From the traveling desk of Alain Pineau — January 13, 2012
VANCOUVER — After an excellent meeting Tuesday with the General Director of the BC Arts Council, Gillian Wood, I made my way to the port of Victoria to ride the seaplane to Vancouver. This was a first for me, and what an experience! It was sunny and the ride was smooth considering the small size of the plane. It was simply marvellous to see the islands dotting the strait separating the island of Vancouver from the mainland. The arrival in Vancouver was one of the best experiences I’ve had.
Wednesday, I met the new director of the Alliance for Arts and Culture, Rob Gloor. Rob has just filled the space left by our friend and board member Amir Alibhai, who moved to Toronto to take a position at the Aga Khan Museum. At the end of the day I had the pleasure of dining in company of the president of the BC Arts Council, Stanley Hamilton. We had a stimulating discussion about the situation of the arts in general and about the future of the CCA in particular. The rest of my day was spent in my hotel room, working remotely on a series of files and responding to all my accumulated emails. This undertaking ended on a frustrating note since the transfer of our new website had shut down the remote access to our email service! Technology, technology, how you have a hold on us… by the throat!
It was yesterday, Thursday, however that my schedule got really busy. It started very early in the morning with a conference call with the C-11 (Copyright) strategic group, during which we put the finishing touches to a document of proposed changes for the government, with the goal of blocking the undesirable negative consequences of this important legislation. This document represents months of efforts on the part of a dozen organizations who, under the coordination of the CCA, have put their blood, sweat and tears to reach a consensus acceptable to as many of the organizations as possible. The result: 71 cultural organizations from all corners of the country have affixed their signature; an unprecedented accomplishment of solidarity and compromise for all the communities involved. The document will be presented to the members of the Legislative Committee when the House returns at the end of the month.
The bulk of the day was dedicated to meetings with members of cultural organizations. To start, there was a two-hour session with a dozen people at the Francophone Federation of BC to present the CCA and its upcoming projects. Then I jumped into a taxi to lead a session on the new Canada Revenue Agency guidelines concerning accreditation of arts organizations as charities. That session had barely finished when we changed floors to meet roughly 60 professional artists and cultural workers coming from the four corners of the Vancouver area in order to participate in the CCA’s consultations on its future and to hear how this unique instrument in the cultural sector can contribute to the development of a dynamic future for the arts. I think I can say without exaggeration that these meetings garnered much interest and that the CCA’s profile was raised – which I must confess is really needed because after 67 years of existence, the CCA remains one of the best-kept secrets. Even more exciting are the many interesting suggestions and signs of support for our proposals put forth following initial consultations in Montréal, Toronto and Ottawa.
So there you have it! The first leg of my Canadian tour has come to an end. It’s time to pack my suitcase, sleep a few hours and then rush off to the airport tomorrow at dawn for my return to Ottawa for my only week in the office between now and February 20th!
Hi Alain,
In your trans-canada travels are you planning a visit to the North? If budget a time allow such a trip we would be happy to facilitate.
Al Cushing, CEO Yukon Arts Centre
Hello Al!
Hope all’s well in your part of the world. Unfortunately, I am not scheduled (budgetary reasons) to visit the North. However, I really appreciate your offer and wonder if there would be a possibility to organize some sort of electronic version of my consultation session? Let me know what you think and we could arrange something for the week of February 20 maybe?
Best regards,
Alain