| Questionnaire to be posted the week of June 21.
This particular survey is very important to me, & I have
scrawled out a draft of notes which I will type up then. As
a professional performer and member of the Toronto Arts Coalition,
ACTRA, Canadian Actors Equity Association, Women In Film &
Television, Academy of Canadian Film & Television, I am
very concerned with presenting well to our community, AND
inspiring them to seriously look at the Green Party; and as
I have done come on board and make this young party into the
Arts progressive Arts advocating party we need it to be.
Please encourage your members to explore www.greenparty.ca
for information regarding your/our concerns. Our platform
is wonderful and wonderfully laid out.
If individuals and families are not Healthy and living in
a Sustainable Environment & Economy, then we cannot make
our best Art & Culture.
As noted in the Canadian Congress of the Arts' Election Platform
Matrix report:
"The Green Party acknowledges the high social and economic
benefits of the arts. ‘Would expand arts funding mechanisms
to include smaller, community based, participatory arts programs.’
The Green Party is still a relatively new party but it is
learning quickly. The cultural platform is slim but solid,
reflecting a balance between both the arts and built heritage.
The Greens could well become a force to be reckoned with
in future elections given their popularity with younger voters."
And also: ACTRA's
three questions for election 2004 & My 3 Green Answers:
1. Will your party keep the current limits to foreign
ownership of Canadian airwaves to ensure that our broadcasting
industry is controlled by Canadians, for Canadians? Issue:
Owning our airwaves. If we don' t own our airwaves, we don'
t own our culture. Foreign companies can already own 47% of
Canadian airwaves - but they want more.
YES, YES, YES. I am very concerned to keep our broadcast industry
in the control of Canadians, for Canadians.
2. Will your party issue an order to the CRTC to review
its 1999 television policy to impose both content and spending
requirements on private broadcasters? Issue: Telling our stories.
Canadian content rules for broadcasting were relaxed in 1999.
Now broadcasters are doubling their profits by feeding Canadians
a steady diet of cheap U.S. content while Canadian drama disappears
from our screens.
"It comes down to whether or not you' re a country and
it' s pretty hard to define yourself as a nation if you can't
tell your own stories." - Paul Gross, Performers Magazine,
Spring 2004
YES, YES, YES. The 1999 policy needs to be revisited, likely
reversed, to attempt to restore the awful results of the 1999
changes. Canadian drama is crucial to maintaining Canadian
Culture, which is necessary for meaningful sovereignty. And
Canadian television drama has a huge economic multiplier effect,
providing good jobs for many. Part of my mission within the
Green Party is to insist that such policies be included in
our progressive vision.
3. Will your party restore federal tax laws allowing
income averaging for performers and other artists? Issue:
Making a living in our country. Federal income tax rules used
to allow performers and other artists to average their often-fluctuating
incomes over a number of years. This was a lifeline for performers
who don' t have access to many other employment-related benefits
such as E.I. "... the largest subsidy to the cultural
life of Canada comes not from governments, corporations or
other patrons, but from the artists themselves, through their
unpaid or underpaid labour". - Applebaum-Hébert
Report, 1982
YES, YES, YES. Status of the Artist Legislation is necessary,
as well as whatever tax laws can assist artists to nurture
their full blossoming. Artists are to be revered for the remarkable
contribution we make to society. There are practical economic
tools we can develop to assist in making Canada an Artist-friendly
country. The benefits all round are tremendous. |
