Connecting the dots of government investment and public support for the arts

At last week’s open board meeting of the Canada Council for the Arts, Chair Joseph Rotman, Vice Chair Simon Brault and Director Robert Sirman reinforced two key points to the overflow crowd in Toronto:

* The board of the Council enjoys the confidence of the Government of Canada, a result, in its view, of the alignment of Council’s activities and priorities of the Government.

* The current $182 million allocation to Canada’s arts sector, through the Council, is significant and very much appreciated, especially in this time of fiscal restraint.

The Council acknowledges that, on a constant dollar per capita basis, its funding is smaller than in 1990; but it does not see itself in a growth phase at this time. Pointing to the realities of the competing spending priorities faced by Ottawa (and evidenced by the sheer number of witnesses participating at the House of Commons Finance Committee pre-budget hearings underway), the Canada Council board is carefully acknowledging the ‘potential for growth’ without making the ask at this time.

When queried as to why the board of the Canada Council for the Arts was not more aggressively championing a funding increase for the arts, Chair Joseph Rotman delivered a spirited response that pointed to reality of governing at this time. He reinforced again the confidence of government enjoyed by the Council, and stressed the need for everyone to be sensitive to the tenor of our times. (Not sure everyone agreed with him!)

The link to the recent Environics survey on the attitudes of Ontarians to arts and the quality of life (completed for the Ontario Arts Council) becomes salient here: 81% of Ontarians agree that government should spend dollars to support the arts. Dig a little deeper though, and the numbers show that 38% of respondents ‘strongly agree’ with this statement, while 43% are in the ‘somewhat agree’ category.

In this period of shrinking dollars and belt tightening, it’s going to be important for all of us to move people from the ‘somewhat agree’ group to the ‘strongly agree’ group.

From that observation, it’s back to the Canada Council’s new strategic plan and their enhanced focus on ‘public engagement’. I’ll connect those dots another time!