Tip O’Neill, the late U.S. speaker of the house, used to say that “all politics is local” – to which we say “huzzah! and never more so than during a federal election campaign!”

To help our members engage in meaningful conversations with candidates in their ridings, Orchestras Canada (in collaboration with our partners at the Canadian Arts Coalition and Imagine Canada) has prepared an on-line, rigorously non-partisan, election toolkit containing

• A downloadable message you can hand to candidates, summarizing key arguments for the arts and arts investment
• A downloadable fact sheet about Canadian orchestras
• Questions for candidates
• A social media primer
• Statistics on arts and culture
• Dos and don’ts for registered charities during an election campaign
• A widget for your website, with links to the Arts Vote toolkit on the Coalition website

Soon to be added: an analysis of the party platforms, from an arts and charities perspective.

We’re also promoting two other social media initiatives:

The Canadian Arts Coalition’s Facebook page at facebook.com/artscoalition
A Twitter hashtag – #artsvotecan – so that arts activists can connect on arts issues, and update one another on the progress of their work in ridings right across the country

To get connected, please visit: facebook.com/artscoalition