FROM THE DESK of Alain Pineau: CCA’S NEW YEAR BEGINS WITH FURTHER FEDERAL ELECTION ADVOCACY
CCA Bulletin 1/06
January 3, 2006
After a short break for the holiday season, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) greets the beginning of 2006 in full “elections advocacy mode”. We will continue our efforts to put arts and culture issues on the agenda during the current campaign and I invite all members, stakeholders, and the public to visit the growing section of our website www.ccarts.ca/en/2005ElectionNews1.htm dedicated to CCA’s 2006 federal election advocacy.
This bulletin will highlight the growing list of arts and culture campaigns initiated by CCA member organizations during the current federal election campaign. Should you or your organization know of any current advocacy efforts not mentioned in this bulletin or on our website, including (but not limited to): questionnaires sent to and responses received from the political parties; all-candidates debates that discussed arts and culture issues; and pertinent statements by candidates and/or party leaders, please keep us informed so that we can echo them (info@ccarts.ca).
ARTS AND CULTURE CAMPAIGNS ACTIVE IN THE 2006 FEDERAL ELECTION (in alphabetical order)
ACTRA — “Canadian Culture: We Are Losing the Signal!“www.actra.ca/actra/images/05December/ELECTPSTCRD.pdfACTRA’s useful postcard can help to illuminate where political candidates stand on three key cultural issues. ACTRA’s questions are:
1. Will your party issue an order to the CRTC to impose both content and spending requirements on private broadcasters?
2. Will your party commit to increased, stable support for the Canadian Television Fund, Telefilm andthe CBC?
3. Will your party keep the current limits to foreign ownership of our airwaves to ensure that Canadians control our broadcasting industry?
ACTRA continues to work in solidarity with the United Steelworkers and presented the following“election platform pitch” on Parliament Hill on 24 November 2005.www.actra.ca/actra/images/05November/ACTRAUSWLobbyPitch.pdf
Canadian Arts Coalition — “Vote Arts 2006“www.votearts2006.ca
“Vote Arts 2006” is an initiative of the Canadian Arts Coalition (CAC); the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) remains an active member of the CAC’s Steering Committee and many CCA member organizations have formally endorsed its campaign.
The CAC represents a broad range of arts organizations who continue to advocate for a significant increase in federal funding for the arts through the Canada Council for the Arts. On 23 November2005 the Government of Canada announced it would meet the CAC’s request when it committed $306million in new money to the Canada Council for the Arts over 2006–2009. “Vote Arts 2006” provides useful information and tools to help to ensure that that this new funding, now committed on paper,will become a reality once a new government is elected.
Canadian Museums Association – “Election Tool Kit 2006”www.museums.ca/Cma1/WhatsNew/ADVOCACY/electiontoolkit.htm
A new Canadian museums policy was very close to final approval when the federal election was called. The Canadian Museums Association (CMA) is asking its members and supporters to, “Make sure museums are on the agenda in your region during the election, and that, if elected, candidates are committed to introducing a new museums policy.” Their website provides a list of key actions to take to help achieve their advocacy goal. On 21 December 2005 the CMA posted statements from all five major political parties in response to the following three questions:
1) Does your party support the development of a new Canadian Museums policy to replace the current policy that dates back to the 1970s?
2) Does your party support the CMA’s four principal objectives for a new policy?
3) Does your party support the investment of $75 million per year, as recommended by the CMA, in sustained, multi-year, predictable programs, to meet these policy goals?
Directors Guild of Canada – “Election 2006 Action Alert”www.dgc.ca/PHPUploads/election%20mailing%202005–12-01.pdf
The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) is urging its members to, “Help make sure this federal election campaign leads to a stronger Canadian film and television industry.” Their website provides a one page backgrounder of statistics to, “Help ensure that your local candidates and their parties support policies to strengthen our industry – let them know how important film and television production is for our national culture and our economy.” The DGC is asking candidates the following three questions:
1) Will you and your party commit to increased, stable funding for Canadian film and television production? Will you and your party commit to protecting and enhancing the federal film production tax credits?
2) Will you and your party commit to order the CRTC to revise its 1999 Television Policy and bring back broadcasters’ expenditure requirements?
3) Will you and your party commit to keeping the current restrictions on foreign ownership in Canadian broadcasting?
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting –“Campaign for Canada“http://friends.ca/About_Us/subscribe_short.aspx
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting is an independent, Canada-wide, non-partisan voluntary organization supported by 66,000 households. Its mission is to defend and enhance the quality and quantity of Canadian programming in the Canadian audio-visual system. During the 2006 election campaign, FRIENDS invites people to sign up to its “Campaign for Canada” in order to:Receive timely updates on FRIENDS’ election activities Hear about opportunities to take action during the campaign Take part in riding-specific election initiatives Learn about critical developments the moment they surface Join with other Canadians to let candidates in your riding know that broadcasting matters to you Friends of Canadian Broadcasting’s first in a series of internet-based actions focuses on the issue of strengthening the CBC’s grassroots and information and can be found at www.friends.ca/strengthencbc-grassroots , CCA bulletins will circulate news of future FRIENDS election advocacy campaigns as they are unveiled throughout the month of January.
The Writers’ Union of Canada — “Ask Questions“www.writersunion.ca/indexpagenotice1.htm
The Writers Union of Canada (TWUC) has sent the following questions to all of the political parties and is encouraging its members to use them “to continue to inform candidates of the importance of arts and culture to Canadians.” At the moment, only the Bloc Quebecois has responded to TWUC’s questionnaire, which is as follows:
1) Do you support the current initiative to bring the Canada Council for the Arts’ budget back up to meaningful levels after decades of cutbacks?
2) Are you committed to ensuring that Canada meets its obligations to ratify the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties by bringing our laws into conformity with our treaty commitments? Will you support the rights of authors to be compensated for the use of their work?
3) Would you introduce targeted income averaging to alleviate the unfair tax burden paid by creators? Would you introduce a copyright income deduction for creators, modeled on that used in the province of Quebec? Would you exempt from taxation subsistence grants for creators administered by the Canada Council for the Arts?
4) Would you extend employment insurance benefits to self-employed creators, and to creators who work in paid employment to supplement their self-employment, and make them eligible for EI?
5) Do you support Bill C-74 — introduced in the last legislative session, which — would require Internet service providers to provide police with information on their customers, such as e-mailaddresses, telephone numbers, and IP addresses without a warrant? Such legislation would hinder a writer’s confidence in contacting controversial individuals or researching controversial topics.
6) Would you protect and promote Canadian writing in Canadian bookstores?
7) Would you restore Canadians’ freedom of expression by repealing the recent revisions to the criminal code (in Bill C-2) which excessively broadened the definition of child pornography and removed the artistic merit defence that had been interpreted by the Supreme Court of Canada?
CORRECTION: QUESTION 4C IN CCA BULLETIN 53/05
The CCA regrets that the most crucial part of our wording on the issue of Canadian ownership of our cultural industries was missing from Question 4C circulated in CCA Bulletin 53/05. The correct Question 4C, which has been updated on our website and will be included in all future CCA election-related communications, should have read: “Given that Canada recently ratified the UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, will your party develop policies to protect Canadian ownership of and encourage more investment in our cultural industries by Canadians? What would those be?”CCA asks you to ensure that you are using the correct Question 4C when speaking to candidates in your ridings.
STILL TO COME FROM THE CCA IN THE FOLLOWING DAYS AND WEEKS
- A “Flashback / Flash-forward?” follow-up bulletin to CCA’s 49/05 bulletin “Reality Check:Where Business Left Off in the House of Commons”. This bulletin will profile what positions parties took on arts and culture issues during the May/June 2004 federal election campaign, and what progress (if any) was made during the past Parliament. What issues remain un-resolved and may return after January 23rd?
- The CCA will provide information on all political parties’ platforms pertaining to arts and culture issues. To date, the Bloc Quebecois is the only party to have officially unveiled its full election platform, but a series of post-holiday announcements is expected as the remaining parties maneuver to make all of their policies known to the voting public.
- The CCA will provide one-page backgrounders of “facts and figures” to help make the case for each of our five overarching priority issues. In turn, we will prepare a “doorstep kit” of key questions that you can raise about arts and culture when candidates come knocking at your door,looking for your vote.- Once again, don’t hesitate to contact us (info@ccarts.ca) to ask questions, make comments or inform us of any other activity you may be aware of concerning the arts and the current federal election campaign!