Here is The Arts Advocate’s list for the top cultural policy stories and trends of 2012:
- Passage of a revised Copyright Act, without a doubt one of the most significant results of the year.
- Sustained public funding to key cultural agencies, like national museums, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Ontario Media Development Corporation and others, the result of effective advocacy throughout the cultural sector.
(We acknowledge that there were funding cuts to others, like the CBC, Telefilm, National Library and Ontario’s cultural attraction agencies. In the scheme of things, the overall view is that the cultural sector weathered relatively well in 2012, though there remains well-grounded fear for the future.)
- The establishment of the Canadian Museum of History.
- The demise of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, Canada’s longest-standing arts advocacy organization.
- The drive to make fundamental changes to the way cultural agencies support their clients. At its AGM, Telefilm Canada announced that it had completed a complete redesign of its entire range programs. The Canada Council for the Arts has made it clear that fundamental change to its programs is on the way, with a shift in focus from ‘supply’ to ‘demand’.
- The EU free trade agreement, something that has flown under the radar screen for the most part. In November, Canadian Heritage James Moore told a parliamentary committee that the deal would “genuinely protect our cultural communities and their needs.”
- An unstated but creeping sense that arm’s-length agencies are feeling the arm becoming shorter and shorter, something being talked about at the water cooler in all jurisdictions.
No doubt there are headlines we’ve missed. We look forward to your comments on what’s not here.
Onwards to 2013.
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