CCA Bulletin 22/06
FROM THE
DESK OF ALAIN PINEAU
National Director
Canadian Conference of the Arts
April 28, 2006
The federal
budget: where will arts and culture be?
If
the Main
Estimates presented by the government on Tuesday were
more than a technicality to keep the machinery of Government
working prior to the budget, there should be serious concerns
in the cultural sector. Nothing to be found there about the
long-overdue federal investment in artistic creativity and
excellence nor in any field of the cultural sector. On the
other hand, nothing either about more cuts to arts and culture,
always the easy target on any Finance Minister of any political
stripe!
All
of this may change of course when Minister James Flaherty
stands up in the House of Commons at 4 PM Eastern, to read
his first Budget Speech. Not that we expect cuts to the sector
given the current political context (at least not in this
first budget concerned mostly with the government's five priorities),
but nobody really has a clue about what's going to happen
to the much needed increases to the budget of the Canada Council,
the new Museum policy or the budget increase to Foreign Affairs
cultural budgets and the place of culture in Canada's international
political and trade strategies.
Of
the main immediate priorities pushed by the CCA, we only know
for sure that the Finance Minister has
committed to explore the notion of exempting copyright and
patent revenue from taxation (as supported by us and by
the Canadian
Council of Chief Executives) and also to explore the idea
of extending the $500 tax credit promised to parents of under
16 year old children enrolled in sports activities to those
of children enrolled in some form of artistic training.
The
CCA will be present in the Budget lock-up on the Hill on Tuesday.
We will provide you with our immediate analysis the very next
day. As in previous years, we have also commissioned a thorough
analysis of the full budget and revised Main Estimates as
they affect arts and culture. We will make available this
analysis available to members in the following two to three
weeks.
CCA
Participates In 2006 Alternative Federal Budget: "Moving
Forward"
Still
related to the budget: for the past number of years, the CCA
has been involved as a member of the Steering Committee for
the Alternative Federal Budget, which is coordinated annually
by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). The
2006 Alternative Federal Budget (AFB for short) was launched
at a news conference at the National Press Club on Thursday
April 27 and is entitled "Moving
Forward".
"Moving
Forward" demonstrates that the Government of Canada has
the financial resources to maintain and build on the commitments
made in the 2004-05 Minority Parliament and can use upcoming
surpluses to move forward on a progressive, yet balanced agenda.
The AFB honours the 5 key commitments made in 04-05 and advances
other important priorities by investing a net total of an
additional $36 billion in Canada's social and environmental
quality of life over three years - while
still maintaining a balanced budget in every year with NO
increase in overall taxes.
The
2006 AFB incorporates the priorities of a wide range of prominent
civil society organizations, including the CCA, and represents
the views of millions of Canadians. CCA members will recall
that our April 10 Bulletin highlighted
the CCA's current short-term advocacy priorities for the upcoming
budget. On May 2, the CCA is looking for the
Government of Canada to:
- Make long-overdue investments in artistic
creativity and cultural institutions. The CCA believes that
progressively doubling the budget of the Canada Council
for the Arts is the most appropriate way of making such
an investment;
- Ensure that Canadian artists and cultural
institutions have access to the international scene through
increased funding of the cultural programs of the Department
of Foreign Affairs;
- Announce a new federal museums policy
with increased funding;
- Finance the CBC’s plan to
expand regional programming.
These
priorities also appear in "Moving Forward" under
the title "Culture and the Arts", which was authored
by the CCA. The CCA is pleased to be involved in the CCPA's
AFB project again this year, though it does not capture the
full list of five priorities that the CCA is currently advocating
for the 2006 federal budget. The CCA is
also asking Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to:
- Reinstate income averaging for artists,
cultural workers and other self-employed Canadians whose
income fluctuates from year to year, as well as established
policies enabling artists to exempt copyright income from
taxation, a measure supported by the Canadian Council of
Chief Executives;
- Expand the planned tax credit of $500
for parents of young Canadians under the age of 16 who enroll
their children in programs promoting physical activity to
also include a tax credit for parents who enroll their children
in arts and cultural activities.
The
Canadian Arts Coalition
The Canadian Arts Coalition (CAC) will circulate
to all its members on Tuesday a press release and some speaking
notes concerning the presence or the absence of any reference
in the federal budget to the hard-fought for increase to the
budget of the Canada Council.
The
Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) is an active member
of the Coalition and will circulate all this information to
its members as soon as it is available. It
is of utmost importance that the cultural sector speak with
one voice on this most important issue.
While it is not the answer to all the various needs of the
Canadian cultural sector at large, federal investing in creativity
and in artistic excellence are crucial issues for all of us
and for Canadian society. Let us keep the pressure on our
Parliamentarians and on the government in particular so that
they recognize the social benefits of such wise investments.
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