Our Edmonton counterpart, operated by the Professional Arts Coalition of Edmonton, has been busy in recent weeks!
On April 20, they held an Arts Forum with representatives from six provincial parties:
- Alberta Liberals – Laurie Blakeman, running in Edmonton Centre
- Alberta NDP – Nadine Bailey, running in Edmonton Centre
- Alberta Party – John Hudson, running in Edmonton McClung
- Evergreen Party – Trey Capnerhurst, running in Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview
- PC Alberta – Heather Klimchuk, running in Edmonton Glenora
- Wildrose Party – Doug Main, Communications Consultant
You can read more about the forum, and check out some video footage, here.
They’ve also circulated the following message to the leaders of all the parties participating in the 2012 provincial election:
- – -
What you need to know about arts and culture in Alberta before you answer our questions:
- 91% of Albertans feel art activities are important in contributing to the overall quality of life in their community. Source: Annual Survey of Albertans, Resinnova Research & Consulting Inc. 2010
- Albertans receive a 12:1 return on every dollar spent on the arts. Source: Summary of the Economic Impact of the Arts in Alberta, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, 2005.
- 88% of Albertans feel it is important that the Government of Alberta continues to fund and support the arts. Source: Culture and Community Services Annual Survey of Albertans on Culture, Leger Marketing, 2011
- All three levels of government receive tax revenue through the arts sector. A total of 67.9 million in taxes is collected (in Alberta) through taxation systems each year. Source: Culture and Community Spirit Department Fact and Figures 2010
Please give us your position on the following:
1. Do you support a restoration of the 2010 16 per cent cut to the AFA?
2. If elected to serve the people of Alberta in the next Legislature, will you work towards immediately increasing lottery money investment to arts, culture and heritage by 25%?
- – -
So far, they’ve received responses from the Progressive Conservative Party and the New Democratic Party. Here are their answers:
NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY
1. Do you support a restoration of the 2010 16 per cent cut to the AFA?
Yes.
Strong arts and cultural industries are a key part of a prosperous, sustainable, diversified economy, and they improve Albertans’ quality of life and the viability and livability of communities. Moreover, the arts and cultural sector employs nearly 20,000 Albertans. That’s why Alberta’s NDP has stood in opposition to the Conservative government’s gutting of arts funding over the past several years.
An NDP government would strengthen the province’s support of the arts sector by increasing funding for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts to $90 million in four years. The AFA needs to have the resources to play a strong leadership role in ensuring the arts have a prominent role in public life and policy in the province.
The NDP commitment to Status of the Artist legislation would open the path to develop a range of services that would make it more possible for the arts to be a viable career choice for people. In addition to directly supporting the arts industry in Alberta, as mentioned above, an NDP government would ensure that cities such as Edmonton and Calgary receive stable, adequate funding, so they can properly fund important local infrastructure projects, including arts and cultural infrastructure. Better funding of schools will also contribute to a stronger capacity to ensure the arts are a part of every child’s education from kindergarten to graduation.
2. If elected to serve the people of Alberta in the next Legislature, will you work towards immediately increasing lottery money investment to Arts, Culture and Heritage by 25%?
The Alberta NDP would invest in arts by improving the funding of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and introducing status of the artist legislation. Funds to support a larger commitment to the arts can be achieved through increased royalty revenue for bitumen extraction and taxes on incomes of people in the top 1.6%.
There is definitely a place for gaming funds to be used to support arts, culture and heritage, but it is also important for the public investment in the arts to not be heavily dependent on the uncertainties and fluctuations of something like gaming revenues, but rather to have a more clear and certain place within the actual provincial budget and be treated in more ways as a regular aspect of provincial operations in line with such things as education, transportation, and human services. The Alberta NDP would make decisions about both the levels of funding and the best ways to deliver that funding through open and thorough consultation with stakeholders.
Investing 1% of provincial capital project funds in public art and easing the restrictions on public space use where there is provincial jurisdiction are associated steps that will enhance the place of the arts in our public life.
PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE PARTY
1. Do you support a restoration of the 2010 16 per cent cut to the AFA?
We are committed to increasing the allocation to the AFA by $10 million a year starting in 2013/14.
2. If elected, will you work toward immediately increasing lottery money investment to Arts, Culture and Heritage by 25 per cent?
We would have to further analyze such a request and assess the impacts it might have on other lottery- funded programs before making a commitment.
A new PC government will work with organizations to develop a long-term plan for the arts and culture sector. The plan will:
- recognize the link between culture and the social and economic wellbeing of Albertans;
- support the development of creative clusters and emerging cultural scenes – from Rosebud to Grand Prairie – demonstrating that local arts and culture programs are not confined to Alberta’s largest cities;
- look at current efforts to promote arts and culture activities with a view to understanding how they might be leveraged regionally, nationally and internationally; and
- consider the best mechanisms, incentives and approaches that would provide greater long-term sustainability, certainty and stability for the sector – including the development of business risk management programs and tools to support skills development and greater stability and certainty.
Recent Comments