ONE WEEK TO GO IN THE 2006 FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN… ADVOCACY UPDATE FROM THE CCA
CCA Bulletin3/06
January 17, 2006
Only seven days remain before Canadians go to the polls in the first federal winter election in a number of years. The Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) continues to work steadily to provide our members, stakeholders and supporters with as much useful information as possible with respect to the federal parties’ positions on arts and culture issues. Since our last bulletin 02/06 sent January 9 2006, the following parties have released their official platforms:
The Liberal Party of Canada:
http://www.liberal.ca/images/dir/PDFs/platform_e.pdf (References to arts and culture can be found on page 63, in the section “Building the Canada We Want”)
The Conservative Party of Canada:
http://www.conservative.ca/media/20060113-Platform.pdf (References to arts and culture can be found on page 39, in the section “Stand Up For Our Communities”)
The New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP):
http://www.ndp.ca/ndp-drupal/files/platform-en-final-web.pdf (References to arts and culture can be found on page 32, in the section “Getting More Done for People:Jobs”. Additionally, on January 12 the NDP issued an announcement specifically about its cultural platform available here: http://www.ndp.ca/page/3053)
As previously mentioned, le Bloc Québecois’ election platform as it pertains to arts and culture appears on pages 55 through 59 at http://www.bloc.org/archivage/plateforme_2005-2006.pdf, which is available in French only. The Green Party have a section of their 2006 Election platform entitled“Sharing our Stories: Arts, Culture and Communication”, which can be viewed at http://www.greenparty.ca/our_stories.html.
In addition to the parties’ official platforms, the CCA has received responses to our December 20election questionnaire from all of the major political parties, with the exception of the Green Party.Party responses are available in the elections section of our website at:http://www.ccarts.ca/en/2005ElectionNews1/partyresponse.htm
The CCA will provide analyses of all five parties’ platforms pertaining to arts and culture issues in the coming days. Please continue to visit http://www.ccarts.ca/en/2005ElectionNews1.htm for ongoing CCA election updates.
MESSAGE FROM THE CANADIAN ARTS COALITION
With two weeks left in the federal election campaign, the arts community needs as many voices as possible to tell candidates about the importance of making the commitment to increase funding to the arts by $5 per Canadian a reality under a new government.
Please go to www.votearts2006.ca or www.votezpourlesarts2006.ca and find the “email candidates –act now” flashing prompt under the “Support Vote Arts 2006″ section on the home page. There is template letter on the site or you can draft your own and send it directly to all of the candidates in your riding. The site has software to enable visitors to contact candidates immediately, which only takes a few minutes to do.
The Canadian Arts Coalition needs your help in making sure all parties understand the importance of the arts in the lives of Canadians and that increased federal investment through the Canada Council For the Arts is a priority.
NEW ARTS AND CULTURE CAMPAIGNS ACTIVE IN THE 2006 FEDERAL ELECTION (alphabetical order)
http://www.ccarts.ca/en/ElectionLinks.htm
ACTRA: “Vote for Our Cultural Future” www.actra.ca/election
At a January 11 press conference in Toronto, Canadian film and television stars called on federal politicians to let Canadians know where they stand on Canada’s cultural future. Among the members of ACTRA taking part were Wendy Crewson, Richard Hardacre, Dan Lett, Miriam McDonald, Colin Mochrie, Cara Pifko, Karl Pruner, Fiona Reid, Wayne Robson, Sonja Smits, Julie Stewart, and R.H. Thomson. ACTRA is determined to raise the alarm during this federal election about the threat to Canada’s cultural sovereignty. For more information:http://www.actra.ca/actra/control/press_news1?id=10407
ACTRA encourages people to send letters to local candidates via www.actra.ca/election in order to get them to make a commitment to three key cultural issues.
Canadian Actors’ Equity Association — “Election Alert 2006 “http://www.caea.com/EquityWeb/NewsAndEvents/News/ElectionRelease2006.pdf
Canadian Actors’ Equity Association is the professional association of performers, directors,choreographers, fight directors and stage managers in English Canada who are engaged in live performance in theatre, opera and dance. Recognizing that the arts are vital to life and artists make an invaluable contribution to our society, Equity supports the creative efforts of its members by seeking to improve their working conditions and opportunities.
Since ‘Act II’ of the 2006 election is now well underway, Equity is asking its members to raise two key cultural questions with local candidates in this campaign:
- Do you and your party support the new federal funding for arts and culture announced on November 23, which included an increase to the budget of the Canada Council for the Arts of $306million over the next three years?
- How will you and your party keep this promised funding if you are elected on January 23rd, 2006?
For more information:http://www.caea.com/EquityWeb/NewsAndEvents/News/ElectionRelease2006.pdf
Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF) — “The role and importance of arts and culture in the development and identity of Francophone and Acadian communities“http://www.fccf.ca/
The Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF) is a national organization with a mandate topromote the artistic and cultural expression of Francophone and Acadian communities. Its members –11 provincial and territorial cultural organizations and 7 national arts organizations representing theatre, the visual arts, song/music, publishing and the media arts — have over the past 30 years united in their efforts to ensure that arts and culture nourish the soul and strengthen the cultural identity of Francophone and Acadian minority communities throughout Canada.
The FCCF and its members would like to know party positions and receive an update on the commitment that parties are prepared to make and to keep to support the development of Canada’s Francophone and Acadian communities through the arts and culture.
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting — “End Patronage at CBC” http://www.friends.ca/end-cbc-patronage
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. The latest in a series of Friends of Canadian Broadcasting’s internet-based election campaigns focuses on governance issues at the CBC.CCA members and supporters are encouraged to visit the Friends web action centre at http://www.friends.ca/end-cbc-patronageand join with thousands of other Canadians to send powerful message to candidates of all political parties urging them to end partisan appointments to the CBC Board and Presidency.
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.