Campaign for Culture is Off to an Impressive Start!

by Lisa Mackay

As a member of the Canadian Arts Coalition Steering Committee, the Rozsa Foundation has been working with colleagues across the country to develop a letter-writing campaign ahead of the Federal budget announcement. For context, the Liberal Party included in its election platform a commitment to support and nurture Canadian arts and culture, and the Coalition and other arts advocacy groups have been working towards a funding increase for the Canada Council of the Arts and Canadian Heritage programs long before the election took place.

However, since the election, Mark Carney and the Liberals have signalled an austerity budget, and have asked all ministries and departments to propose budget cuts of up to 15% over three years. A 15% cut to the Canada Council for the Arts and Canadian Heritage would be devastating – a $54 million reduction for the Council alone. The Canada Council and Canadian Heritage invest in every community in Canada, and their support is vital.

There is no longer room to cut in arts and culture, and this Coalition wants to remind the government that thousands of people living in Canada do not support any further cuts. The letter-writing component of our advocacy work serves to get the attention of politicians and alert them to the fact that cutting arts and culture will not be politically advantageous for them. It lets Liberal and Opposition MPs know that their constituents value arts and culture and don't support a reduction in arts funding. When messages are sent in great numbers like this, politicians pay attention.

And we are indeed getting their attention. We were initially hoping to get between 4,000 and 5,000 people to send in letters. As of writing this message, over 8,500 people have participated, and that number is still climbing. Since the email is sent to several ministers, this translates to over 40,000 letters sent so far, already beyond our highest expectations. Several ministers' offices have reached out to the coalition to let us know they are hearing our message loud and clear.

The Campaign for Culture runs for just 3 more days, so we are pushing everyone to

ask at least two of their friends to sign the letter and pass it on. I am including this request here because I think it is important for them to see a strong level of arts support coming from Alberta, and not just provinces out east. Furthermore, the Conservative Critic for Canadian Heritage is Lethbridge MP Rachel Thomas and the NDP Critic is Edmonton's Heather MacPherson, so we would love to see them receive a good number of letters as well.

The Coalition will continue to work towards increasing federal funding for arts and culture after the campaign and after the budget is released. We fervently believe that this sector benefits people living in Canada in a multitude of ways, from economic to social, and employment to health and quality of life. If you are interested in learning more or becoming a member, visit canadianartscoalition.com. To share this via Instagram, find our posts at @artscoalitionca.

Sign the Letter Here (it takes mere seconds!)