CCA Bulletin 24/06

FROM THE DESK OF ALAIN PINEAU
National Director
Canadian Conference of the Arts

Ottawa, May 15, 2006

"Is the new Federal Accountability Act a responsible piece of legislation to pass 'full steam ahead'?"

This was the question on everyone's mind after a two and a half hour briefing meeting last week in the 22 nd floor boardroom of the Department of Finance, organized by the Canadian Association of Manufacturers and Exporters and attended by myself and Cultural Policy Advisor, James Missen , on behalf of the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA).

Participants were representatives of national advocacy and lobby groups, mostly from the business, interested in knowing what the lengthy omnibus bill means for them and the work that they do.

The questions raised, the "enormous concerns and frustrations" expressed by the participants, and the obvious uneasiness of Treasury Board representatives faced with so many pointed questions and comments could only draw sympathy for them!  This 273 page Act was cobbled together in just over nine weeks: it was clear to all present that civil servants were not engaged in policy-making but rather in contributing at break-neck speed to a platform of delivered goods for a minority government whose sole focus is on getting a majority at the earliest strategically convenient time. Blank faces and "you'll have to wait for the regulations" were too often the only reactions that could be extracted from people at the head of the table.

The main concerns raised by participants dealt with the risk of being unwittingly ensnared by the new legislation and regulations; the numerous loopholes making implementation difficult; the nefarious impacts of the Act on recruiting people to work for organizations like the CCA; unnecessary additional administrative burdens, problems with privacy aspects, etc. A participant even suggested some of the provisions would likely be challenged under the Charter of Rights.

Picking up only on areas of interest to the arts and cultural sector, Bill C-2, as the Federal Accountability Bill is known, purports amongst other things:

1. to reform the political process (financing of political parties, role of Ethics Commissioner, toughening the Lobbyists Registration Act, etc.);
2. to make the public sector (politicians, bureaucrats and grant recipients) more transparent and accountable as to how public money is spent;
3. to make qualified government appointments;
4. to strengthen auditing and accountability within departments.

All lofty objectives, no doubt, but the devil is in the details and there seems to be ample reason for concern about such a piece of legislation being railroaded through Parliament to suit a largely electoral agenda.

While indications are that the government is pushing this through the House of Commons to have the law passed as soon as possible, there will likely be opportunities to intervene when the bill goes to Senate. There will also be a broader and "more flexible" consultation when the regulations are developed throughout the fall and winter. The Act is not expected to be fully implemented much before March 2007, coinciding nicely with the expected election and prior to the equally expected problems it will create.

The CCA is opening a file on this important piece of legislation and will keep you posted.  Stay tu ned !

In other news.

Those of you who attended the CCA March Conferences will remember that I had announced that the Secretariat would soon launch a new electronic magazine called @gora and that the first content would be dedicated to the Conferences and to the Policy Priorities established by the Board as a sequence to this major consultative process.

I am glad to report that the work is progressing, even if we are somewhat late in delivery. Changes in staffing and work processes within our team, added to governance realities to make CCA's priorities official and to the challenges of creating a brand new communication tool have postponed the first edition somewhat. We should be able to present you with the very first issue of @gora in the third week of June, after the next Board meeting has formally approved CCA's Policy Priorities and Action Plan for the coming year or so.

And finally, the Census!

The CCA fully supports the following message from our good friends at Hill Strategies: we encourage all members of the Canadian arts and culture sector to fill out their 2006 Census questionnaires as fully and accurately as possible - especially those who receive the longer Census form, which contains a number of work-related questions .

Past Census information has been used to examine the situation of artists and cultural workers in Canada . It is of utmost importance, particularly with this government, to be able to line up factual and statistical arguments as to the important contributions the arts and cultural sector make to Canada . No accurate data, no sound statistical arguments nor analysis!

So, accuracy and full participation are crucial! Census day is Tuesday, May 16th . If your household had not received a Census questionnaire by May 13, please immediately contact Statistics Canada at 1-877-594-2006.

For the first time this year, you have the option of completing your Census information online, using a code included on your Census form.

Please visit the 2006 Census Website for more information.