Canada Council for the Arts
The great news for the cultural sector in the new federal budget is definitely that the Canada Council’s budget was kept intact at $181 million. The news was met with delight by the cultural sector. We had prepared for significant cuts in all sectors and the cultural milieu was on the alert, despite reassurances from the Heritage Minister. We would like to point out that Canada Council’s budget accounts for 0.08% of the total federal budget. [1]
Despite having their budget maintained, the Canada Council announced, “Over the next three years we will implement a number of changes that are already in development, including reducing the cost of our office space, streamlining operational processes and adjusting programs.” We must underline however that all departments, agencies and societies such as the Canada Council, also need to absorb the increased costs of doing business and inflation.
The Canadian Arts Coalition and many others saluted the efforts of the government. While expressing their relief, many other organizations (ACTRA, WGC, Culture Montréal) raised other concerns regarding the cuts to the CBC, Telefilm and the NFB that risked undermining the fragile cultural ecosystem.
Actors Equity affirmed, “Given the dramatic pre-budget fear mongering, Equity was relieved to see that funding for the Canada Council was not reduced in the 2012 Federal budget. However, it should be noted that despite the Government’s talk of recognizing arts and culture’s contributions to Canada’s economy and GDP, funding for the Canada Council has increased only 0.6% since 2008–2009.Further, Equity remains disappointed that long-promised new touring programs to replace the sudden funding cuts to the PromArt and Trade Routes programs cut in 2008 have never been restored.”