DELEGATES TO TACKLE CHALLENGING ISSUES AT UPCOMING CONFERENCE

CCA Bul­letins 12/06

Feb­ru­ary 16, 2006

Del­e­gates will address sev­eral chal­leng­ing top­ics relat­ing to cul­tural pol­icy, glob­al­iza­tion, and advances in new tech­nolo­gies at the CCA’s 2006 National Pol­icy Con­fer­ence March 3 and 4. The con­fer­ence pro­vides a unique oppor­tu­nity to map out what cur­rently exists in terms of pol­icy, what more is needed, and how to ensure policy-making keeps pace with changes in technology.

Four con­cur­rent work­shops – two focus­ing on artist/creator issues, and two on producer/cultural indus­try issues – will take place on Fri­day, March 3. In prepa­ra­tion for the con­fer­ence, the CCA has pro­duced back­ground papers to pro­voke debate and inno­v­a­tive think­ing about pub­lic pol­icy. In addi­tion to the basic ques­tions, del­e­gates will be chal­lenged to think cre­atively on sev­eral broad-ranging issues such as:

• What oppor­tu­ni­ties and chal­lenges do new tech­nolo­gies and glob­al­iza­tion present to the cul­tural sector?
• Are estab­lished roles and def­i­n­i­tions (artist/performer/producer/distributor) dis­ap­pear­ing as indi­vid­u­als cross tra­di­tional bar­ri­ers to cre­ate and dis­sem­i­nate their works?
• Are Canada’s artists (self-employed, highly edu­cated, multi-skilled, cre­ative) at the van­guard of the new knowledge-based econ­omy? Are they, in fact, pio­neers of adap­tive processes through leg­is­la­tion such as copy­right and sta­tus of the artist, and advo­cacy for access to social ben­e­fits for the self-employed and fairer tax­a­tion treatment?

Debate is sure to be lively and we encour­age every­one to make their voice heard. Con­fer­ence del­e­gates will be sent the back­ground doc­u­ments in advance of the con­fer­ence; syn­opses are avail­able at www.ccarts.ca/en/events/synopsis.htm.

The work­shops will be led by four bilin­gual expert cul­tural man­agers: Susan Annis (Exec­u­tive Direc­tor, Cul­tural Human Resources Coun­cil, Ottawa); Anne-Marie Des Roches (Direc­tor of Pub­lic Affairs, Union des artistes, Mon­tréal); Kelly Hill (Pres­i­dent, Hill Strate­gies Research, Hamil­ton); and Megan Williams (arts con­sul­tant, Halifax).

The mix of del­e­gates rep­re­sent­ing a wide vari­ety of artis­tic dis­ci­plines, agen­cies, cul­tural insti­tu­tions and indus­tries will undoubt­edly make for dynamic dis­cus­sion, effec­tive net­work­ing and strong out­comes to put for­ward to our new fed­eral government.

The Chalmers Con­fer­ence is sold out. There are just 20 spaces left for the National Pol­icy Con­fer­ence. Reg­is­ter today!