CCA Bulletin 46/06

Ottawa , November 2, 2006

The CCA updates its mission statement

Just the Facts

The Board of Governors of the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) recently held meetings on October 20 & 21 2006 at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montréal. The CCA Board of Governors is continuing its work to firmly restore the focus of the CCA on cultural policy analysis and development, and to ensure that the governance model of the organization facilitates this renewed objective.

The new mission statement of the CCA approved by the Board, is:

"The Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) is the national forum for the arts and cultural community in Canada . It provides research, analysis and consultations on public policies affecting the arts and the Canadian cultural institutions and industries. The CCA fosters informed public debate on policy issues and seeks to advance the cultural rights of Canadians ."

The Board adopted this mission statement upon the recommendation of a governance sub-committee of the Board in order to better reflect the renewed relationship of the CCA with the larger sector it serves and represents. The statement recognizes the maturity of the arts and culture sector today, and the critical role of arts service organizations in representing the discipline specific needs and realities of their own members.

In addition to discussions on our mission statement and governance, the Board also adopted rules of engagement for the next federal election campaign, a new strategy on taxation and fiscal policy, as well as a strategy for the CCA's role in the next phase of possible revisions to the Copyright Act .

Two CCA Board sub-committees, one on governance issues and the other on membership, also tabled interim reports and recommendations for the consideration of their colleagues on the full CCA Board. In both instances the sub-committees were instructed to re-group and continue their important discussions in order for their revised recommendations to be considered for approval at the next CCA Board meeting in February 2007.

The CCA Board also confirmed the appointment of Alain Pineau as permanent National Director of the organization. The Board cited the passion and leadership that Alain has brought to the position since November 2005 as two of the many attributes that have earned him the trust and respect of the Board and the CCA membership over the past year.

Tell Me More.

In approving the strategy outlining the Canadian Conference of the Arts' involvement in the next phase of copyright revisions, the Board of Governors signaled that the CCA will be actively consulting the copyright collectives and creators' organizations in this process. The Board endorsed the traditional position of the CCA, which promotes the "droit d'auteur" view of copyright, while supporting the principle of collective rights management as the fairest and easiest form of access by copyright users and licensees.

The Board also approved rules of engagement for the CCA in the next federal election, whenever it may occur. The Board affirms the non-partisan nature of the CCA and the organization's role in providing fair and balanced information to the arts and culture sector regarding parties' election platforms and their positions on public policy affecting the Canadian arts and culture sector. The CCA will not usurp the rights of each Canadian to make their choice based on their own judgment, though we will endeavour as always to keep people fully informed.

The Board also endorsed some research strategies dealing with the difference between lobbying and advocacy, the role of civil society organizations in the public policy discourse, and a study on the use of direct funding and tax expenditures by governments in support of common good objectives. The initial findings of this research will be presented to the Board when they next meet in February 2007.

The Board was also presented with an inventory of the work that the CCA has undertaken since March 2006. That list is on our website for your information.

Tell Me Even MORE.

Since 2005, the Board of Governors of the Canadian Conference of the Arts has invested considerable energy and work in rebuilding the capacity of the organization with respect to cultural policy development and analysis. Last year the Board created an expanded Policy and Advocacy Committee to ensure that it has access to a wide range of views within the arts and culture sector to inform their work.

The CCA's Policy and Advocacy Committee is chaired by Karl Siegler, Vice-President of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, and is comprised of other CCA board members and members-at-large, including:

• Lucy White, Executive Director of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT);
• Anne-Marie Desroches, Union des Artistes (UDA);
• Andrew David Terris, Arts Nova Cultural Research and Consulting, past CCA board member and interim National Director;
• Sheila Roberts, Saskatchewan arts activist and CCA Board member;
• Deborah Windsor, Executive Director of the Writers' Union of Canada (TWUC);
• Robert Spickler (ex-officio), current President of the CCA.

The work of the Committee is also facilitated by the involvement of the Secretariat's policy team: Alain Pineau, National Director, Keith Kelly, Cultural Policy Consultant, and James Missen, Cultural Policy Advisor.

This Committee vets policy and advocacy issues and strategies before they are presented to the full CCA Board of Governors as recommendations for their approval. The CCA encourages its members and supporters to forward any issues or views related to policy and advocacy, in an ongoing basis, to the attention of CCA National Director Alain Pineau (alain.pineau@ccarts.ca).

Additionally, the CCA reminds its members that our new communications tool and electronic magazine CCA's @gora has been online since August. It is an interactive space, thus one can leave comments on CCA's short, medium, and long-term Policy and Advocacy priorities.

Please visit CCA's @gora often as we are always adding new content, including news of our 47th Annual Awards Gala held on September 15 in Toronto . The site now features some wonderful photos and stories from the event, including the texts from the wonderful acceptance speeches by our esteemed 2006 CCA award winners, Bluma Appel and Pat Durr.

What Can I Do?

The CCA is always seeking new members and supporters to enable us to undertake the wide range of research and policy development on policies that have an impact on the arts and cultural sector. If you are already a member, we encourage you to renew your membership, to make a donation and to encourage others to become members. The broader the base of the CCA, the more effective we can be in putting your concerns and interests forward. Again, we also encourage you to be in communications with the CCA by contacting info@ccarts.ca and by our two websites. Let us know how we are doing and how we can serve you better!