Federal Election Campaign Begins – Where will federal parties stand on culture issues?
Bulletin 48/05
Ottawa, November 29, 2005 – To the surprise of no one, the opposition parties made good on their
recent threats to defeat Rt. Hon. Paul Martin’s minority government and have voted in support of a
non-confidence motion. Early signs are that this federal election will be somewhat different than
Canadian elections of the past, as we have already witnessed the beginnings of negative campaign
tactics and name-calling that will likely only heat up over the coming weeks.
The challenge for organizations like the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) will be to put public
policy issues forward and have each party pronounce themselves on their intentions for the arts and
cultural sector, if elected. What legislative program are they planning and which are the most
important priorities for each contending party? Will each political party honour the financial
commitment to the Canada Council for the Arts and other cultural institutions and funding programs
announced last week? Will the parties agree to revisit Canada’s International Policy which abolishes
the Third Pillar of foreign policy, “the promotion of Canadian culture and values”? How will the
parties approach the subject of copyright reform and will future legislation affirm the rights of
creators?
The CCA will be consulting with our membership on an on-going basis in the coming days and weeks
to determine what items you feel must be a part of any successful party’s election platform. We would
also welcome your suggestions by email at any time lcoletta@ccarts.ca. We will keep our membership
informed of how the cultural sector’s election platform is shaping up and the kind of responses we
receive from party officials.
When the Board of the CCA met in September of this year, it approved a Code of Conduct for the
CCA during a federal election campaign. This Code spells out the non-partisan nature of the CCA and
how it intends to preserve this status during an election campaign. It is on our website at
www.ccarts.ca/en/about/bog/CodeofConduct.htm.
Finally, if you have any suggestions as to how to raise the issues of importance to the arts and cultural
sector, please share them. If you hear an answer from a candidate that makes you sweat or jump for
joy, please let us know. The CCA will be providing coverage of the election campaign and the
treatment of cultural issues.