CCA Bulletin 32/07

FROM THE DESK OF ALAIN PINEAU

National Director
Canadian Conference of the Arts

Ottawa, September 26, 2007

What's up at the CCA?

Many of you may be wondering if the CCA has left for summer holidays and not returned, since communications over the past few weeks have been few in-between. I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth: the problem is that we have been so busy over the past three months that we can barely keep you informed of all the work underway on behalf of the arts and cultural sector!

Throughout the summer, the Secretariat of the CCA has been hard at work preparing for a very busy fall season. First of all, the annual federal pre-budget submission has been written and sent to the Standing Committee on Finance in preparation for our appearance in a few weeks. The focus is strongly on funding issues, especially the renewal of the programs’ envelope formerly known as Tomorrow Starts Today. 

After intervening in the Canada Council consultation process on its 2008-2011 Strategic Plan, we were pleasantly surprised by the unexpected announcement by the former Minister of Canadian Heritage Hon. Bev Oda that $30 million had been added to the budget of the Canada Council for the Arts (CAC) on a permanent basis. Then of course, the Cabinet shuffle gave us a new Heritage Minister, Ms Josée Verner. The budget increase  of the CAC is welcome news and reduces somewhat the anxiety about the direction of the federal government in dealing with the arts and culture sector. As for the Cabinet shuffle, we have taken a look at the tea leaves and have concluded that based on the past 18 months, it is still pretty much impossible to say what agenda the government may have regarding arts and culture.

With Parliament in recess for five months, there has been little activity of significance for the cultural sector coming from the Hill or from government. Most of the action has been in fact concentrated in what is traditionally known as broadcasting, where the regulator has been piling deadlines over deadlines. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has indeed kept us hopping with calls for hearings and comments on a variety of issues, almost each potentially affecting one way or another the interests of artists, creators and arts professionals at large, both in the long and short term. We will provide you with more details on the fundamental issues currently debated in front of the CRTC in our next bulletin.

On the parliamentary agenda, we look forward to the October 16 Speech from Throne and - who knows for sure! - to the long-awaited tabling of the next phase of revisions to the Copyright Act …unless of course the Throne Speech leads to an election, which will prompt a shift of our immediate priorities. We are also waiting for the Supreme Court ruling (link) on registered national athletic organizations to discern any possible impact on national arts service organizations and all arts and cultural organizations with charitable status.

In the midst of all this, the Secretariat has been planning a one-day symposium on the Role of the Arts in Public Diplomacy.  This event will take place in Montreal on November 22, 2007 at the Université du Québec à Montréal. CCA staff has been busy consulting experts in the field and recruiting internationally respected resource people to inject the discussions with new ideas and best practices from across Canada and around the world. Contacting these individuals during the summer has made for some vigorous rounds of telephone tag and email salvos!

In advance of the Symposium, the CCA will be releasing to participants to the event a background paper prepared by Rachael Maxwell who completed a three month internship with the CCA this past spring. Rachael’s excellent paper offers a broad perspective on the evolution of public diplomacy around the world and in Canada, particularly over the past 60 years. It will help to inspire forward-looking and constructive discussions, which is the objective of the Symposium.

In parallel with these activities, the Secretariat of the CCA is developing a three-year strategic and financial plan in consultation with the Board of Governors. This multi-year action plan will provide the background in our search for the resources required to fulfill the CCA’s unique mission with regards to arts and culture in Canada.

We also welcome three new Board members: from Montréal, Louise Poulin , art consultant, president of ArtsExperts.ca, and from Toronto, Kathleen Sharpe, arts manager, Director of the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund (OCAF) , and Jason van Eyk, arts manager, performer, and music instructor and Ontario Regional Director for the Canadian Music Centre. The expertise of these new members will be most valuable as we move forward in the refocusing process started two years ago by the Board.

Finally, I would like to signal the arrival in early August of our new Communications Officer, Line Dezainde, who comes to us with a remarkable level of expertise and an incredible level of energy and dedication. You can expect a number of improvements in our electronic communications in the coming months!

As you can see, life continues apace at the CCA and soon you will likely be deluged with a variety of communications as Parliament returns. If you have any questions or if you wish to identify an issue you think warrants the attention of the CCA please let us know.