Rochelle Carnegie - NDP

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

Although I can not commit the party to this amount Rochelle personally would support the funding commitment above.

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.

Recognizing the importance of the arts to both the economy and to the development of our culture and identity Rochelle supports the NDP policies as outlined in the current election platform. Shown below is the section related to the arts as it relates to improving the environment for the City’s artists.

In addition Rochelle supports having the Federal government provide financial support for the creation of facilities such as the new opera house.

• Strengthen the status of Canada’s artists by:

– Introducing a system of tax averaging to provide fair and equitable tax treatment for Canadian artists.
– Building on a model in Quebec, introduce an exemption for the first $30,000 on copyright and certain royalty income.
– Protecting children in the arts with minimum standards and trust fund rules for income earned as performers.

• Strengthen the arts in Canada by:

– Providing increased funding for the Canada Council for the support of artists.

• Strengthen Canada’s homegrown film and television production by:

– Directing the CRTC to require clear, binding, monitored and enforced performance standards for broadcasters, including a significant and permanent increase in the production and broadcast of Canadian drama.
– Reviewing and restructuring the CRTC to avoid the mixed mandates and conflicts of interest that undermine the role of the commission in promoting and protecting Canadian cultural industries.
– Ensuring that Canadian television networks remain Canadian owned.
– Providing sustained funding for the Canadian Television Fund and Telefilm Canada.
– Enhancing federal film incentives to encourage film and television production.
– Establishing a forum with film distributors to agree on targets and a strategy to screen and distribute domestic films in Canada.