Bill Graham - Liberal

Questions:

1) Will your party commit to upholding the November 2005 federal commitment to a $342 million increase to arts funding over three years?

Yes. This was a Liberal Party initiative and I enthusiastically support it.

2) Given the positive affect of arts programming on many aspects of Toronto’s daily life including community volunteerism, youth engagement, economic development, employment, tourism and overall quality of life, conjoined with the fact that Toronto’s artists fall in the top 25% of education levels and the bottom 25% of income levels, can you offer any concrete commitment from your party that will improve the environment for the City’s artists.

In the 2005 Budget, the federal government announced increased funding to the Tomorrow Starts Today initiative of the Department of Canadian Heritage in the amount of $960 million over the next five years. In November 2005, the government announced a further $342 million in increased funding to the arts over the next three years. The cumulative result of both announcements is that the annual funding for the Canada Council for the Arts will more than double to $300 million by 2008. The Canada Council is the best vehicle for providing direct support to professional artists and non-profit arts organizations. I am proud of the fact that this government has made this commitment to the arts and specifically to our artists. If elected, I will fight to ensure that this funding is continued and that the government does not abandon artists in the name of economic efficiency.

I am personally committed to working tirelessly to support the superb arts organizations in my riding of Toronto Centre. I was a key supporter of the National Ballet School which has received $20 million in federal assistance and the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics which received $5 million. I am equally proud of the $1.3 million in federal funding that was secured for the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. This innovative project, which is the result of co-operation between the private and public sector, will be the new home of both the George Brown Theatre School and Soulpepper Theatre Company and a place where future generations of theatre artists of all kinds will develop their skills.