing increased and stable funding for the arts and culture sector has been high on the priority list of objectives for the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) for decades.
As the arts and culture sector celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the Canada Council for the Arts, this issue has once again re-emerged as a “top-of-mind” issue. The infusion and distribution of $50 million dollars to the budget of the Council over two years has stimulated some questions about what constitutes “adequate” levels of public investment in the arts by the federal government of Canada.
The Canada Council has launched a broad consultation on the development of its strategic plan for the period 2008-2011 and has invited artists, creators, arts organizations and Canadians from all walks of life to share their views on the future direction of this important institution. The breadth of the consultative process is a bold, welcome move by the Council and demonstrates a laudable sense of openness, as well as a concrete demonstration of the desire for new ideas and strategies. After a successful first fifty years, the Council clearly wants this to continue well into the future.
The CCA will contribute its views to this process in consultation with the members of our Board of Governors and, as always, we welcome the input of our members and supporters.
The question that has challenged the Council since its creation in 1957 is the need to secure adequate and stable funding. However, the determination of what is “adequate” is a most inexact science.
It is interesting to remember that the need for increased funding was strongly endorsed by the Report of the Federal Cultural Policy Review Committee (Applebaum-Hébert report, 1982) and the Task Force on the Funding of the Arts (Bovey Report, 1986). However, neither of these illustrious bodies attempted to quantify the funding needs of the arts through any quantitative analysis. Even still, this did not prevent the Task Force on the Funding of the Arts from making the following recommendation:
“Our objective…is a constant rate of real growth of 5 per cent per year to the year 2000, representing an increase that is 1.5 per cent higher than the assumed rate of economic growth in Canada. This would result in an additional $430 million in constant dollars for funding the arts by the year 2000.”
The Task Force admitted that this was a projection based on the representations made to it by artists, creators, arts organizations, and producers.
The unwillingness or inability of the Review Committee or of the Task Force and of many other academics and arts organizations over the years, to tackle a quantitative analysis of need versus demand has placed the arts and culture sector in a difficult position with respect to a rational case for ongoing funding increases by governments at all levels.
In the current Supplementary Operations Fund Initiative, the Council received over $98 million dollars of grant application requests for the $50 million one-time increase to its budget granted by the minority Conservative government. Many will see in this “proof” that the current budget of the Council is woefully inadequate to deal with the need demonstrated by this level of funding requests, the more so since only organizations already receiving operating grants were eligible for this one-time supplementary funding. Can’t it be argued that the need for investing in the arts and culture sector is surely even greater than that, given the fact that between 1991 and 2001, the growth in the number of artists was almost three times the rate of growth in the overall labour force (Hill Strategies, Artists in Large Canadian Cities, March 2006)?
The duty of the CCA is to play the role of a responsible interlocutor with the federal government. While acknowledging that the growth of the arts and culture sector has exceeded the wildest aspirations of our pioneering generation, the issue of what constitutes a reasonable and sustainable level of investment by the federal government has yet to be resolved.
The arts and culture sector makes many important contributions to the quality of Canadian life and the vitality of our national economy and labour force. There are many statistical models that demonstrate an impressive multiplier effect for every public dollar invested in the arts and culture sector. The need for stable funding is apparent in every sector of Canadian life, including the arts and culture sector.
The translation of these realities into a realistic level of funding by the federal government is a task that we all must collectively address. The arts and culture sector does a great disservice to itself when it plays the role of implacable supplicant for which more is always never enough. If we are to be credible in our approaches to politicians and policy makers, we have to address this issue with rigour and discipline; some precision must be brought to the request for “more”, as we must develop a long-term growth strategy that will attempt to ensure that next year the call is not for “more and more”.
Accountability has become the latest fashion at the federal level and it is clear that this extends to all who seek a share of public funding or policy development. If our sector is going to succeed in the quest for increased and stable funding, we must think beyond a March on the Hill or heartfelt pleas from underpaid and underappreciated artists and cultural professionals.
The announcement of a broad program of consultations by the Canada Council on their strategic plan is an excellent opportunity to bring some focus to this critical issue. Without a comprehensive argument for increased and stable funding supported by credible analysis, the arts and culture sector will continue to be seen as implacable supplicants at the doorstep of the Treasury. Such a perception is one that we would do well to reverse as quickly as possible. If we seek increased and stable funding for the arts and culture sector it must be framed in a context of realism and stable levels of growth and diversification of funding sources. This debate cannot be deferred any longer.
What can I do?
The CCA’s mandate is to foster informed public debate on cultural policy issues, and we intend to pursue that role with regards to our number one policy and advocacy priority. If you have any insights or ideas on how such a sectoral strategy can be developed, the CCA would welcome your views by writing us at info@ccarts.ca.
Please also note that you have until June 15 to complete the online survey for the Canada Council 2008-2011 strategic plan! To access Creating our future...An invitation to contribute to our strategic plan, please visit the Canada Council’s web site.
Staff change at the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA)
The Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) is pleased to announce that Guillaume Sirois recently started working in the newly-defined role of Cultural Policy and Communications Advisor. He replaces James Missen, who leaves the CCA effective Thursday, June 7th after almost four years of remarkable service to the organization.
With a master’s degree in art history from the Université de Montréal, Guillaume Sirois has worked as project manager in several exhibition centres specializing in modern art. Later on, he completed a program in cultural management at the École des hautes études commerciales (HEC Montréal).
Guillaume has also worked for the Délégation générale du Québec à Paris, where he coordinated the cultural programming for the Maison du Québec à Saint-Malo.
Before joining the CCA, Guillaume was coordinator for Diversité artistique Montréal, where he was responsible for developing the first business plan, finding resources and launching the first set of projects.
Please join me in welcoming Guillaume to the CCA ! He can be reached at guillaume.sirois@ccarts.ca and by phone at 613-238-3561 ext. 19.
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