The election is now 12 days away. Because the focus of these posts is on the arts, I thought I’d highlight each of the four main parties’ arts platforms for you.

I found out some of this information by doing a little social media experiment. Read the companion post to this one on my blog.

Greens

• Increase funding to all of Canada’s arts and culture organizations including the Canada Council for the Arts, Telefilm Canada, orchestras, theatres and publishers. The goal will be to make increases in this sector commensurate with increases in support over the years for other sectors such as transport, energy and health care.
• Provide stable base funding for the CBC so it can continue to provide quality Canadian content television and radio programming in both official languages to all Canadians.
• Ensure that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) reserves more bandwidth for independent and non-profit stations.
• Enact legislation that requires cinemas and video chains to have at least 20% Canadian content.
• Restore and improve arm’s length principles in the governance of arts and cultural institutions and agencies under federal jurisdiction. In keeping with such a position, we believe that the heads of Canada’s cultural organizations such as the CRTC, Canada Council, CBC and Telefilm Canada should not be appointed by the political party in power but by an arm’s length committee made up of competent people representative of the various diverse stakeholders in Canadian society.
• Seek greater support and adequate resources for arts grants programs.
• Seek increased funding incentives for artists and art events to tour Canada’s rural regions. • Provide protection for indigenous intellectual and artistic property rights.
• Increase support for community arts programs and facilities across Canada by establishing stable base funding at a set percentage of the federal budget.
• Equalize federal funding for arts and culture among provinces, territories and municipalities to make it consistent with the provinces and municipalities that have the highest current standards.
• Provide incentives to all provinces and territories to restore and improve arts and culture components in schools and extra-curricular activities not only in urban but also in rural areas.
• Extend income tax relief and incentives to artists (on the very successful models established by Ireland and the city of Berlin). Doing so will:
  • Encourage artists to settle in Canada and build businesses here.
  • Result in other (usually) white collar “clean” industries that follow arts jobs and dollars. - Help to provide meaningful jobs to university and college graduates.
  • Enrich schools and their offerings, thereby attracting immigrants to settle in rural areas. - Revitalize and discover talent in communities where traditional industries are declining and young people are leaving.

• Follow and implement recommendations of the Canadian Conference of the Arts in order to enable artists to access various social programs including Employment Insurance, Workers’ Compensation and the Canada Pension Plan.
• Change the Canada Revenue Act to allow arts and culture workers to benefit from a tax averaging plan that will take into account the fact that lean years often precede and follow a good year when a show is produced, a book is published, or a grant or a prize is won.
• Protect Canada’s cultural identity during trade negotiations.
• Restore the government-provided transport service (eliminated by the Harper government) to allow the transport of exhibitions between museums and galleries.
• Protect the copyright for artists so it is not surrendered to museums and galleries in the process of permitting exhibits.

Grade: A

The Greens get bonus points for having an Economic Rationale for supporting the arts.

NDP

• We will promote the production and broadcast of Canadian content on Canadian television and in Canadian theatres, and will strongly support Canada’s performing arts, cultural institutions, and creators.
• We will ensure Canadian TV and telecom networks remain Canadian-owned by maintaining effective regulations on foreign ownership;
• We will re-focus the mandate of the CRTC to promote and protect Canadian cultural industries;
• We will provide sustained funding for the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada, enhance federal film incentives and develop a targeted strategy for the promotion of domestic films in Canada;
• We will set license requirements for broadcasters based on clear, binding and enforced performance standards for broadcasters, including increased Canadian drama.
• We will increase public funding for the Canada Council and implement tax averaging for artists and cultural workers;
• We will explore the creation of a new international arts touring fund to replace the now-defunct Trade Routes and PromArt programs;
• We will implement a matching grant for Canadian museums, historic buildings and heritage lighthouses;
• We will introduce tax incentives to ensure the restoration and preservation of historic buildings;
• We will strengthen public broadcasting with long-term stable funding for CBC, Radio-Canada and other public broadcasters, including capacity to deliver superior regional production and internet services;
• We will reform the CRTC and also ensure it better reflects Quebec’s cultural and linguistic reality and that of the francophone community;
• We will develop a digital on-line culture service to broaden access to Canadian content.

Grade: B+

Could be more specific in terms of funding and some of their other points, but still, really good overall.

Liberals

The Liberals have barely a page dedicated to the Arts in their nearly-100 page Liberal Platform document. They talk about how the Arts contribute to the economy, and they recognize the importance of the CBC and Radio Canada.

• The Canada Council for the Arts is a major force in supporting working artists. A Liberal government will significantly increase support for Canadian artists and creators by doubling the annual budget of the Canada Council for the Arts, from $180 million to $360 million over the next four years.
• A Liberal government will also restore the Promart and Trade Routes cultural promotion programs, increasing their funding to $25 million. These programs play an important role in bringing Canadian culture to the world and increasing our exports. The new annual funding will help to create a domestic tours program as well.

Grade: D

Really?? I know it’s a big country with a lot of people who have different interests, but don’t the arts deserve more than 1/100th of your attention?

Conservatives

The Conservative platform starts with a list of all the things they have done while in power, including funding museums and festivals they have supported, and this:

increased support for the Canada Council for the Arts by 20 percent, to its highest level in history

and then adds:

• We will build on these actions, by supporting the Royal Conservatory of Music in launching a national examination system in partnership with Carnegie Hall.
• We will also provide ongoing support for the Canada Periodical Fund to support the distribution of publications to Canadians, while providing long-term, stable program funding.

Grade: F

I don’t buy it. First of all, the arts are suffering more now than at any time in recent history that I can remember. The Conservatives left out the part about the $45 Million dollars they have cut to Arts funding. Furthermore, going ahead, why not say what you have planned for the future, assuming you get elected, rather than resting on your laurels?

Here are another couple of ways to compare and contrast arts platforms:
The Canadian Conference of the Arts asked all the major political parties the same six questions. You can read the responses (except for the Conservatives, who did not reply) here: http://ccarts.ca/en/advocacy/bulletins/2011/1611.htm

Finally, you might want to take the Canadian Vote Compass survey. It can give you a good idea of which direction you lean in.

I realize that it’s simplistic to look at the four major parties and make a decision on who you want to vote for based on that. There are lots of other issues at stake, not the least of which is that, even if the Greens have the best Arts platform, there is virtually no chance that they will able to instigate their promises, given that won’t be elected.

The question is, do you vote your conscience, or do you vote strategically? Do you vote for the MP or the Party? I don’t have that answer. Beyond all, though, get out and vote on May 2. The most important thing is that we make our voices heard.

Rebecca Coleman is a blogger, social media marketing strategist and arts publicist from Vancouver, BC. She is passionate about the arts, but not so passionate about politics. You can follow her on Twitter @RebeccaColeman

arts, election, Election 2011 Election