PACE is starting to receive responses to the “ask” it sent to all political leaders running in the 2012 Alberta provincial election. We have heard back from the Alberta NDP and the PC Alberta leaders so far. Click here to see the answers they gave to the questions we asked on behalf of Alberta’s arts and culture sector.
In the meantime, we encourage members of the arts community and all their supporters to pose these same questions to candidates at forums and on the doorstep. We need to impress upon them that the Alberta arts sector is vital to our province and we are taking an active role in the outcome of this election.
What you need to know about arts and culture in Alberta before you answer our questions:
91% of Albertans feel art activities are important in contributing to the overall quality of life in their community. Source: Annual Survey of Albertans, Resinnova Research & Consulting Inc. 2010
Albertans receive a 12:1 return on every dollar spent on the arts. Source: Summary of the Economic Impact of the Arts in Alberta,Alberta Foundation for the Arts, 2005.
88% of Albertans feel it is important that the Government of Alberta continues to fund and support the arts. Source: Culture and Community Services Annual Survey of Albertans on Culture, Leger Marketing, 2011
All three levels of government receive tax revenue through the arts sector. A total of 67.9 million in taxes is collected (in Alberta) through taxation systems each year. Source Culture and Community Spirit Department Fact and Figures 2010
Please give us your position on the following:
1. Do you support a restoration of the 2010 16 per cent cut to the AFA?
2. If elected to serve the people of Alberta in the next Legislature, will you work towards immediately increasing lottery money investment to arts, culture and heritage by 25%?
Here are the arts and culture platforms put out so far. We will post more as they become available. Check out what these parties have to say on our future:
Alberta Liberal Party: http://www.albertaliberal.com/files/Yes%20-%202012%20Election%20Platform.pdf (p.22 – includes sports)
Alberta New Democratic Party: http://albertandp.ca/wherewestand/details/supporting_the_arts
Alberta Party: http://www.albertaparty.ca/creative_industries
PC Alberta Party: http://www.votepc.ca/public/data/documents/AlbertaByDesign-DraftV5-04-12-12.pdf (p. 31)
Wildrose Party: http://www.wildrose.ca/media/2012/04/Pledge.pdf (p. 19)
Click here for some interesting comparison information provided to us by our friends at the Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations.
And check out the following links:
http://www.albertaviews.ab.ca/2012/04/04/the-value-of-your-vote-march-2010/
Also, have a look at the great campaign ArtsVote Calgary has been doing! Click here to view coverage on the arts forum they hosted in Calgary.
General provincial advocacy information is available at the Public Interest Alberta website.
