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.