Orchestras Canada

The Cultural Human Resources Council, a national sector council established in 1995 to address the training and career development needs of employers and cultural workers in the arts, culture and heritage sectors, has recently learned that its core federal funding will be eliminated as of March 31, 2013. CHRC is not the only sector council affected in this way: the program through which it has received core funding will be eliminated as part of the Government of Canada’s ongoing Strategic Review process.

According to a communiqué issued by CHRC, the “Board of Directors and staff are actively working on the development of a Legacy Strategy to ensure that the wealth of studies, products and learning tools developed by CHRC since its inception in 1995 continues to be used after March 2013 for the benefit of Canadian cultural workers and employers.

“We want to ensure that the Council’s highly regarded and valuable learning tools and resources are available to the cultural sector beyond 2013,” said Executive Director Susan Annis. “We are looking forward to the establishment of partnerships with key stakeholders over the next 18 months who can be custodians of CHRC’s legacy and ensure that our resources keep on serving the interests of the cultural sector.”

Meanwhile, in British Columbia, artists and arts organizations were relieved to learn that Premier Christy Clark has lived up to her leadership campaign promise, and has maintained the province’s allocation to the BC Arts Council for the 2011-12 fiscal year at $16.8 million. Meanwhile, the Province has announced a consultation on the use of provincial gaming funds, something that arts advocates are hoping could be a first step to restoring arts organizations’ eligibility for gaming funds. The Vancouver Alliance for Arts and Culture estimates the loss to the sector since 2009 of approximately $11 million in gaming funds.

Federal Budget 2010: Arts Sector Key to Canada’s Economic and Social Prosperity

The Canadian Arts Coalition is pleased to see that arts and culture investment has been sustained in Budget 2010 and that the Government will continue to deliver on stimulus measures for the cultural sector identified in the Economic Action Plan. In particular, we commend the Government for wisely protecting investment to the Canada Council for the Arts, and look forward with interest to the unveiling of the Canada Prizes with hopes that this initiative will focus on celebrating the exceptional talent of our Canadian artists.

Budget 2010 makes repeated reference to the need to keep Canadian businesses competitive in the global marketplace. While no measures were introduced to advantage Canadian cultural products, it is hoped that going forward, initiatives such as a new support for international market access and development and increased investment to the Canada Council for the Arts will be introduced – ensuring Canadian cultural content maintains and enhances its presence and competitiveness at home and on the world stage.

As Canada embarks on a path of economic recovery, the arts sector is poised to play a key role in the revitalization of Canadian communities as an efficient engine of job creation across a number of sectors including industry, hospitality and transportation,  that benefit from increased cultural activity. There is a growing consensus among leaders in all economic sectors that arts investment is a cost effective catalyst for high economic returns and we hope to see the Government lever this tremendous opportunity through new and increased investment in the arts going forward. The Conference Board of Canada has noted that cities rich in cultural resources are hotbeds of creativity, economic wealth generators, and magnets for talent across all sectors of the economy.

As part of the creative, knowledge economy, the cultural sector is growing at a rapid rate.  Cultural workers, including artists exceed 600,000. “One in every 30 people in Canada has a cultural occupation. That’s twice as many people as work in the forestry sector and more than twice as many as work in Canadian banks,” said Eric Dubeau, co-chair of the Canadian Arts Coalition. “We need to be part of the plan going forward.”

The Canadian Arts Coalition is Canada’s largest ever group of artists, business leaders and volunteers assembled from across the country. We are united in the knowledge that greater public investment in the arts is essential to Canada’s future. We believe that the high quality of life, for which Canada is known, depends on a rich, vibrant and diverse arts and heritage community.

British Columbia Budget 2010

(We provide this excerpted report courtesy of the Greater Vancouver Alliance for Arts and Culture)

Emerging from [Tuesday’s] budget lockup at the BC Legislature, Alliance for Arts and Culture Executive Director Amir Ali Alibhai, Victoria Symphony Executive Director Mitchell Krieger, and ProArt Alliance of Greater Victoria Coordinator Scott Walker expressed disappointment at the budget’s half-hearted support for the arts in British Columbia.

“Premier Gordon Campbell and Finance Minister Colin Hansen seem to have largely disregarded the recommendations of their own Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services and continue to ignore the importance of the creative sector ” said Mr. Alibhai.

“The Cultural Olympiad was a significant achievement for Canadian artists” Mr. Krieger added. “With this budget, however, it appears that what we have recently experienced was only a moment in time, as support for the arts continues to fall to record levels.”

At first glance, the 2010/11 Budget for arts and culture does appear to fully restore funding to 2008/09 levels, as recommended by the Standing Committee.

On further exploration, however, the arts community spokesmen noted that funding for the Royal BC Museum ($12.1M) is included in the figures presented this year; previously it has not been included. There is also a “mystery” $10M allocation, which is currently not fully defined nor allocated to any existing funding organization, such as the BC Arts Council.

“We would welcome the opportunity to work with the government to make the most effective use of this investment,” said Mr. Krieger.

The following table attempts to compare “apples to apples” and gives a summary of our interpretation of the 2010 Budget. Gaming funds for arts and cultural allocations as well as funding for BC Arts Council grants are significantly lower than in 2008/09.

“Why not just restore BC Arts Council to the $19M level of 2008/09″ asked Mr. Alibhai. “Where has the $7M cut from Gaming funds to the Arts and Culture gone?”

“Artists, arts organizations, community partners, corporate sponsors and our audiences throughout will respond to this budget in a forceful manner” predicted Mr. Alibhai.

“We’ve shown the world what BC artists can do,” concluded Mr. Walker. “What we were hoping for was that the government would learn from the past two weeks and continue to invest in the Arts. When all those visitors return – as the government tells us they will – what they’ll find with this budget is a lot of closed doors and cancelled arts programs.”

The province of British Columbia’s Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services completed its provincial pre-budget consultation tour, and filed its final recommendations late last week.  As we have reported in past issues of Orchestra News, the significant reductions to provincial arts funding contained in the fall 2009 budget have met with organized oppositions from artists, arts organizations and ordinary citizens across the province.  Here’s an excerpt from the Standing Committee’s report:
 
“Representatives of B.C.’s arts and culture community came out in full force this year to make a common plea for the restoration of arts funding. They were well represented at our public hearings, in the written submissions received, as well as in a torrent of form letters submitted electronically. Most submissions on this topic requested the government to reexamine its decision to reprioritize the distribution of Direct Access gaming grants and to restore funding to the B.C Arts Council to 2008/09 levels. We encourage the government to examine ways to restore funding to the arts and culture sector.”

Here is a sample of the comments [the standing committee] received:

“Public investment in the arts allows community-based arts organizations to leverage money from other sectors and also leverages the social capital of thousands of volunteer hours of activity – resulting in healthier, happier, economically-competitive and livable communities.” (Amir Ali Alibhai, Alliance for Arts and Culture, Surrey public hearing)

“We urge the provincial government to demonstrate strength and leadership to forward andmaintain the progress that has assiduously been achieved. Allow British Columbia to celebrate its cultural accomplishments and identity and shine.” (Joanna Maratta, British Columbia Touring Council, Nelson video conference session)

“Our communities definitely need the infrastructure that our governments create and support,such as health care, education, roads, industry, business, but we also need the cultural events and experiences in our lives that stir our emotions, nourish our soul, broaden our minds and define us as a society, especially in this difficult economic time.” (Ken Eng, Bulkley Valley Concert Association, Smithers public hearing)

“Ballet Kelowna strongly urges the government to recognize the value of the arts in our province, to seriously reconsider its arts funding policies, to reinstate Direct Access Gaming Grants and to maintain its commitment to the British Columbia Arts Council.” (David LaHay, Ballet Kelowna, Kelowna public hearing)”

The Vancouver Alliance for Arts and Culture has created a click-through message, through which arts supporters can quickly and easily send a message to their provincial members, and to the ministers with responsibility for arts and gaming funding.  To see the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s version of this message, you can visit their website here.

Council Chair Jane Danzo has announced that long-time BC Arts Council Executive Director Jeremy Long will retire from the BC Public Service early in the New Year.  Stating that “Jeremy Long has served the people of British Columbia for more than 20 years,” Ms Danzo noted that “he has been eligible for retirement for the past two years, but chose to stay on to help oversee the completion of the Council’s strategic planning process. He has left us with a strong foundation, and we will continue to build on it for years to come.”  Long joined the Province’s arts and culture division in 1988 and has been involved with the BC Arts Council since its inception, in 1996. He has served as Council Executive Director for the past three years.  Gillian Wood, current Associate Director, will take over as Acting Executive Director effective November 16, while a permanent replacement is selected.
 
Marilyn Fitzpatrick is the new Director of Finance at the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.

Rachel Churchill is the new interim Executive Director of the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra.  She succeeds Rosie Horne in the role.