CCA Bulletin 27/07
Ottawa, July 26, 2007
CCA Participates in Canada Council Strategic Planning Process
Just the Facts
The Canada Council for the Arts has launched a major consultative exercise to inform the development of its next three-year strategic plan. The Council has met with artists, creators and arts organizations in a series of meetings and has also spent one day in intensive discussions with arts service organizations. Alain Pineau, National Director, and Guillaume Sirois, Cultural Policy Advisor, participated in the one-day session and were favorably impressed with the depth of the discussions and the candor of the Council Director, Mr. Robert Sirman.
The Council also released a discussion paper ”Creating Our Future” and called upon anyone interested in the process to submit their comments for consideration by the Board of the Council when it meets this Fall to finalize the plan. The discussion paper outlines some of the fundamental values of the Council and five priorities for the next three-year strategic plan. The priorities are;
- aboriginal arts
- capacity and adaptability of arts organizations
- cultural diversity
- dissemination and public engagement
- emerging practices
The CCA submission stressed the critical importance of a national arts council, the peer assessment process and the need to cultivate the Council as a knowledge institution by bolstering its research capacity.
The CCA also called upon the Council to foster a clearer understanding of the arm’s length principle with government. This is an area fraught with misunderstanding and mythology which could be easily elucidated by the Council. The text of the CCA submission can be found here.
The Board of the CCA congratulates the Council on embarking on such a broad based consultative process. It is hoped that the strategic plan developed by the staff and Board of the Council reflects the fruits of this ambitious process.
Tell Me More
The CCA based its contribution to the strategic planning process on the provisions of the Canada Council Act and the mandate conferred by Parliament in the creation of the institution.
The mandate of the Council is usually summarized by citing Section 8(1) that is
“to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in the arts”
Other elements in the mandate empower the Council to
8 (1) (b) provide, through appropriate organizations or otherwise, for grants, scholarships or loans to persons in Canada for study or research in the arts in Canada or elsewhere or to persons in other countries for study or research in the arts in Canada;
8 (1) (f) exchange with other countries or organizations therein knowledge and information respecting the arts; and
8 (1) (g) arrange for representation and interpretation of Canadian arts in other countries.
The Council has important roles to play in the development of a comprehensive research strategy to improve the understanding and credibility of data regarding the arts in Canada. The sharing and cultivation of rigorous research and analyses of various dimensions of the artistic experience in Canada is a unique capacity of the Council with its fifty year overview of the development and diversification of the arts sector.
The Council has an important international role to play. For many years it has discharged this element of its mandate through the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. The need for Canadian artists and arts organizations to develop foreign audiences and markets is critical to the long-term health of the sector. The Council must be resolute in ensuring programs such as the Audience and Market Development Office are given adequate resources to facilitate this development and work with other international organizations such as the International Federation of Arts Council and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) to address common challenges and opportunities facing the arts sector around the world.
What Can I Do?
If you have views on the priorities of the Council for the next three years, share them with the Council Director, Mr. Robert Sirman. He can be contacted by email at robert.sirman@canadacouncil.ca. The broadest range of input from the sector and interested Canadians will do much to assist the Council in calibrating its strategic plan.
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