Cape Breton loses Baddeck new media fest to P.E.I. as funding squabbles escalate

A disappointing decision by Cape Breton’s economic development agency to stop funding the Baddeck International New Media Festival has reportedly led the event to relocate to Prince Edward Island. Following notification by key sponsor Enterprise Cape Breton Corp. (ECBC) that it wouldn’t continue to put money into the industry event, TechPEI has apparently picked up the ball with a multi-year commitment to organizers to put the festival on the western tip of the island. TechPEI officials, however, are mum on the deal, neither confirming nor denying it at this point. A news release and announcement were expected on August 19, then August 20, but were still not available at press time.The move, if it comes off, should benefit both Anne’s island and the festival with easier accessibility and the assurance of stable funding. The news comes as a blow, however, to the small town of Baddeck’s hopes of becoming a digital arts hub in Atlantic Canada with a stature approaching that of Banff in the West. Last week, the Cape Breton Post’s Wes Stewart reported that an ECBC official confirmed there would be no funding this year from the body. "We did reject it this year, based on their business plan submitted for the 2002 festival," the Post quotes ECBC spokesperson D.A. Landry as saying, adding that the Crown corporation had concerns about partnership funding and revenue projections. The story further states that ECBC would reconsider its decision in future years – something it may not have the chance to do if TechPEI maintains a sufficiently sweet pot for the festival. The festival had applied for $100,000 in funding from ECBC. The Crown corporation states that it has provided $500,000 in funding to date over five years, though indications are that the festival disputes that figure, pegging it at only $350,000. ECBC officials did not return telephone calls to confirm the Post’s story. James Morrow, editor of the Victoria Standard, Baddeck’s local newspaper, and a member of Baddeck’s economic development committee, says ECBC’s recalcitrant attitude toward further funding is baffling, but in keeping with recent shifts in that body’s priorities. "ECBC’s not only been difficult with just the Atlantic Digital Media Festival (ADMF – Baddeck’s organizing body), it’s also been difficult to deal with in the tourist industry and with some of the other grassroots organizations that are trying to pull the island out of its economic morass. It’s frustrating because here’s a government organization that’s supposed to be there to help community economic development, and unless you’re developing a golf course, they don’t want to look at you." Morrow says that hasn’t always been the case. The festival, which has been ongoing for the past five years, was the anchor for a proposed new arts centre, the Centre Bras D’Or, being touted by both the festival and local authorities. He says the festival was finding the Inverary Inn too small as the festival grew, and an arts/sciences centre would be a natural tie-in with the Alexander Graham Bell museum in town and its other arts activities. The model for an arts and cultural centre on the east coast appeared to be borne out last year when it was announced the Baddeck and Banff festivals would be twinned. But, says Morrow, small-town politics and a shift in ECBC’s attitude towards such projects scuttled the plan. "Under the surface, there’s a lot more going on. You’ve got a very parochial village here with some very strong individuals moving and shaking in the island’s socio-economic structure – who may or may not like the organizational structure of the ADMF, who may not like some of the personalities of the ADMF, and have very strong ties and connections with ECBC…but how do you prove it?" He says ECBC’s unidentified point man on the file has also cooled on the island’s digital vision – at one point dubbed "Silicon Island" – in favour of promoting recreational sports. While the corporation was unable to find the $100,000 ADMF was asking for to mount the festival, he notes that ECBC has earmarked $600,000 to market golf courses in Cape Breton. "It leaves a sour taste in my mouth, and it certainly leaves a sour taste in the Atlantic Digital Media Festival’s mouth because they felt they had a good thing here. They felt there was a nice rapport, a symbiotic relationship between the city of Baddeck and what they were trying to accomplish. Gone – poof." Morrow notes that the loss of the festival this year will be mitigated somewhat in Baddeck with the holding of the concurrent Celtic Colours international music festival. Nonetheless, he regards ECBC’s decision as shortsighted. "On a personal level, because I’m a member of the economic development committee, editor of the local newspaper, I’m really disappointed to lose that international profile we had by sticking the name Baddeck onto the Baddeck International New Media Festival. That was important to this community." Richard Lorway, chair of the ADMF, shares Morrow’s bitterness at the festival’s treatment at ECBC’s hands. In an interview with Canadian NEW MEDIA, Lorway says the relationship between the two bodies turned sour this winter as the festival sought further funding. Two economic impact studies of the festival’s benefits for the island were conducted at ECBC’s behest, he says. Lorway is bewildered that while both studies were overwhelmingly positive about the festival’s benefits – and recommended multi-year funding – the funding agency nevertheless backed off. ECBC had said it wouldn’t approve funding until the completion of those studies, yet it continued to make demands on the festival’s board despite the positive findings. Further, it told the festival to withdraw a business plan calling for multi-year funding in favour of an application for one year’s funding. "It’s been going on since then. It’s always been one more thing, one more thing, one more thing. Finally we concluded that they weren’t being serious, that they weren’t acting in good faith," he says. Later, he adds, "it’s all about control and patronage and it’s just disgusting here at the moment." With the festival program and marketing plans set, organizers sought another partner. "TechPEI – they were so quick to see the value and respond. It’s really refreshing." While saddened that the festival will have to move venues, Lorway is positive about its future in P.E.I. The festival has always been well received, despite a drop in attendance last year of 15-20 per cent in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the U.S. and a deep financial funk in the sector. He notes that Telefilm Canada has signed on again to sponsor the event, and many of last year’s international delegates and speakers, particularly from Manchester in the U.K., are eagerly awaiting this year’s event. The move should cause few delays or problems for the festival, he says. "Everything was ready. We were just waiting for the green light. It means the time frame is a bit short, and it means the plane tickets have to be changed, but it’s all eminently doable." This year’s festival will be held, subject to final and official confirmation by TechPEI, October 17-19 at the Brudnell River resort in P.E.I., which focuses on corporate and industry events. A web site marketing the festival at www.baddeckfest.com does not yet reflect the change, and further details will have to wait until an announcement is made by the P.E.I. government, Lorway says.

Cape Breton loses Baddeck new media fest to P.E.I. as funding squabbles escalate

News | 08/21/2002 4:00 am EDT

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