ARE WE READY FOR THE NEXT
FEDERAL ELECTION?
This present ‘perfect storm’ of elections will
soon enter its third and final stage. Toronto artists and
their supporters have already had opportunities to query
City and Provincial candidates; next
we get to take aim at their federal counterparts. Vote
gathering time is always the best time to find out where
candidates stand on the arts and how they plan to act on
that stand if elected.
This year’s excellent Chalmers Conference provided
an array of background information and strategy suggestions
to help our sector approach the coming election. Thanks
to Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) for providing advance
excerpts from its upcoming edition of Blizzart. The complete
report of the Chalmers Conference will soon be available
at www.ccarts.ca
The 5th annual Chalmers Conference was
held on Friday 27 February 2004 at the National Arts Centre
in Ottawa. In addition to the leaders of the cultural sector
gathered for the conference, the breakfast guest list also
included members of the local Ottawa cultural scene, NAC
Board members and senior staff, CCA individual members,
and government officials.
Megan Davis Williams put this year’s
Chalmers Conference in context by describing the opposing
forces currently at work between new leadership in government,
a looming election, and the period between the Throne Speech
and delivery of the Budget.
It was standing room only in the Panorama Room at the
NAC as the Honourable Hélène Chalifour
Scherrer spoke to the assembled participants of
the 2004 Chalmers Conference. Her speech focused on three
key areas:
• Excellence in cultural expression;
• Cultural diversity and national identity; and
• Canada’s place in the world.
In discussing the continuation of the Tomorrow Starts Today
funding, the $500 million envelope over three years which
was committed to the sector in May 2001 and was recently
extended for a further year, Mme Scherrer stated “Rest
assured I have heard you and I will examine the situation
carefully so that you will have the means to carry on your
efforts”. (The complete speech will soon be available
at http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/min/discours-speeches/
)
Nancy Juneau moderated a panel entitled
Hype, Gossip, and Spin: Which Messages Get Attention
at Election Time? She explained its objectives:
to provide participants with the necessary elements to develop
an election strategy/advocacy campaign through discussion
of several different approaches.
The following is a brief summary of the key points raised
by the panellists:
Max Wyman:
Arguments for public support of culture should include
economic investment, quality of life, arts as a healing
tool, innovation agenda, and benefits to education.
Richard Messier:
Don’t just ask for a larger share of the pie –
demand a larger pie! Define a common message for the whole
sector, then shout it out.
Caroline Di Cocco:
A message that has buy-in from a broad group carries more
clout; if the focus is only on the micro level, it becomes
a “divide and conquer” scenario.
Elizabeth May:
Use a broad banner message for the national level, getting
into specific, targeted messages locally. Use the sector’s
greatest resource: celebrities!
(A more complete summary of the panel discussion is available
in the Chalmers Conference report at www.ccarts.ca)
John Hobday, Director of the Canada Council
for the Arts, discussed some of the changes being implemented
by Council, including:
• Benefits of the arts and of investment in the
arts
• Improving the organizational health of arts organizations
• Council’s role as the primary federal funder
• A common and coherent federal policy framework
• An improved relationship with other arts funders
Hobday also outlined changes required in Council’s
grants to artists and arts organizations, moving away from
sustaining grants and towards supporting artists at key
career transition points. In addition, Council will be establishing
new criteria for entry of deserving organizations into its
funding programmes and the exit of organizations that fail
to maintain the highest standards of excellence. (The complete
speech is available at www.canadacouncil.ca/news/speeches/oc127238591540156250.htm)
How the System Works ... and How to Work the System
The afternoon workshop was delivered by Sean Moore, an Ottawa-based
partner with Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, and an expert
in public affairs and policy. An overview of his workshop
follows:
The six Ps of public policy:
• Principle/purpose
• Process
• Precedent
• Politics
• Positioning
• Perseverance
Working the system
• Stage 1 Enquiry
• Stage 2 Develop Theory and Themes
• Stage 3 Test it
• Stage 4 Implementation
• Stage 5 Evaluate
• Stage 6 Persist
Elements of the strategy
• Have a compelling narrative
• Theory and theme couch your messages in the strategic
language used by government.
• Confront your negatives
• Emphasize commonalities
• Invest in future relationships
(Mr Moore’s power point presentation, together with
a more detailed description of his workshop, is available
at www.ccarts.ca.)
The CCA has developed a number
of advocacy tools to assist its members, and others,
in making the case for the arts in the coming election and
beyond. These tools consist of:
• an election primer, plus links to other useful
websites
• a compendium of user-friendly statistics
• “arts for life” arguments and stories
• useful quotes
In addition, CCA has developed a series of briefing notes
around the most pressing cultural issues of the day, with
background summaries and suggested questions to bring up
with your MP/candidates. Visit: http://www.ccarts.ca/eng/04res/advocacyhabit.html).
|
