Opinion
Arts and artists need a ‘new deal’
By Deanna Horton January 5, 2021
Supporting the arts as part of the creative class that is essential to innovation and economic development does not require the costs of building hard infrastructure, and the impact may be intangible.
Red Sky Performance dancers, pictured on Sept. 30, 2019, at the Honouring National Day for Truth and Reconciliation ceremony at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
The government has recognized the necessity of fiscal stimulus not only to revive the economy, but also to support the most vulnerable. Artists and the arts sector are at serious risk during the pandemic. For example, a recent Nordicity report noted a survey of live music which indicated that 96 per cent of surveyed venues were at risk of failure—only one sector of the arts spectrum, many without access to enough government support.
Related Stories
Politics This Morning
Your email has been added. An email has been sent to your address, please click the link inside of it to confirm your subscription.
Parties ramping up candidate nominations across Canada as election threat looms
Quebec is expected to once again be a key electoral battleground, spurred on by the Bloc Québécois’ resurgence in 2019, with multiple candidates already nominated in three target ridings. Former innovation minister Bains was most-lobbied minister in 2020
Mr. Bains, who was lobbied 214 times in 2020, took the top spot from the 2019 leader, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. Post controversy, Green Party executive director position remains unfilled
The Green Party's former executive director resigned in October, but a public search for a permanent replacement has yet to begin.Updated mandate letters allow Grits to showcase pandemic fight without being attacked for abandoning promises, say politicos
The new mandate letters add new priorities to the instructions given to cabinet ministers in the 2019 mandate letters. Garneau’s new foreign affairs post centres on his American links and steady hands, say analysts
With Garneau's appointment as foreign affairs minister, the 'big message' to Biden in Washington is 'we have somebody here who can work with you' and who 'understands you,' says Carleton professor Fen Olser Hampson.Canadians ‘overrepresented in the alt-right,’ says filmmaker who chronicled movement’s rise
The U.S. insurrection was an ‘inevitable consequence,’ says documentary filmmaker Daniel Lombroso, after years of far-right activity he witnessed first-hand.
Biden’s plan to cancel Keystone XL pipeline could be ‘blessing in disguise’ for Liberals, says former diplomat
'Knowing that you won't get too many seats in the West, [Prime Minister Justin Trudeau] can turn around and say, ‘Well, I did everything I could to get the project going forward,' ' says a former diplomat. Designating Proud Boys as terrorist organization could deter recruits, experts say
In 2019, the federal government added two white supremacist groups to the terrorist list. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says officials will see if Proud Boys will become the third far-right group.‘Natural attrition’ can absorb most jobs in fossil fuel industry in managed phase-out, says economist
Most of the job losses would be concentrated in 18 communities in Western Canada, according to the report, with Wood Buffalo, Alta., where Fort McMurray is located, and Estevan, Sask., expected to be hit hardest. Trending Stories
