Liberals pledge more “support” for culture; Alliance calls for more accountability

A win by the Alliance Party of Canada in this month’s federal election would result in the dismantling of the Department of Canadian Heritage and less money for Canadian culture, the Liberals warn. In its election platform, the Alliance is vowing to eliminate "wasteful" spending on culture, and is calling for the grants process for film, television and the arts to be made more specific and focused. The Liberals contend that the savings from such a review are needed to help pay for the Alliance’s proposed flat tax. "It’s not as though (the Alliance) would transfer the monies to other levels of government to maintain the cultural programs and help support culture in Canada," says Jacques Lefebvre, senior communications advisor to Heritage minister Sheila Copps. Deborah Grey, the Alliance’s Heritage critic, dismisses such comments as scare-mongering, saying her party’s motivation is to bring more accountability to the funding process. "What we said is there is a place for Canada Council, for the arts, for culture," she told CCR. "I mean it’s a huge industry here in our country - 700,000 jobs contributed $22 billion to the Canadian economy. The cultural sector is wonderful, but ... it is the Canadian taxpayers who are paying the bill (for subsidies), and I think that some of them would like to have a debate on how tax dollars are spent." As examples, the Alliance criticizes the Canada Council for approving $34,000 in grants since September 1999 to allow an artist "to reflect, research and develop his thoughts," to another artist to "work for 18 months without the usual financial strain," to yet another artist to "facilitate a lengthy period of time in the studio," and to another to "produce a new narrative video that stars himself." Also, if the Alliance had its way, projects that would have never received funding include: $5,000 that was awarded to produce a work on the history of chewing gum, $15,000 for the second year of a continuous garbage project, $4,100 for a communications device that interacts with rotting grapefruits and the $1,500 for a "chapbook" called Where did my Ass go? Expanding international markets The Liberal’s newest Red Book, which outlines its policies, says the party’s goal is to "increase its support for the arts in Canada and help expand international markets for our artists and creators through a new marketing campaign that uses cultural products to brand Canada abroad." Lefebvre says efforts to expand the export of Canadian culture products will be based on bringing potential buyers to Canada, to film festivals and to trade shows. The government also pledges to expand the reach of trade missions and staff at embassies abroad, and to include culture as something that should be promoted overseas along with other commodities. A commitment to new media is also found in the Red Book. If re-elected, the Liberals say they will "stimulate the creation of Canadian cultural content for the Internet, in both French and English, and will accelerate the development of new media production in Canada." The Liberals say they would also establish an all-Canadian web site, access.ca, and finance the digitization of archival movies, documentaries and other works which would be available to Canadians over the Internet. Much of the additional $600 million the Liberals have promised for Canadian culture, if elected, would go toward access.ca, book publishing and sound recording. The Progressive Conservative Party’s policy documents contain no concrete proposals for Canadian culture, but do suggest, as do the Alliance, that there be a review of the CRTC. "Recent developments in information technology and the recent advancements made by the Internet are bringing significant changes in the world of telecommunications. It is argued that regulations that hinge on content ignore the most important matters," the PC states in its policy document adopted at its national policy convention in May 2000. "I don’t think we’re pointing the finger at what (the CRTC) is doing wrong or right," says Paul Comeau, assistant to PC Heritage critic Mark Muise. (We’re calling for) an overall review, and talking to different people, there have been questions about the long-term role of what the CRTC is going to be with improving technologies. Will it play the same role as it does today?" Scrutinizing corporate mergers The New Democratic Party has also promised new support for Canada’s cultural community, which it says is being undermined by "trade deals, global media concentration and indifference or hostility from the Liberal government." The NDP proposes strengthening the cultural infrastructure and ensuring diversity in Canadian artistic voices by empowering the Competition Bureau to review takeovers that concentrate ownership. It also proposes "promoting diversity of expression through tax incentives to assist community groups, cooperatives or entrepreneurs to invest in community media." The Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) finds most of the party policies thin with regard to supporting the arts and cultural industries, but notes the Bloc Québécois platform is extensive and touches on all the key issues, albeit from a separatist perspective. "I support the Bloc platform in a kind of ironical sense," says CCA national director Megan Williams. "It’s obviously not going to benefit Canadian artists at large, but it is kind of interesting that the Bloc understands the necessity for a certain amount of distance between artists and government," The Bloc platform calls for government support of culture to be free of any political objectives, including promoting Canadian unity. The CCA agrees cultural funding should not come with political strings that attempt to influence content. Williams also commends the Bloc for recognizing, unlike any other party, that the Copyright Board’s work has doubled since the adoption of Bill C-32 and needs more support, including additional funding. What the Bloc views as neglect of the board comes at a time, its platform notes, when the development of the digital world may led to the need for international copyright regulations. Fearful also of the effect of globalization on Quebecois culture, the Bloc says cultural issues should be dealt with by a judicial body to be established under UNESCO, rather than by the World Trade Organization. The separatist party is also pushing for instruments of cultural promotion and culture to be preserved within international trade agreements. "So (the Bloc) talks about the main concerns that we are interested in, but from another point of view," Williams states.

Liberals pledge more “support” for culture; Alliance calls for more accountability

News | 11/09/2000 5:00 am EST

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Reuse & Permissions

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us