CCA Election Monitor: Week 5

Following a historic non-confidence motion that brought down Canada’s 40^th Parliament, the 2011 federal election will take place on May 2. As part of our election coverage, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) will be providing a weekly media monitoring report that provides news stories, resources and event listings that are relevant to the arts, culture and heritage sector during this campaign period.

Please note that during the 2011 federal election, the CCA will operate under the Federal Election Rules of Engagement approved by the CCA Board of Governors. These rules reinforce the non-partisan character of the information and other services that the CCA will provide during the campaign.

Time has flown by as we are already approaching the end of the 2011 election campaign. On Monday, Canadians will head to the polls to decide the future direction our country.  Contrary to the surprising editorial in yesterday’s Globe and Mail, this campaign has turned out to be one of the most exciting and puzzling to date. We will not likely know the election results until late on Monday night and in the following weeks, it will be interesting to see the various analyses on the impact of social media on the campaign.

Go Vote!

Voter turnout at last weekend’s advanced pool was up by 34 per cent compared to 2008. We can only hope that this level of civic engagement continues on May 2. The CCA urges you all to not only exercise your right, but fulfill your responsibility to vote! This is the most fundamental action in a democracy, one that will help orient the future of the country. If you have any questions or concerns about the voting process, visit Elections Canada’s website.

Media Monitoring

After a slow start, over the last two weeks, the cultural sector has garnered more attention from the political parties and the media.

Conservative Party

News Release - Harper announces Children’s Arts Tax Credit

Conservative Party of Canada, April 24, 2011

Harper reminds voters of children's arts tax credit

canoe.ca, April 24, 2011

Bryn Weese

Stephen Harper martèle son message économique (available in French only)

Radio-Canada, April 24, 2011

Copyright- C-32

Canadian Political Parties Clarify Their Positions on Copyright

ZeroPaid, April 26, 2011

Drew Wilson

Arts and culture during the election

Why aren't the arts performing in the election?

OpenFile, April 26, 2011

Jeff Kubik

Funding Outside The Box

SEE, April 28, 2011

Kathleen Bell

Élections fédérales - Murmure culturel (available in French only)

Le Devoir, April 26, 2011

Marie-Andrée Chouinard 

Tories give arts groups the silent treatment

The Vancouver Sun, April 27, 2011

Jamie Portman

Consultations sur la culture : les conservateurs absents (available in French only)

Rue Frontenac, April 21, 2011

Claude Giguère    

Advocacy

B.C. arts groups leading the signatories on the national Common Arts Platform

Georgia Straight, April 21, 2011

Jessica Werb

Musicians come out swinging against Harper

Ottawa Citizen, April 27, 2011

Peter Hum

Resources

Canadian Conference of the Arts

The CCA has been active in maintaining a Federal Election webpage that features all of the election-related resources we have published over the last five weeks, in addition to other useful links. The page includes: bulletins on cultural funding under the 40^th Parliament and comparisons of political platforms; party responses to our election questionnaire; the CCA’s Doorstep Kit; and more! We encourage you to visit our site to keep informed on the relevant issues before voting.

Culture Montréal

Following a communiqué it issued in support of the cultural sector’s common electoral platform, Culture Montréal received a response from the Liberal Party, further reinforcing its arts platform.

Read the full response here. (available in French only)

Q

Yesterday on CBC’s Q, Jian Ghomeshi hosted a debate on arts and culture in the election, featuring Charlie Angus (NDP), Dean Del Mastro (Conservative) and Bob Rae (Liberal). Following the short debate, each participant had the opportunity to have their final say and explain what they would do to promote arts and culture and how their party could best meet the needs of the cultural sector.

Listen to the full debate here (segment begins at 00:24).

Thinking Culture Recap - Election 2011: What about arts and culture?

How are the major political parties addressing the needs of the cultural sector during the 2011 federal election campaign?  To help answer this question, on April 20, the CCA hosted a debate at the University of Ottawa with local election candidates, focusing on their arts, culture and heritage platforms.  As it turned out, the debate was more of an informal discussion, as Mauril Bélanger (Liberal candidate for Ottawa-Vanier) and Paul Dewar (NDP candidate for Ottawa Centre) were the only participants in attendance. The Bloc Québécois representative had to back out at the last minute and the Conservatives declined our invitation.

Nonetheless, the debate proved to be informative, as the candidates each had five minutes to present their respective platforms before launching into an extended audience Q and A session. The discussion focused on topics such as support measures for Canadian artists, increased investments for museums and cultural institutions, new copyright legislation and the development of an international Aboriginal arts centre.

Over the course of the evening, Bélanger and Dewar voiced their opinions on the importance of long-term support for the cultural sector.  Both stated that their parties would increase the Canada Council’s budget, and agreed that museums and galleries needed more funding for sustainable growth and development. Along those lines, they also expressed their disappointment over the fact that plans for a National Portrait Gallery had been scrapped by the current government.

Another significant theme that emerged from the discussion centered on the development of initiatives to support Canadian artists and creators.  Dewar called for the introduction of a national platform to encourage artists to stay in Canada and not move abroad. On the other hand, Bélanger had a very different outlook, highlighting the importance of international exposure for our artists, and citing programs such as PromArt and Trade Routes which were cut in 2008.

Both candidates were able to agree on the issue of copyright however, noting that legislation needs to be amended to better balance artists’ rights with those of consumers.

Overall, the forum raised many interesting questions, and provided an opportunity to get arts and culture on the agenda during the election campaign.

CCA Election Monitor: Week 4

Following a historic non-confidence motion that brought down Canada’s 40^th Parliament, the 2011 federal election will take place on May 2. As part of our election coverage, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) will be providing a weekly media monitoring report that provides news stories, resources and event listings that are relevant to the arts, culture and heritage sector during this campaign period.

Please note that during the 2011 federal election, the CCA will operate under the Federal Election Rules of Engagement approved by the CCA Board of Governors. These rules reinforce the non-partisan character of the information and other services that the CCA will provide during the campaign.

Due to the long weekend, our recap of election week 4 was delayed until today.

Last week proved to be eventful, as cultural organizations from across the country rallied to get increased recognition for the arts during the election campaign. Some of the party leaders have  also been more vocal, announcing their plans to support our country’s artists and cultural sector.

Media Monitoring

Bloc Québécois

Communiqué- Au Québec, la culture est au coeur même de notre identité et de notre existence (available in French only)

Bloc Québécois, April 18, 2011

In Quebec, culture is fundamental: Duceppe

The Montreal Gazette, April 19, 2011

Peggy Curran

Duceppe appelle les électeurs à voter de façon stratégique (available in French only)

Radio-Canada.ca, April 18, 2011

Liberal Party

Media Release - Michael Ignatieff announces new support for Canadian artists

Liberal Party of Canada, April 21, 2011

Ignatieff tries to woo artists with past work as novelist, screenwriter

The Canadian Press, April 21, 2011

Ignatieff tente de rassurer le milieu culturel (available in French only)

La Presse Canadienne, April 21, 2011

Lia Lévesque

Advocacy

Make arts an election issue, stars urge

CBCNews, April 20, 2011

Arts groups launch election manifesto

The Montreal Gazette, April 21, 2011

Jamie Portman

Plateforme culturelle de la conférence canadienne des arts (available in French only)

canoe.ca, April 21, 2011

Concerning the 2011 Federal Election

Canadian Art Museum Directors Organization, April 15 2011

Common Cultural Platform

Last Thursday, more than 70 cultural organizations from across the country joined forces to launch a common electoral platform, calling on federal parties to make more sustained commitments to Canadian arts, culture and heritage. The common platform covers four broad themes: investments in the production of Canadian cultural content in the context of a national economic strategy; investments in developing domestic and foreign markets; making arts and culture an integral component of Canadian foreign policy; and implementing the National Museum Policy that was originally conceived in 2005.

Common Cultural Platform

Resources

Canadian Conference of the Arts

Last week, the CCA issued two bulletins relating to the federal election.

In early April, the CCA sent the leaders of the five major federal parties a series of questions relevant to the arts, culture and heritage sector. We have now posted their responses in table format for easy comparison.

CCA Bulletin 16/11 - Federal Election 2011: Political party responses

We also published a bulletin that provides a comprehensive overview of cultural funding under Canada’s 40^th Parliament.

CCA Bulletin 17/11- Federal Election 2011: Public Cultural Investments under Canada’s 40th Parliament

Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFA)

The Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFA) has a comprehensive Election 2011 website with resources and tools for the Francophone community to keep informed and engaged during the campaign. (available in French only)

Canada Arts Connect Magazine

Canada Arts Connect Magazine offers a useful review of four of the major political parties’ arts platforms.

A Comparison of the Four Major Political Parties’ Arts Platforms

Canada Arts Connect Magazine, April 20, 2011

Rebecca Coleman

 

CCA Bulletin 17/11- Federal Election 2011: Public Cultural Investments under Canada’s 40th Parliament

In 2008, the CCA published a bulletin analyzing the investments made under Canada’s 39th Parliament in the arts, culture and heritage sector. In order to give you a broad perspective, we used several years’ worth of budget analyses to explain funding to the sector. In today’s bulletin, we will aim to do the same thing. By using funding figures from the Department of Heritage, its agencies and programs, we will break down themes surrounding cultural spending under Canada’s 40th Parliament. In this bulletin, we will also outline how funding to Canadian institutions and cultural programs, along with government processes such as Strategic Reviews, have impacted the overall cultural budget of the federal government.

In this analysis, the numbers end with the 2010/11 federal budget as that was the last budget that passed under the 40th Parliament. Though a 2011/12 federal budget was tabled in March 2011, the budget died on the order paper once the writ was dropped and the current general federal election was called. For that reason, we have not included the 2011/12 estimates. (more)

CCA Bulletin 16/11 - Federal Election 2011: Political party responses

On April 5, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) sent the leaders of the five major federal parties a series of questions relevant to the arts, culture and heritage sector. We are publishing the responses we received in their entirety, without any edits or commentary. In order to facilitate comparison among the parties' responses, we have formatted their answers in a table format, according to each individual question asked. An empty table indicates that we did not receive an answer to that particular question. Please note that the CCA translated the Bloc Québécois' answers from French to English.(more)

CCA Election Monitor: Week 3

Following a historic non-confidence motion that brought down Canada’s 40^th Parliament, the 2011 federal election will take place on May 2. As part of our election coverage, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) will be producing a weekly media monitoring report that provides news stories, resources and event listings that are relevant to the arts, culture and heritage sector during this campaign period.

Please note that during the 2011 federal election, the CCA will operate under the Federal Election Rules of Engagement approved by the CCA Board of Governors. These rules reinforce the non-partisan character of the information and other services that the CCA will provide during the campaign.

We recently passed the midway point in the 2011 federal election campaign, and as of now, all of the major political parties have released their platforms. This was a particularly important week in the campaign as Gilles Duceppe, Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff and Jack Layton gathered in Ottawa for the much anticipated English and French-language leaders’ debates. Unfortunately, as has been the case throughout the campaign, arts and culture was not on the radar for the party leaders.

Media Monitoring

Bloc Québécois

Bloc Québécois Policy Statement – Parlons Qc

Bloc Québécois, April 2011

Bloc Québécois Election Platform – Parlons Qc (available in French only)

Bloc Québécois, April 2011

(Excerpts relevant to arts, culture and heritage on pages 26, 40-45 and 103)

 Conservative Party

Conservative Platform – Here for Canada

Conservative Party of Canada, April 2011

(Excerpts relevant to arts, culture and heritage on pages 15-16, 27 and 42-43)

 NDP

NDP Platform – Practical First Steps

New Democratic Party of Canada, April 2011

(Excerpts relevant to arts, culture and heritage on pages 15-16 and 18)

NDP election platform makes familiar promises on arts and culture

Georgia Straight, April 11, 2011

Jessica Werb

 Canada-EU trade negotiations

Federal election will impact Canada-EU trade talks

Embassy Magazine, April 6, 2011

Anca Gurzu

  

Copyright – C-32

Who wants to charge a $75 iPod tax? Uh, no one

CBCNews, April 12, 2011

Laura Payton

  

Advocacy

Débat des chefs: le MAL réclame des engagements en culture (available in French only)

Le Devoir, April 13, 2011

Leaders’ debate

If you happened to have missed either of the leaders’ debates, they are now available online.

English-language leaders’ debate

French-language leaders’ debate (English translation streamed)

Resources

Canadian Conference of the Arts

The major party platforms can all be found on the CCA’s 2011 election site under the heading “Parties and electoral platforms”. Today, the CCA also published a bulletin that compares these platforms in relation to several broad themes of interest to the cultural sector.

On April 5, the CCA sent the five leading federal political parties a copy of the questions found in our election Doorstep Kit. The Bloc Québécois, Green Party, Liberal Party and NDP have completed the questionnaire, which offers insight on their respective arts, culture and heritage platforms. Early next week, the CCA will publish a bulletin comparing the parties’ responses, in addition to an analysis of arts, culture and heritage funding under the 40^th Parliament.

  

Quill and Quire

Quill and Quire has published a useful primer comparing each political party’s arts and culture platform, taking in to account the issues affecting the publishing industry.

Publishing at the polls: Arts and culture platforms

 The Arts Advocate

The Arts Advocate has compiled an interesting report, Election 2011: Is arts and culture an issue?, that gauges the importance of cultural matters for Canadians voters. To obtain a copy of this report, visit the The Arts Advocate’s website.

Events

·         Election 2011: What about arts and culture?

Date: April 20, 2011

Time: 5 pm – 6:30 pm

Location: University of Ottawa, Desmarais Building

A part of our Thinking Culture forum series, the CCA will host a free bilingual debate with local election candidates, focusing on their arts, culture and heritage platforms. To date, confirmed participants include: Mauril Bélanger (Liberal candidate for Ottawa-Vanier), Paul Dewar (NDP candidate for Ottawa Centre) and Richard Nadeau (Bloc Québécois candidate for Gatineau). Visit our website for more information.

·         Winnipeg Federal Election Forum on Arts and Culture

Date: April 20, 2011

Time: Noon – 1:30 pm CST

Location: Manitoba Theatre for Young People

ArtsVote Winnipeg will host a federal election forum on arts and culture. Participants include Rod Bruinooge (Conservative candidate for Winnipeg South), Denali Enns (Green candidate for Charleswood - St. James - Assiniboia), Anita Neville (Liberal candidate for Winnipeg South Centre) and Pat Martin (NDP candidate for Winnipeg Centre). Visit the ArtsVote Winnipeg website for more information.

CCA Bulletin 15/11 - Federal Election 2011 – The party platforms : what about culture?

The Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) has taken the platforms available from the five major federal political parties and broken them down for you. Below, you will find all pertinent elements of the party platforms divided into different priorities identified by the CCA. These priorities are areas of focus for the arts, culture and heritage sector in terms of public investments in culture, cultural policies, regulation and taxation. We have not edited any elements of the platforms: we have simply divided them into relevant categories. We also have not omitted information in any of the sections below. Empty columns indicate that we did not find any relevant information on that particular topic in the party’s platform. As a final note, with regards to the Bloc Québécois’ platform, we ourselves completed the French to English translation.

Next week, we will complete our analysis of the political parties’ platforms from the cultural perspective by publishing their responses to the questionnaires we sent them on April 5. 
(more)

CCA Election Monitor: Week 2

Following a historic non-confidence motion that brought down Canada’s 40^th Parliament, the 2011 federal election will take place on May 2. As part of our election coverage, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) will be providing a weekly media monitoring report that provides news stories, resources and event listings that are relevant to the arts and culture sector during this campaign period.

Please note that during the 2011 federal election, the CCA will operate under the Federal Election Rules of Engagement approved by the CCA Board of Governors. These rules reinforce the non-partisan character of the information and other services that the CCA will provide during the campaign.

The second week of the election campaign has been more eventful for the cultural sector, as both the Liberal and Green parties released their full platforms, which included their plans for the arts, culture and heritage industries. Surprinsly, culture has not been a prevalent topic among the major political parties, which has not gone unnoticed by the media.

Media Monitoring

Liberal Party

Liberal Platform - Your Future. Your Family. Your Canada.

Liberal Party of Canada, April 2011

(Excerpts on arts, culture and heritage on pages 18-19 and 60)

Federal Liberals pledge to double Canada Council for the Arts budget

Georgia Straight, April 4, 2011

Jessica Werb

Le plan d'Ignatieff penche à gauche (available in French only)

Le Devoir, April 4, 2011

Hélène Buzzetti

Green Party

Green Party Platform – Vision Green

Green Party of Canada, April 2011

(Excerpts on arts, culture and heritage on pages 94-96)

Media Release - Canadian media issues, pledges stable funding for CBC

Green Party of Canada, April 4, 2011

Green platform includes $450 M for CBC, Radio-Canada

Montreal Gazette, April 4, 2011

Cindy E. Harnett

Les Verts seraient très généreux avec Radio-Canada (available in French only)

canoe.ca, April 4, 2011

Copyright: C-32

MPs vow to quickly revive Copyright Bill in next Parliament

The Hill Times, April 4, 2011

Bea Vongdouangchanh

Advocacy

Les artistes plongent dans l'arène électorale (available in French only)

Le Soleil, April 1, 2011

Isabelle Houde

Jian Ghomeshi on arts and culture

On April 5, Jian Ghomeshi, host of Q on CBC, opened his show asking “Who will speak for support for arts and culture in Canada?” In his essay, he voiced his concern over the lack of coverage for arts and culture by the major political parties during the election campaign.

Click here to listen to the entire segment.

Toolkits

Canadian Conference for the Arts

The CCA has released its 2011 Federal Election Doorstep Kit. The CCA has identified six broad areas of interest for the arts, culture and heritage sector. Accordingly, we have developed a set of questions pertaining to each topic. These questions can be posed to candidates when they come knocking at your door or during larger debates.

2011 Federal Election Doorstep Kit

Canadian Arts Coalition

The Canadian Arts Coalition has also published its Arts Vote Toolkit, in addition to presenting five initiatives to help arts service organizations during the election campaign.

Events

·         Leaders’ Debates

Dates: English Debate – April 12, 2011; French Debate – April 14, 2010

Time: English Debate - 7 pm – 9 pm EST; French Debate - 8 pm – 9 pm EST

Next week, the Broadcasting Consortium, which includes CBC/Radio-Canada, CTV, Global and TVA, will hold both the English and French-language leaders’ debates.  The English-language debate will be moderated by TVO’s Steve Paikin, while Radio-Canada's Anne-Marie Dussault and TVA’s Paul Larocque will co-moderate the French-language debate.

·         Election 2011: What about arts and culture?

Date: April 20, 2011

Time: 5 pm – 6:30 pm

Location: University of Ottawa, Desmarais Building

A part of our Thinking Culture forum series, the CCA will host a free bilingual debate with local election candidates, focusing on their arts, culture and heritage platforms. To date, confirmed participants include: Mauril Bélanger (Liberal candidate for Ottawa-Vanier), Paul Dewar (NDP candidate for Ottawa Centre), and Richard Nadeau (Bloc Québécois candidate for Gatineau). Visit our website for more information.

·         Winnipeg Federal Election Forum on Arts and Culture

Date: April 20, 2011

Time: Noon – 1:30 pm CST

Location: Manitoba Theatre for Young People

ArtsVote Winnipeg will host a federal election forum on arts and culture. Confirmed participants include Rod Bruinooge (Conservative candidate for Winnipeg South), Anita Neville (Liberal candidate for Winnipeg South Centre) and Pat Martin (NDP candidate for Winnipeg Centre). Visit the ArtsVote Winnipeg website for more information.