Canadian Arts Coalition
1. Pre-Budget Brief to the federal Standing Committee on Finance
2. Planning for the Day on the Hill, November 4, 2010
3. Coalition Finances
1. Pre-Budget Brief to the federal Standing Committee on Finance
Canadian Arts Coalition co-chair Éric Dubeau took a lead role in crafting a pre-budget brief to the Standing Committee on Finance – and you can read it on our website.
The brief presents arguments in support of the Coalition’s two recommendations to the Federal Government, which are
Recommendation 1: That the Government of Canada invest in Canadian creativity and Canadian communities by increasing the base budget of the Canada Council for the Arts by an additional $30 million per year in each of the next four years, bringing the Council’s funding base to $300 million per annum by 2015.
Recommendation 2: That the Government of Canada acknowledge the role that arts and culture plays in enhancing Canada’s reputation internationally and put Canadian artists on the world stage by investing $25 million in strategic international market access and development initiatives.
Thanks to some behind-the-scenes work by Coalition steering committee members, these recommendations were echoed in a number of other submissions from the cultural sector. We will be following up with the Clerk of the Committee to request an opportunity to present to the Committee during its pre-budget consultation tour this fall.
2. Planning for the Day on the Hill, November 4, 2010
Will there be an election this fall? Will Parliament face its third prorogation in as many years? Or will we be able to proceed with our planned Day on the Hill on November 4, 2010?
Well, we don’t know either! But we do know that if we don’t move ahead with planning for the Day on the Hill now, we’ll have lost valuable time. So here’s what’s up – and here’s where we need your help.
A. A small group from the Performing Arts Alliance organizations (Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, Orchestras Canada, Opera.ca, Canadian Dance Assembly and CAPACOA) has agreed to volunteer time and organizational resources to send out meeting request letters to MPs and other Ottawa officials. They will also be making follow-up
phone calls and scheduling meetings. We are in serious need of at least two more people to make follow-up calls to MPs’ offices, and we’re particularly in need of a caller who is fluent in French. If you, or someone known to you, might have daytime hours available September 27 onwards to contact MPs by phone to set up meetings, please contact Katherine Carleton by email: Katherine@oc.ca. We’ll provide a script and training on the Coalition database; you’ll need to provide a phone and computer.
B. At the same time, we would like to get a sense of just who is able to take part in the Day on the Hill this year. We need artists, board members of arts organizations and arts managers to meet with MPs on November 4. We are looking for people who believe in the Coalition’s recommendations and can speak convincingly about the value that the arts bring to Canadian communities. We are looking to maintain a strictly non-partisan approach: we need to win supporters from all political parties for the recommendations we are making. Ideally, we can demonstrate strong national support by having spokespeople from all regions of the country and a diversity of language and artistic practice.
Participants will be responsible for their own travel, accommodation and per diems. We recognize that this may present a challenge to some of you: however, the Coalition’s resources are modest, and we cannot subsidize travel. At the same time, we note that the Canada Council is hosting its NASO meeting on November 1, the Canadian Conference of the Arts’ national policy conference runs November 1-3, the Performing Arts Alliance boards are holding a joint meeting November 3, and the
CAPACOA conference starts November 5. So – a significant number of interested Canadians will already be in the nation’s capital that week, and we hope that many of you will be able to take part in the Day on the Hill on November 4, too.
NOTE: the Canadian Conference of the Arts has confirmed that the Chateau Laurier is making its $119/night rate available for room nights between October 30 and November 7.
The Coalition steering committee will organize the confirmed participants into teams, and will provide a thorough briefing to the teams (along with a delicious breakfast!) from 7:30-9 a.m. on Thursday, November 4. Each team will then be provided with a meeting schedule for the day, an adequate supply of leave behind materials, and a number to call if things change. We are also investigating the feasibility of co-hosting a 5 à 7 on the Hill with the new Parliamentary Arts Caucus, to put a cap on the day.
Please let Katherine Carleton know by September 15 if you – or representatives from your organization – are interested in taking part in the Day on the Hill 2010. You can reach her by email at Katherine@oc.ca
3. Coalition Finances
Since we began our drive to reanimate the Coalition last November, the Canadian Arts Coalition has collected a total of $13,400 in revenue from members and supporters. We also collected $1727.69 from another project. Thank you, one and all!
Since November, we’ve disbursed a total of $5816 and here’s the breakdown:
- Teleconferences: $155
- Translation of documents: $545
- Website development: $3700
- Database software: $1416
In the coming weeks, in addition to setting up meetings with MPs, we hope to
- engage a government relations firm to further develop our message;
- develop, design and print briefing and leave-behind materials for the meetings with MPs;
- make catering and technical arrangements with the hotel where our briefing session will take place on November 4
- confirm the location and hospitality arrangements for an event on Parliament Hill for artists, arts organizations and MPs
Clearly, we do not have the resources to fully cover these costs;
while we are working very hard to maximize the impact of what we do have through volunteer and pro bono services, we will need to raise additional funds to ensure that the Day on the Hill is successful.
Please consider making a contribution to the Coalition’s campaign; at the same time, we’ll be working to bring more members into the fold.
Membership fees or contributions to the Coalition are payable to Magazines Canada by cheque only (with “Canadian Arts Coalition” clearly identified in the detail line), and sent/delivered to
Mark Jamison
Magazines Canada
425 Adelaide Street West, Suite 700
Toronto, Canada M5V 3C1
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