Ontario election: the implications of cultural policy silence

The way politics happens in Ontario has changed.

Gone are the days when sectors could engage political leaders and parties in meaningful dialogue and discussion to better understand their perspective on the issues affecting them. Nowhere was this more evident than in the decision of Ontario’s two leading political parties to decline participation in a roundtable dialogue with the Ontario NonProfit Network last week.

The same is true for the cultural sector. Barely a whisper has been heard on the contribution and potential of this sector, despite its impressive contribution to Ontario’s economy. (The cultural sector accounts for over 4% of Ontario’s total employment, or over 252,000 jobs for the province).

This means that going forward, the arts, heritage and cultural industries have little sense of what the future holds in the way of cultural policy, regardless of which party forms government.

There’s no question that broad policy initiatives, such as deficit reduction, will impact the sector; but the policy lens which will inform these decisions is unclear.
* Will audience access be the priority, or will it be opening up international markets?
* Will there be a download to municipalities, or will there be continued strong provincial investment?
* Whither the Entertainment and Creative Cluster?

These are just some points to ponder, with no compass to provide a guide.

As the cultural sector looks ahead to working with the next government, whatever stripe, it will want to consider how it engages with government on these broader cultural policy questions.

Leaving it only to happenstance is unlikely to yield the best possible results.