Conservative Budget Doesn't Cut It For Artists

Support for the arts and artists emerged as a very powerful issue in the recent federal election, thanks to the hard work of many arts groups who pressed hard to bring it forward. It became a key issue because arts and culture funding has been under attack from the Conservatives over the past several years. Arts and culture are essential to our identity as Canadians, and government investment in the arts provides significant returns – in terms of revenue generated, jobs created and spin-off benefits. The arts bring people to our cities, provide jobs, and enrich our lives.

Yet half of Canadian artists make less than $10 000 a year – even though the cultural sector contributes more than $46 billion to the economy! The government does provide some funding for the arts – but very little for individual artists. Some of the measures I would have liked to have seen in recent the budget are:

Income averaging – so that artists might take an average of their income over five years, and have the average taxed, as artists’ income levels can fluctuate greatly year by year.
Elimination of income tax on grants and awards – most artists make so little, the taxation of grants and awards they may receive has a big impact on them.
A stronger grants program to support local arts organizations and artists.

While I was pleased to see some funding for arts and culture in the recent budget, the previous funding from previous cuts has not been restored. In addition, there was no new funding for the CBC, which has had its funding cut over the past several years. Recently, Conservative Heritage Minister James Moore speculated about allowing paid advertisements on CBC Radio – a move that would drastically change the CBC’s mandate. If the government had properly funded Canada’s cultural institutions in the first place, CBC Radio would not find itself in this position.

We need significant, long-term investments in arts and culture, and recognition on the part of the government of the important role it plays in Canada.

“This is not a fight about money. This is not a fight for the inherent value of cultural expression. This is not a fight about this or that ideology. This is not a fight about what percentage of GDP should go here or there. This is not a fight to save our national reputation. This is a fight for all of the above.”
- Department of Culture, departmentofculture.ca