NDP and Liberal Policies on the Arts

Wed Nov 22 17:11:37 EST 2000

This e-mail was originally sent to the Two New Hours list (the CBC New
Music/Canadian Composer list) by B.C. composer Paul Steenhuison - he
requested info from the NDP on their mandate for culture and posted it
along with the Liberal's Platform on the Arts, found on their WEBPAGE.
Information that might be useful (?) or not.

Does anyone have a more well rounded source of information to draw on -
like some pilfered documents from the garbage cans of parties various
JP

Original e-mail:
   Date:Wed, 22 Nov 2000 14:38:26 -0500
       From:paul steenhuisen <8polar at sprint.ca>
   Reply-To:"Two New Hours" <twonewhours at listbot.com>
         To:"Two New Hours" <twonewhours at listbot.com>

Two New Hours - http://radio.cbc.ca/programs/2newhours/2newhours.html

Paul: within 20 minutes of sending a request for info,
this is what i received from the ndp.

Reply:
thanks (sic) for your email.

Please find below a copy of our factsheet on culture. NDP MP Wendy Lill
has
been a strong and outspoken advocate on arts and culture in the past
Parliament and has on record a comprehensive report on Arts and Culture
that
is attached below.

Thanks for contacting the NDP

NDP Campaign 2000 Outreach / Services d'information
Visit our Website www.ndp.ca  - Visitez notre site web www.npd.ca

"The government must preserve our cultural identity as a sacred trust -
not
allow it to be dominated by the American cultural Goliath or offered up
to
corporate interests in an increasingly global economy. "

 NDP Leader Alexa McDonough

Preserving our Cultural Identity into the 21st Century

Our cultural identity has been put in jeopardy by an American media
tide,
globalizing economic forces and the new communications technologies.
The
Liberals have done nothing to stem this tide.  In fact, their trade
deals
have turned our culture into a commodity - opening the door to split run

magazines today and other US attacks tomorrow.  Severe funding cuts have

undermined our public broadcaster, the CBC.  And, media barons have been

able to buy up our newspapers, television and radio stations, severely
limiting the scope of information that reaches the public.

In a global information society, the voices of our artists, writers,
creators and citizens need to be strengthened, not undermined. Media
ownership must be balanced with strong independent voices to ensure the
free
flow of ideas and the health of our democracy.  And governments must
make it
clear that our cultural identity is not for sale by ensuring that trade
deals include protection for our culture.  New Democrats will fight for
investments and policies to protect Canadian culture.

  THE FACTS

·        American industry controls 95 % of the films screened in
Canada,
60% of English television shows and 70 % of all music played on Canadian

radio stations.

·        Liberal trade policies have opened the door to "split-run"
magazines with little or no Canadian content.  They drain crucial
Canadian
ad revenue and threatening the survival of our magazines.

·        One million people are employed in the arts and cultural
industries, contributing nearly $22 billion to the Canadian economy.
The
cultural sector employs nearly twice as many people as traditional
resource-based sectors, including agriculture, forestry, and mining
combined.

·        Media concentration is jeopardizing our democracy.  One
company,
Canwest Global now owns 40% of our print media as well as television
stations in 8 provinces that reach 88% of English speaking Canadians.

·        The Liberals have diminished the CBC - slashing its budget and
staff by 30%.

Canada's New Democrats will work to strengthen Canada's cultural fabric
and
to:

·        Promote diversity of expression through tax incentives to
assist
community groups, co-operatives or entrepreneurs to invest in community
media.

·        Promote diversity in Canadian news media and book publishing by

empowering the Competition Bureau to review takeovers that concentrate
ownership.

·        Strengthen the CBC by establishing floor funding of $1 billion
annually.

·        Ensure that our cultural strength and diversity is protected in
all
trade deals.

Liberal Record [JP: (as interpreted by the NDP)]

The Liberals have shown no commitment to Canadian culture.

 Liberal cultural spending has declined for the past eight years.  The
Liberals dropped the ball on split-run magazines, showing that the
future of
Canadian culture rests in the hands of WTO trade arbitrators, not in
Parliament.

 They promised "stable, multi year" funding for the CBC and then slashed
its
budget by $414 million and forced lay offs of 3,400 employees.  And
they've
done nothing to stem the tide of media concentration so that now
Canadians
get their news from a handful of media conglomerates.
(SEE BELOW FOR LIBERAL PLATFORM)

 Reform / Alliance

The Alliance believes that cultural industries should compete in the
open
marketplace, free from "undue" government interference.

 Alliance Leader Stockwell Day is on the record saying his party would
"eliminate all cultural subsidies to institutions and individuals."  And
in
its platform, the Alliance promises to cut CBC funding by $500 million
by
wiping out CBC television altogether.  Clearly, cultural programs are
close
to the top of the Alliance's list for spending cuts.

Conservative Party:

The Progressive Conservative Party is no friend to Canadian culture.
Their
free trade deal with the U.S. undermined Canadian sovereignty and
increased
our cultural sector's vulnerability to American trade challenges.

 The Conservatives launched a decade of funding cuts to the CBC, a
decade in
which the CBC's ability to fulfil its mandate has been seriously
undermined.

  In their 1997 election platform, they called for a cut of almost
one-quarter ($500 million a year) in funding to the Heritage Department,

cuts for the Canadian Film Development Corporation and user fees in
National
Museums and Parks, which would deny access to many low and middle-income

families.

The Conservative's 2000 platform makes no funding commitment to the CBC
and
fails to address funding for other cultural industries.

______________________________________________________________________
JP:
THE LIBERAL PLATFORM - from the Liberal Party WEBSIGHT in lists and in
pointform as is all their party info

Original E-mail:

Subject: Re: election
       Date:Wed, 22 Nov 2000 14:44:06 -0500
       From:paul steenhuisen <8polar at sprint.ca>
   Reply-To:"Two New Hours" <twonewhours at listbot.com>
         To:"Two New Hours" <twonewhours at listbot.com>

Two New Hours - http://radio.cbc.ca/programs/2newhours/2newhours.html

from the liberal party website:

We funded artists: by boosting grants from the Canada Council for the
Arts - to support artists as they forge new directions in our
culture. by adding $10 million more to the Canada Council's
budget, for Millennium projects.

We bolstered the business of culture: by strengthening the Copyright Act

on behalf of artists;by supporting Canadian magazines with a firm,
balanced
response to foreign competition; and by nearly doubling our annual
support of Canadian book publishers to $30 million, so they can develop
new
markets in Canada and abroad.

We fostered new talent and encouraged new directions: by adding $2
million over six years to programs that train young aboriginal artists;
by strengthening Canada's artistic presence in new media through a $30
million, five-year Multimedia Fund.

We're paying attention to athletes:with a new, national network of
training centres in communities across Canada; with nearly $11 million
in annual funding for coaching; by increasing direct aid to athletes who

make sport
their career; and by ensuring women, aboriginal and disabled athletes
receive our backing.

We're renewing support for film, television, and music: by doubling
support for Canadian feature films to $100 milllion; by investing $200
million to support Canadian television programming in both 2000 and
2001; by renewing Canada's Sound Recording Development Program; by
guaranteeing that the CBC receives stable funding of nearly $1 billion
every year to 2003.

And we're ensuring that our culture and our identity remain protected
despite the changing rules of world trade.

We will foster and support Canadian culture, in an age
of new technologies:
By creating new Canadian cultural content for the
Internet,in both French and English
By accelerating new-media production in Canada
By launching a new cultural marketing campaign
abroad.
By helping publishers and the sound-recording sector to adopt new
technologies.

And we will establish a one-stop, all-Canadian website -- access.ca:
To act as a portal that will take Canadian users to
Canadian sites first
To jump-start efforts to meet the growing demands of Canadians seeking
local online shopping, public information and services
To stimulate the development of Canadian Internet content in both French

and English

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