Sam Bulte - Liberal

1. I will absolutely uphold the commitment made by the Liberal government in November 2005 and I was proud to be a member of the Liberal government when, in Budget 2005, we made one of the largest long-term financial investments in arts and culture in our history.
   
2. I believe that the promotion of a thriving artistic and cultural community is vital to any city’s quality of life and there has also been recent research which has indicated that a city’s “bohemian index”, a measure of the availability of cultural outlets, is directly connected to its economic well-being and its ability to attract new investment.
   
   

   On a small scale, you can see this link in Parkdale-High Park. During the mid-90s, the Junction was truly a neighbourhood in decline. In the years that followed, many artists moved into the neighbourhood, attracted by its relative centrality, its affordable rents, and the small but growing Junction Arts Festival. As both the artistic element and Festival grew, the Junction itself began to blossom into the attractive and interesting neighbourhood it is today. I should also mention that the federal government had funded the West Toronto Junction Team, a group of local residents and business owners, who developed and spearheaded the Junction’s redevelopment plan.

I will remain a strong advocate within the Liberal party for continued government support of our arts and culture.

I truly believe that our arts and culture are integral to the quality of life of all Canadian communities and individual Canadians.