Casualties in the Deficit War

Since Finance Minister Paul Martin tabled his spending-slashing budget in February, the CyberStage in-tray has seen its share of press releases and newspaper clippings reporting the effects of the budget cuts on various arts groups. This in itself is not new. Reports of arts groups cutting back are not only commonplace but practically expected unless you're owned by Garth Drabinsky or the Mirvish boys. What is new is that where the headlines were once reporting budget cuts, they are now reporting complete shutdowns.

Two cases in point. The first is the report from the Centre for Image and Sound Research (CISR) in Vancouver, B.C., in which barely a week after the budget was tabled, were told by Industry Canada that they were not in a position to negotiate the balance of their grants for the remaining fourth and fifth years of their funding contract. In other words, the federal government pulled out of a promised five-year financing commitment three years into their operation. The vital work of the CISR, which is one of the few research centres in Canada which successfully bridges electronic-artistic endeavours with commerce, was speculating on a complete shutdown of operations should they not secure new funding or be advised from the government that their decision will be reversed. Justine Bizzocchi, executive director of the Centre, said in a letter that, "the sudden and unilateral withdrawl of our funding has jeopardized everything that we have built, and threatens to stop a number of valuable programs and projects."

And then there was Harbourfront Centre, the cultural kaleidoscope which marks one of the most accessible and active community centres in Canada and host to the exquisite "Press Enter" art and technology show. The Board of Directors at Harbourfront announced that the centre would close on September 15th after the federal government declared reduced funding from $8.8-million to $6-million for this fiscal year and no guarantee of any funding for subsequent years (which they took to mean, 'none'). Host to over 4000 events in Toronto each year, the closing of Harborfront in September would have been one of the greatest losses of Canadian arts facilities in recent memory were it not for the thousands of protestors in the community that made enough noise for the government to reverse theie decision. Funding for Harbourfront has now been guaranteed for at least three more years.

These examples are, quite simply, the tip of the iceberg. We haven't yet seen the effect of groups which are funded from provincial levels whose transfer payments from the federal level has also been reduced. In the United States, the Republican-dominated House of Representatives has been talking about eliminating the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) as a budget-cutting measure. And if you don't think they'll do it, look what they did to single mothers.

Would everyone move a little to the right, please?

I think it's fair to say that when it comes down to it, no one should be very surprised by these measures. Whether we like it or not, the arts are still considered to be a decoration of culture rather than a foundation of it, even in spite of statistics saying that the arts and culture industry contributes $22-billion to the economy each year and employs some 500,000 people. In recent years past as each budget was tabled there was for me a disturbing feeling that in spite of the cuts the government was making, that perhaps they were stalling. Perhaps they knew the kind of cuts they would need to make in order to really bring the deficit under control, but were afraid to do it because it would make them unpopular and therefore lose votes in the next election. And although many of us felt that it was only a matter of time before these kind of painful cuts would occur, it is nonetheless hurting to know that they are finally happening. In a time when Canada is struggling with its cultural identity, we seem to be at the same time watching the very foundation of it die for something as stupid as money, and feel very powerless to do anything about it.

But of course, never being ones to die without a fight, arts groups will and must continue to put as much creativity and energy into fundraising for their work as they do their work itself. In a recent column in Maclean's entitled, "Can There Be Art Without Grants?" Charles Gordon says that the arts can survive "but the obsession with finding audiences will reduce quality, stifle innovation, force artists into the middle of the road. But popularity is not totally inconsistent with quality. In all areas of the arts there are stunning examples of excellent work that has become extremely popular. The challenge of the post-grant age will be to produce that. The challenge for Canadians will be to reward it, not only in the arts but also in business." But in a pending 500-channel universe, how realistic is this?

The only thing for certain is that we have not yet seen the worst of it. Voices will rise, budgets will fall, and our cultural landscape will continue to change.

Hold onto your seats, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Mark J. Jones - ed.