August 21, 2008 Funding Cuts
The troubling discussion on federal cuts to arts and heritage programs is growing in intensity and causing alarm in museums across the country. During the last weeks, a number of articles and reports have appeared in national news agencies The Globe and Mail, National Post, and the CBC attempting to gather the facts on the actual cuts, the programs and organizations being affected, and the decisions motivating these multiple program cuts. Explanation of the cuts provided by Canadian Heritage Minister Josee Verner, or from PMO communications staff have not been attributed to a weakening economy or other government priorities, but rather refer in general to some program reviews citing some of the identified programs as “inefficient”. Notice of these recent changes have not been communicated to the cultural community directly but rather were the result of unannounced changes to program deadlines and wrap-up dates found at the Department of Canadian Heritage website, and later verified with department staff. While the cuts to the MAP-Museums Assistance program were announced last year, this recent news identifies forthcoming cuts to the $27.1 million CAHSP (Canadian Arts and Heritage Sustainability Program) and is expected to affect primarily the Stabilization and Capacity-Building components. These components of the program have supported numerous beneficial projects for museums, galleries and other cultural institutions fostering such initiatives as revenue-generation, strategic planning, and organizational development. The cut to CAHSP follows a series of surprise cuts to other cultural programs including those promoting Canadian culture on the international scene such as PromArt, administered by DFAIT, and Trade Routes of the Department of Canadian Heritage. Participating in a CBC radio interview on Friday, August 15, on The World at Six, OMA President Tammy Adkin spoke to the particular benefits of the CAHSP program to museums in Ontario, the importance of future plans to mitigate any negative impact of the funding cuts on museums and their collections, while expressing concern about the lack of available information provided to the Ontario museum community. "Last year the Museums Assistance Program was cut in half, that very directly limits exhibits that we are able to produce, and now with this cut, quite frankly, funding to community museums in Canada has been gutted". A letter to Canadian Heritage Minister Josee Verner outlining these points has also been sent. Today, in an article by James Bradshaw in The Globe and Mail, it is mentioned that recent cuts to Canadian culture add up to a total of $44.5 million. Member action: In the continued absence of a National Museum Policy defining the government’s vision for preserving Canadians’ museum collections across the country, and without further information on how the government intends to protect and promote our cultural assets in the future, the OMA recommends that members communicate directly with their federal elected officials to explain both the anticipated negative impact these cuts will have on their communities as well as the important work museums are able to effect in the service of their communities with support from both the CAHSP and MAP programs.
A number of arts organizations, in particular the Canadian Conference for the Arts and the CMA have also weighed in on this situation questioning the government's approach while identifying the harmful impact this is expected to have on cultural institutions across the country. (For more information from the CMA on recent cuts, click here). Please keep us informed of your own situation and remember to copy the OMA in your correspondence for our follow-up and monitoring of this important issue. Contact:
Marie G. Lalonde
Executive Director
ONTARIO MUSEUM ASSOCIATION
Toll free (ON) : 1-866-OMA-8672
Tel: 416-348-8672
mlalonde@museumsontario.com |