Jeff Stellick, Executive Director, OTTAWA SCHOOL OF ART

City funding cuts affect OSA

Editor's note: This letter appears on the Ottawa School of Art website. You can participate in their on-line petition and bulletin board at http://eaosa.ottawa.com/

Dear Students, Instructors, Alumnae, Parents, and everyone who loves OSA,

On February 11, the City presented its draft budget that proposes sweeping cuts across all services provided by the City. Included in the cuts are a series of devastating cuts to arts funding and programming.

The Ottawa School of Art receives support from the City in the form of an operating grant totalling $135,000 or roughly 13% of our total budget. The School has had this type of relationship with the City since the early 1980's when it was one of the first cultural organizations to receive City support.

In the draft budget, OSA WILL IMMEDIATELY LOSE 74% OF ITS CITY FUNDING (or $101,250). If the draft budget provisions are approved, the cut will become 100% as there will be new rules in place that effectively eliminate the School from further support.

This is a substantial part of our budget and, like every other arts organization in Ottawa; we had created our budget on the assumption that we would receive this funding. To have the funding cut without warning in the middle of our fiscal year is extremely disruptive.

The announcement of the draft budget has left the arts community in Ottawa is in extreme distress. At OSA we are already operating within very thin financial margins. Every cut has an impact and a cut of this magnitude will bring about major restructuring and changes at the School. I hope that you agree that we are offering a positive contribution to the Ottawa community. We'd like to continue to do so.

WHAT CAN YOU DO??

I urge you to participate in the debate wherever possible. I am attaching some information regarding upcoming forums that I would encourage you to attend. In particular, I hope you will consider going to one of the public debates listed at the end of this e-mail. If you have valued having the arts in your life, it is time to speak up. If you hope to give the next generation a vibrant, cultural life, a city of more than bricks and mortar, a cultural environment that consists of more than T.V. and movies, please write to your councillor, to the Mayor, to the newspapers.

To date, the Board of Directors has held a special meeting to begin planning how to fight the cut and, in a worst-case scenario, how to adapt to the cut if it is adopted by City Council. While a wide range of options is being considered - both to reduce spending and to increase revenue - I can't tell you yet where we will make adjustments to our programming. If the cuts go through there will be adjustments.

The nature of an organization like the School makes it difficult to respond to a situation like this. Our goals and objectives as a not-for-profit organization are to provide quality arts education to as many people in the greater community as possible. We are trying to help people enrich their lives through a greater understanding and appreciation of the arts as well as increasing their skills and abilities. We are not selling widgets.

Not everyone - certainly not some members of City Council - understands the basic difference our "business" faces as opposed to Joe's House o'Widgets. Many people think that tuition fees should be able to cover all of our expenses. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Education is a different type of "product" - one that has deeper reach in time and impact than a commodity. The danger of continually raising the price is that we will end up making our courses and services too expensive for a majority of students. This cut in funding will mean that we won't be able to provide bursaries or keep tuition at levels that enable equal access to quality arts education. The impact of arts education then becomes isolated and impotent because it only reaches a limited audience. OSA was founded on the principle of serving the community - the whole community - and it will continue to do so.

Arts education is important because it helps to build strong citizens. At OSA we teach students not just how to draw or paint, but how to be better citizens of the world. By building their skills and awareness, our students learn confidence, integrity, the ability to work with others, empathy and spontaneity. These life skills come quite naturally out of the process of working on and completing an artwork. And we are extraordinarily lucky to have these skills taught by highly qualified professionals at OSA - another tradition going back 125 years.

We have less than a month before the city changes irreparably. Artistic growth is like a forest - when you tear it down it takes a generation to build it back up again. If the local cultural institutions and organizations of Ottawa are decimated in this way, it will take many years and much work to rebuild them.

Please click here to find out how you can take action.

Sincerely,

Jeff Stellick

Executive Director

241-7471

Dan Donovan, Publisher, Ottawa Life Magazine - Letter to Chiarelli

March 1, 2004

Mayor Bob Chiarelli
City of Ottawa
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1J1

Dear Mayor Chiarelli,

I am rather distressed at your cavalier response to the feature story in Ottawa Life Magazine's March 2004 issue titled HAVE YOU NO SHAME, which examined the nauseating expenditures by your management team at City Hall at taxpayers expense. Since we first began publishing in 1997 Ottawa Life Magazine has continuously written about and promoted the arts and culture, theatre, sports, community groups and the other important things that make our city breathe.

The very fact that as Mayor you are prepared to gut the arts community, community groups, sports associations, services for seniors and other important city functions are telling. At the same time you seem to have no problem justifying an $800,000 payout to one city manager and a second $300,000 payout to another, a payment of over $330.00 for one city mangers leather lap top case, payments for exclusive dining by city managers while they travel, members of your management team having the city pay for their $3000 golf memberships and $1800 sports memberships, and numerous other questionable expense charges. These payments to your team juxtaposed against the cuts you have recommended for the community make your actions as Mayor both irresponsible and unconscionable.

I note with great interest that neither you nor any of your city staff have offered to take a pay cut to share the pain that you have imposed on our Arts community and other groups in the city. I also note with interest that the City Managers are all earning salaries in the $150,000-$225,000 range and you have yet to demand they take a pay cut. Then again, it is not lost on many in this community that you have not volunteered to take a pay cut yourself and have even refused to cut your own office budget. As our article in Ottawa Life Magazine so clearly points out, it was your management and spending style and those of your managers that put the city in a crisis. The very idea that you are trying to pay your way out of if on the backs of the arts community and other groups is shameful. I challenge you to find the savings through the waste and inefficiencies at City Hall by your managers and yourself and not take it from the very groups that make our city breathe.

Yours Truly,

Dan Donovan, Publisher
Ottawa Life Magazine

John Hobday, Director of the Canada Council for the Arts - Letter to Chiarelli

John Hobday, Director of the Canada Council for the Arts, gave a lunchtime address at the Canadian Conference of the Arts’ 2004 Chalmers Conference, which was held February 27th at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Mr. Hobday spoke to a delegation of more than 120 representatives of national arts services organizations in support of the local movement aimed at reinstating current municipal arts and culture funding levels, with zero cuts. He said:

I would like to express the Canada Council’s support for the members of Ottawa’s arts community, who are fighting for the restoration of arts funding in the City of Ottawa’s budget. Ottawa is not just the nation’s capital -- it is the fourth largest city in Canada, with an outstanding and dynamic arts community of its own, above and beyond the major national arts institutions that call the National Capital Region home. It is also a commuity of passionate and committed arts audiences, and the proposal to reduce the city’s arts budget by 80 per cent flies in the face of everything we know about the crucial link between creativity, urban development and the quality of life. What kind of message does this send to other municipalities? The fact that the Canada Council invests more that $3.5 million a year in Ottawa artists and arts organizations is a testament to this community’s artistic excellence and the contribution that Ottawa artists and organizations make to the Canadian arts scene as a whole. I want to assure the members of Ottawa’s arts community that the Canada Council supports you 100 per cent, and I personally will be there for the march at city hall (on March 4th).”

Mr. Hobday also addressed the following letter (dated March 1) to the attention of Mayor Bob Chiarelli and copied all City of Ottawa councillors, as well as various members of the media. It reads:

March 1, 2004

Mayor Bob Chiarelli
City of Ottawa
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1J1

Dear Mayor Chiarelli,

I am writing to express my deep concern, and that of my colleagues at the Canada Council for the Arts, with regard to the 80 per cent cut in arts funding that has been proposed in the city’s draft budget. My concerns stem not only from my personal and professional commitment to the arts, they also arise from the Canada Council’s investment in the artists and arts organizations that help make this city a great place to live and work.

Last year, the Canada Council awarded nearly $3.5 million in funding to Ottawa artists and arts organizations. Many of these organizations – including Opera Lyra, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Thirteen Strings, the Great Canadian Theatre Company, Le Théâtre de la Vieille 17, Le Group Dance Lab, the Ottawa Art Gallery and Gallery 101 -- also received funding from the City --- funding which, if eliminated, could place their artistic and organizational futures in jeopardy.

With this in mind, the proposed budget cuts are totally self-defeating. The support provided by the City helps these and many other organizations leverage funds from arts agencies in other levels of government, including the Canada Council. When you add the potential loss of these funds to a reduction in tourism dollars – since festivals and arts events are a major draw for visitors to Ottawa – and a reduction in employment in Ottawa’s cultural sector, the proposed budget cut makes no economic sense.

You, more than anyone, are well aware that Ottawa is more than just the nation’s capital. It is the fourth largest city in Canada, with an outstanding and dynamic arts community all its own, above and beyond the major national arts institutions that call the National Capital Region home (which, by the way, are not included in the support provided by the Canada Council, since they receive their funding directly from the federal government).

It is also a city whose economic performance depends on highly-educated knowledge workers who are attracted to Ottawa because of its reputation for having an excellent quality of life. There is increasing evidence, as cited by Richard Florida and others, that the arts, together with good schools and recreation facilities, are an important factor when these workers make decisions on where to live. Studies have shown that cities with a vibrant and dynamic arts community perform better economically than those which do not. With this in mind, cutting the arts budget may save a few pennies in taxes today, but could lead to revenue shortfalls over the longer term.

I am sure that none of this is news to you. In fact, the introduction to the City of Ottawa’s own Arts and Heritage Plan, adopted by City Council last April, states that “arts, cultural and heritage assets are essential to the economic future of all cities in the increasingly competitive global marketplace, as well as to the quality of life of residents.”

This is as true today as it was when City Council adopted the Arts and Heritage Plan less than one year ago. The concept of “creative cities” is inspiring arts policy discussions – and in some cases, significant arts funding increases – in more than a dozen other cities across Canada. It is sad and ironic that rather than joining them, the City of Ottawa is considering a move backward.

I urge you, for the benefit of all Ottawa residents, to ensure that arts funding is maintained at its current level. I recognize that budget-making is a difficult process, particularly when there is pressure from some quarters to hold the line on taxes. But to cut support for the arts – which make such an enormous social and economic contribution to a city like Ottawa – is a short-sighted policy which will ultimately cost the city a great deal more in the future.

I would be happy to talk to you further about Canada Council support to the arts in Ottawa and the issues surrounding arts funding in general. Please feel free to contact me at (613) 566-4414, ext. 4201.

Regards,

John Hobday, C.M.
Director

Clive Doucet's 2004 Community Alternative Budget

If you have not already done so, I urge everyone to read Clive Doucet's 2004 Community Alternative Budget, at
www.clivedoucet.com

This is a concrete and viable alternative to the current 2004 Draft Budget. It was put together by a dedicated team with wisdom, long-term vision, fiscal responsibility, passion for a vibrant city, and adherence to the policies set forth in the Official Plan.

It is solid constructive criticism, addressing both short-term needs and long-term planning. As a workable, detailed alternative to the ludicrous budget currently on the table, we in the arts community and all those who care about Ottawa's future should be urging our Councillors to adopt the 2004 Community Alternative Budget.

If you agree with the principles set forth in Clive Doucet's Alternative Budget, please spread the word and urge your Councillor and Mayor to support it.

Judi Pearl
Sleeping Dog Theatre

Councillor Peggy Feltmate: budget 2004 update

I'm going to do some "publicity" for my councillor, Peggy Feltmate. I live in the town formely know as Kanata and I sent a long and boring letter to Ms. Feltmate. This is the generic letter that was sent to all that sent protest letters to her in the last week. I recommend red wine with this one... ;-)

Line Dezainde
Editor, Budget2004

February 26th, 2004

During the election last fall the promise of provincial funding from all three political parties made it look like it would be possible to protect services and avoid a tax increase. My view was that if significant cuts were made to administration, some services reduced and new revenue was generated, it would be possible to have another property tax freeze.

The provincial government has delayed the promised new funding for cities. The question this leaves me with is whether or not it is possible to balance the budget without raising taxes or cutting services.

Over the last few weeks I have been going through the budget. I have also been going through the suggestions and comments I have received from Kanata residents - which are very much appreciated. As a new city councillor, the help and advice of my community has been very valuable.

Reluctantly, I was forced to conclude that the options were raising taxes or cutting services.

There were suggestions that all we had to do was track down the waste and there would be no need to do either. I support the creation of the independent auditor and plan to work hard to eliminate any and all wasteful spending. However, many of the suggestions were already in the draft budget.

I am pleased, for example, that some efficiency improvements I proposed in my campaign are part of the budget plan, like the downsizing of the communications branch and the elimination of the separate human resources department.

When I added up the remaining suggestions they came no where near what would be required to avoid having to chose between cutting services or a tax increase.

This leaves me choosing the least of evils - as some of you have pointed out it was what I was elected to do!

Over the last few weeks I have been paying close attention to the calls, e-mails and comments at public meetings that I have received from Kanata residents. The comments have been very helpful.

I received a very clear message that the overwhelming majority of Kanata residents do not want to see cuts to services. While not everyone supported every service, the overall message was that the cuts in the draft budget would harm the quality of life in Kanata and should be stopped.

What was also clear is that there is not a consensus on the question of a tax increase. There were a few people who felt a substantial tax increase was needed. Most people were willing to accept a modest tax increase, but only if it went towards restoring cuts to services.

Among those who opposed any tax increase there were a large number who felt the money had to be there somewhere. A very small group felt that a tax freeze should be implemented regardless of what services that would result in eliminating.

There are no easy answers. I don't like the idea of raising taxes. However, you have told me that too many of the proposed cuts would harm the things that have made Kanata such a special place to live. This is why I am prepared to support a tax increase of up to 3% on the condition that the funds raised will go towards keeping Kanata's fire stations open, protecting our recreation services, making sure seniors services continue and, more generally, protecting the things that keep Kanata and Ottawa a great place to live.

3% is not enough to prevent service cuts. These will still occur, there will still be 500 layoffs and the streamlining of the city structure will go ahead to save a further $30 million. But I hope the combination of these measures will put us on a solid basis to go forward.

I have been talking to as many of my council colleagues as possible about the budget - with Kanata having one person on council it is the only way to ensure we do not lose services in our community. With respect to the idea of a secret deal, given the different issues different councillors from different parts of the city have, getting any group of councillors to agree on every item in a budget is the equivalent of herding cats.

Peggy Feltmate
Councillor, Kanata

Sample letter to councillors -- by the Council for the Arts in Ottawa (Peter Honeywell)

February 2004

Name of Councillor
Ward
Address

Dear Name of Councillor:

As your constituent and a voter, I am writing to express my outrage at the 80% - 100% cuts to arts funding proposed in the City of Ottawa's 2004 draft budget.

Arts funding is not a "handout" but an investment in the city's health and future: $3.4 million in the arts budget generates $35 million of direct spending by arts organizations here in Ottawa (one dollar generates ten). Ticket sales to arts events generate over three times their value in additional spending (restaurants, accommodations, suppliers and other services). Why would you eliminate an investment that generates such great returns?

Even at 2003 levels, the City of Ottawa provides only the bare minimum of investment in arts, heritage and festivals: $3.89 per capita here as opposed to $5.26 in Toronto, $6.56 in Calgary, $11.32 in Montreal and $11.64 in Vancouver - dead last amongst major Canadian cities in support of the arts. Why would you want (by cutting Ottawa's per capita cultural investment to 57 cents) to ensure that you and your fellow councillors are a laughing-stock across the country?

In those cities where municipal investment in the arts is higher, other levels of government also make higher investments (and Ottawa's arts organizations currently attract lower federal/ provincial investments than their peers across Canada). Why would you deny Ottawa's artists their ability to bring better levels of government investment to the benefit of our city?

And why would you allow the city staff who prepared this draft budget to attack the arts disproportionately? Arts, heritage and festivals take up 2% of the People Services department's net budget (and less than 0.5% of the city's entire program budget), but the 80% - 100% proposed cut to the cultural sector is 36.4 % of the cuts to People Services.

When businesses or tourists ask, what makes a certain city a great place to live, invest in or visit, vibrant cultural activities are at the top of the list. Hadn't you noticed?

I don't want my Ottawa to be devastated by these funding cuts to the arts. You must vote to reinstate arts funding completely, because it's already way below what is acceptable across Canada. Ottawa's cultural sector has never had adequate city investment.

As your constituent and a voter, I will hold you accountable at the next election for the way you vote on arts funding in the City of Ottawa's 2004 budget.

Sincerely,

Name

address

Call to art supporters -- by the Council for the Arts in Ottawa

Please distribute to your contacts and help spread the word about what is being done to defend the arts.

Dear artists and arts supporters,

As you are aware, the proposed City of Ottawa 2004 Draft Budget has targeted drastic and far reaching cuts to municipal cultural support. The elimination of funding to festivals, an 80% cut to the arts grants program, suspension of the Public Art Program and elimination of arts and heritage planning and development projects are some of the proposals to be voted on by Ottawa City Council.

An umbrella group including representatives from the Council for the Arts in Ottawa, the Gloucester Arts Council, Festival Network, City of Ottawa Arts Advisory Committee, the Mayor's Panel on Business and the Arts and Catalyst have met to examine the priority strategies that need to be worked on in the weeks ahead. We'll continue to meet on a weekly basis.

Our concern for the cuts to culture and heritage are raised within a context of concern for all the unacceptable cuts that this budget proposes. Should this budget be implemented, the quality of life in this community will be significantly undermined in a variety of crucial areas including public health, social services, libraries, recreation and economic development.

Two key dates are looming.

March 4 and 5 - HRSS Committee to hear delegations and review and make recommendations on the Draft Budget.

March 24 - City Council to approve final budget.

We have initiated a number of actions including: - We have requested a meeting with Jocelyne St Jean, General Manager of People Services and member of the senior staff team that put the Draft Budget together. - Preparation of a letter to Councillors for your use.Summary facts are provided in the body of the letter. - Coordination of media interviews - Discussions with Councillors including Diane Holmes, the Chair of the Health, Recreation and Social Services Committee. This is the committee that is responsible for decisions related to the arts. - Meeting weekly with a city-wide Community Working group that includes a coalition of leaders representing child-care, housing, environment, clergy, health, poverty and the arts, to coordinate and support each other's actions in response to the budget. - Planning activities to coincide with the March 4th meeting of the HRSS committee, including a rally of the city-wide coalition at 12:00 noon which will gather on Festival Plaza, or the arts rally at 6:00 p.m. also to gather at Festival Plaza

Messages:

The threat of these cuts is real. We need to be successful in getting the following messages out to the councillors, the press and the public.
- The arts in Ottawa will be seriously damaged unless the cultural budget is reinstated.
- Investing in the arts brings social and economic return to our community.
- Cuts to the arts programs will undermine the ability of groups to generate additional funds.
- There has been a disproportionate cut to the arts sector in this Draft Budget.

Actions:

- Contact your Councillor. A sample letter that you can use or adapt has been included with this email. Phone members of Council and express your concerns about this Draft Budget. It is especially important that Councillors hear from those who are resident in their wards. A Councillor's list is provided at the end of this email.
- Attend Councillor's Budget Consultation sessions - listing provided at the end of this email.
- Speak to your audiences at each public performance and insert a fact sheet about what the proposed cuts will do to the arts community. Provide them with actions that they can follow up with.
- Discuss these issues with students and encourage them to take action
- Send Letters to the Editor - The media is interested and is publishing letters about the public's reaction to the Draft Budget.
- Take part in the delegations to speak to the HRSS committee or take part in the March 4 rally at Ottawa City Hall, 12:00 noon for the broad coalition, or at 6:00 p.m. for the arts protest.
- Get involved in numerous projects including:
1) The Sign project - visit www.artlog.ca and click on My Ottawa Includes Culture. A special fundraising event for the sign project will be held at the Mercury Lounge on February 25, 2004 from 7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
2) The Loonie Project - Enough is enough! Here's my Buck! Send a loonie to the Mayor. Envelopes available at the Arts Court front desk, 2 Daly Avenue, and at Resource Centres throughout the city.
3) Keep connected with what's going on through some new Web site connections www.ottawaartgallery.ca, www.budget2004.net,

For further information about how to get involved contact one of the members of the umbrella group:

Council for the Arts in Ottawa: Peter Honeywell 569-1387 peter@arts-ottawa.on.ca
Gloucetser Arts Council: Christine Tremblay 749-4978 christin.gac@cyberus.ca
Catalyst: Jennifer Cayley jennifercayley@masconline.ca
Catherine O'Grady director@ottawajazzfestival.com
Festival Network: Julian Armour jarmour@chamberfest.com
The Mayor's Panel on Business and the Arts: Charles McFarland cmcfarland@gctc.ca
The Arts Advisory Committee: Nick Masciantonio masciantonio@ccta.com

LE GROUPE DANCE LAB:

OH WHERE FORE 'ART' THOU?
The demise of the City of Ottawa's arts and cultural community

FRENCH FOLLOWS

On February 11th the City of Ottawa presented a draft of its 2004 budget that calls for massive funding cuts to Ottawa's arts and heritage programs. In effect, this will drive many of the City's diverse and vibrant arts and cultural communities to extinction. Some of the proposed cuts to the arts community include:

· 80% cut to "Canada Council"-style arts funding
· Elimination of funding for 28 major festivals and heritage projects
· Closure of 4 city museums and reduced hours and archival services at others
· Elimination of arts program for youth and ice rinks

Full details of the proposed budget cuts can be found at:
http://www.city.ottawa.on.ca/inside_govt/budget/budget_2004/draft_highlights_en.pdf

The decimation of this City's health, recreational and arts communities shows a total lack of leadership on the part of Mayor Bob Chiarelli and City Council -- and to think, these officials were just re-elected back into office only three months ago, in an election where 70% of city residents did not exercise their right to vote!

The proposed budget cuts are not only short-sighted but show how little respect the Mayor and Council has for the arts and heritage communities in this City. It is a shame that they are willing to even consider snuffing out Ottawa's engines of creativity and vitality in one single budgetary stroke! The arts will be in terminal jeopardy, as these funding reductions will also have repercussions at the provincial and national level. If there is little support at the municipal level, why would provincial and federal arts funding bodies continue to contribute to Ottawa?

Ottawa's funding for culture was already the lowest of major municipalities in Canada, at $3.89 per capita. Montreal ranks first at $26.62, Vancouver at $17.71 per capita, and Toronto spends $14.64, according to a Fall 2003 report from the City of Toronto's Culture Division. If the current proposed Ottawa budget goes through on March 24th, the City's arts spending will plummet to 57¢ per capita.

While the Mayor and Council "trail blaze" to slash and burn Ottawa's social and recreational services, does it not seem ironic that in the same city, just down the street, we are dealing with issues of sponsorship corruption at the federal level? Once again, the citizens of this community must carry the burden of cuts and inflation while government officials - both municipal and federal - close their eyes to the spoils and waste of their own governments. Just this week the proposed budget became an even-more jagged pill to swallow with news that Council approved a $300,000 salary buyout for a Senior City Manager! Just think of what arts and heritage organizations in Ottawa could do with this amount of money, not to mention the amount of revenue such investments would generate in other sectors of the municipal economy!

Email the Mayor and Council and let them know that you are against cuts to the arts and the decimation of the growing city. Call and let your Councillor know that you hold them accountable for whatever decisions they make in the arts budget and this will be remembered in the next election.

Exercise your democratic right with one click of your mouse! The Ottawa Art Gallery has set up an easy-to-use link to email the Mayor and Council by clicking the below-noted address. You can find all the email addresses for the Mayor and his Councillors, as well as biographical information and Ward maps by clicking:

www.ottawaartgallery.ca/budget2004/petition-en.php

Or, attend the public consultations with Ottawa councillors and let them know that you do not want to reside in a city that only spends 57 cents per capita on arts and culture!

Join the arts and the rest of the Ottawa communities and let your voice be heard!

LE GROUPE DANCE LAB:

Mais où donc es-tu passée?

La fin de la communauté des arts et de la culture de la Ville d'Ottawa

Le 11 février, la ville d'Ottawa a présenté son budget préliminaire de 2004, dans lequel elle projette de réduire massivement le financement municipal des programmes des arts et du patrimoine. En réalité, cette proposition fera disparaître complètement plusieurs des collectivités variées et pleines de vie qui animent présentement la ville d'Ottawa. Ci-dessous, voici certaines des réductions budgétaires projetées qui affecteront la communauté des arts :

· réduire de 80 % le financement du programme des arts semblable à celui du Conseil des Arts du Canada
· cesser de financer 28 grands festivals, foires et événements spéciaux
· fermer 4 musées municipaux et réduire les heures d'ouverture et les services archivistiques dans d'autres musées
· éliminer les programmes d'art pour les jeunes et les patinoires

On peut consulter les faits saillants du budget préliminaire de 2004 à:
http://www.city.ottawa.on.ca/inside_govt/budget/budget_2004/draft_highlights_fr.pdf

La disparition des collectivités dans les secteurs de la santé, des loisirs et des arts témoigne du manque flagrant de direction du maire et de l'ensemble du conseil municipal - quand on pense qu'ils viennent tout juste d'être réélus il y a trois mois, lors d'une élection où 70 % des contribuables n'ont même pas pris la peine de voter!

Les réductions budgétaires projetées font preuve non seulement d'un manque de prévoyance mais du mépris du maire et du conseil envers les collectivités des arts et du patrimoine dans la municipalité. C'est une honte qu'ils soient même prêts à considérer enrayer d'un seul coup, en un seul budget, les mécanismes de la créativité et de la vitalité artistique à Ottawa! Les arts seront définitivement en péril puisque ces compressions budgétaires auront aussi des répercussions à l'échelle provinciale et fédérale. En effet, si la municipalité ne contribue pas au financement des arts, pourquoi les organismes de financement provincial et fédéral continueraient-ils à subventionner les arts à Ottawa?

Le taux de financement municipal d'Ottawa était déjà l'un des plus bas de toutes les grandes villes canadiennes, se chiffrant à 3,89 $ par habitant. Montréal vient au premier rang à 26,62 $, suivie de Vancouver à 17,71 $. Selon le rapport automnal de la Division de la culture de la ville de Toronto, la capitale ontarienne dépense 14,64 $ par habitant. Si le budget préliminaire est accepté, le financement aux arts de la ville d'Ottawa chutera à 0,57 $ par habitant.

Tandis que le maire et le conseil entreprennent de réduire en flammes les services sociaux et récréatifs d'Ottawa, n'est-il pas ironique de constater que dans cette même ville, non loin de nous, nous traitons d'un problème de corruption dans l'attribution de commandites au fédéral? Encore une fois, les contribuables de cette municipalité portent le fardeau des compressions et de l'inflation tandis que des administrateurs gouvernementaux - tant au municipal qu'au fédéral - ferment les yeux sur les profits et le gaspillage de leur propre gouvernement. Pas plus tard que cette semaine, le budget préliminaire est devenu encore plus difficile à avaler lorsque nous avons appris que le conseil a approuvé l'indemnité pour départ volontaire de 300 000 $ d'un cadre supérieur de la municipalité! Imaginez ce que les organismes des arts et du patrimoine pourraient faire avec une somme pareille, sans parler des bienfaits qu'un tel investissement pourrait apporter à d'autres secteurs de l'économie municipale!

Envoyez un courriel au maire et aux membres du conseil pour leur faire connaître votre opposition à la réduction budgétaire du financement des arts et à la disparition d'une ville en plein essor. Appelez votre conseiller et dites-lui que vous le tenez responsable des décisions prises par le conseil en ce qui a trait au financement des arts et que vous vous en souviendrez lors des prochaines élections.

Faites valoir vos droits à la démocratie d'un seul clic de souris! La Galerie d'art d'Ottawa a créé un lien rapide, facile à utiliser, pour envoyer un courriel au maire et au conseil. Vous trouverez toutes les adresses de courriel du maire et des conseillers, ainsi que des renseignements biographiques et des cartes des quartiers en cliquant sur l'adresse ci-dessous : www.ottawaartgallery.ca/budget2004/petition-fr.php

Ou encore, prenez part aux consultations publiques avec les conseillers d'Ottawa et dites-leur que vous refusez de vivre dans une ville qui ne dépense que 0,57 $ par habitant pour les arts et la culture!

Joignez-vous à la communauté artistique et aux autres collectivités d'Ottawa et faites connaître votre opinion!

Penny McCann
copy of letter sent to mayor...and his response

Mayor Chiarelli,

When I voted for you only months ago, I did so for three reasons - because you seemed to be a good manager of the often unwieldy apparatus of City government, because you promoted services over reactionary tax cuts, and because you supported municipal funding for the arts.

The recent draft budget is a slap in the face to people like me who voted for you. Not only have voters been duped, citizens who participated in the so-called public consultations have been duped as well. This draft budget has not come out of public consultations, nor has it come from the staff recommendations made during the "universal program review". It has come out of your office, intended as a shot over the bows of the federal and provincial government. If, through these draconian cuts, you hope to "wake up" others, it is a particularly harsh form of sacrifice.

I must say, your timing is amazing. Right now the arts in Ottawa are incredibly vibrant, there is a buzz here that hasn't been here for a long time. Your proposed cuts to the arts will shatter the ecosystem of the cultural community. Plays will not be written or produced, artworks will not be made or exhibited, novels will not be written. Artists who have devoted themselves to this region will leave. And it's all down to you, Mr. Mayor. This will be your legacy.

Of course, this isn't just about the arts. So much is at stake in this draft budget - services to seniors, environmental programs, public health. They all have one thing in common, these programs make Ottawa a better place to live. Save these programs, Mr. Chiarelli, and raise taxes.

Penny McCann
92 James St. #1
Ottawa, Ontario
K1R 5M3

Dear Ms. McCann;

I would like to acknowledge receipt of your e-mail dated February 16, 2004 regarding the City of Ottawa Budget.

First I would like to thank you, for expressing your concerns regarding the financial situation faced by the City of Ottawa and the potential impact this may have on the population.

I have taken the liberty of forwarding a copy of your correspondence to Kent Kirkpatrick, General Manager, Corporate Services for his information.

Your comments on this important topic are appreciated, and please be assured that all correspondence on this issue will be taken into consideration. Thank you for taking the time to write to me directly.

Sincerely,

Bob Chiarelli
Mayor
City of Ottawa

GENE SWIMMER, Director of the Ottawa Folk festival

City of Ottawa Funding Cuts - A Message from the Director of Ottawa Folk Festival

By now, many of you will have heard the grim news that the City of Ottawa is planning to eliminate funding to all festivals, including the Folk Festival, as part of a range of cuts to programs and services.

The Arts and Culture sector accounts for only 0.38% of the total operating budget for the City. Yet it has always been an easy target when the City is seeking solutions to budget challenges, despite the high rates of community participation, cost-effective service and program delivery by the not-for-profit sector and significant social and economic returns to our community. For every dollar provided by the City of Ottawa, the cultural community leverages an additional $9 on average.

The Folk Festival is no exception. Public investment, including City of Ottawa funding (which accounted for 8% of our operating budget) is highly leveraged, through a combination of fundraising activities such as benefit concerts and silent auctions, corporate sponsorships, Friends of the Festival program, ticket sales and other sources of revenue. And let's not forget leveraging through "in-kind" contributions, not the least of which are the many hours generously donated by over 450 volunteers each year.

We know that the Folk Festival brings enjoyment to its patrons during the year, at our many concerts and at the annual festival event at Britannia Park, as confirmed by audience surveys conducted year after year. We also have clear evidence of the contribution of the Festival to the economic life of the community, through tourism and employment of local artists, artisans and vendors.

But without the City's financial support, we will be hard-pressed to keep ticket prices affordable and keep the festival accessible to individuals and families. We cannot "do more with less", or even "do the same with less". The cuts will directly affect our programming, not our overhead, as we are already a very lean organization dependent on dedicated volunteers.

If you would like to express support not only for City investment in Arts and Culture but also in other community programs under siege, like child care, recreation, public transportation, community health and social services and affordable housing, it is important to do so before the proposed budget is finalized on March 24.

Here are some actions that you can take:

* Contact your City Councillor and state your views on funding cuts. Contact information can be found at: www.ottawa.ca/city_council/wards_councillors_en.html

* Attend upcoming public consultations. The schedule for these meetings is posted at: www.ottawa.ca/inside_govt/budget/budget_2004/p_consultations_en.shtml

* Find out about, and actively support an inventive campaign, called "Enough is Enough! Here's My Buck". This campaign has been launched by the Coalition of Community Health and Resource Centres; it is aimed at sending loonies to City Hall to demonstrate wide-spread support for City-funded community programs and services. Information on this campaign is reproduced below from the Coalition's website - http://www.coalitionottawa.ca/html/index_e.html:

DAVID B. FLEMMING
President of Heritage Ottawa

Remarks by David B. Flemming, President of Heritage Ottawa, at the Heritage Day Ceremony and Reception, Ottawa City Hall, Monday, February 16, 2004 at 1200.

Heritage workers and volunteers, honoured guests, your worship and members of council. I am here today representing the Strong Voice for Heritage Coalition of the Council of Heritage Organizations in Ottawa / le Conseil des organismes du patrimoine d'Ottawa.

Today we celebrate our proud Canadian heritage as manifested here in the City of Ottawa, our Nation's Capital. At this year's Heritage Day ceremony, we are showcasing aspects our of military history. The military conjures up qualities such as courage, defence of our way of life and loyalty, qualities that are sadly lacking among most of our current municipal politicians.

L'histoire militaire évoque les qualités comme le courage, la défense de notre qualité de vie et la loyauté. Malheursement, à Ottawa en deux mille quatre, ces qualités n'existent plus chez notre maire et nos conseillers. We have a municipal government that does not have the courage to espouse a vision for our City beyond what can be found on a property tax bill and who are threatening to destroy our quality of life for the sake of political opportunism.

As we enter the year leading up to the 150th anniversary of the City of Ottawa, the destruction of our City's arts and heritage programs and services appears to be all-encompassing and almost complete. Le budget préliminaire de cette année à Ottawa aboutira à la fermeture de nos musées, la fin du financement des sociétés historiques et les projets patrimoniaux uniques, et la fin du financement des grandes foires et les événements spéciaux commes Portes Ouvertes Ottawa.

A cut of over 80% of the City's cultural budget eliminates our museums, reduces our Archives, eliminates our heritage services and programs and seriously impedes our ability to protect our built heritage.

The $1.8 million that the City spends on heritage institutions and activities, supports thousands of hours of volunteer work within the community and enables our museums, archives, and historical and heritage societies to leverage tens of thousands of dollars in grants from other levels of government and the private sector. Without this seed money from the City this will not be possible. Le budget du patrimoine sert comme un investissement qui attire ensuite des investissments plus importants.

And so, after these cuts, all that will be left are a few Archives staff and the volunteers, many of whom are here today. Les bénévoles contribuent de notre patrimoine pour le bien-être de notre ville. These are your heritage volunteers. They are not the developers who give $750 to the campaigns of municipal politicians; they are not the people who go to the $100 a plate Chamber of Commerce luncheons to hear you speak, the price of which they can write off as a business expense . They are the people who show their dedication and loyalty to their community by giving of their time and effort. These people your worship, have been listing the numbers of hours that each volunteered for the City in 2003 and I am proud to report that the 79 heritage volunteers who registered here today, have donated over 45,000 hours of service to the heritage community. At $17.00 per hour this is worth over $ 765,000 to the City. And remember, only a few of the hundreds of volunteers are here with us today. And what is the City proposing to give them in return for their efforts? Fifty-seven cents, cinquante-sept sous , is the per-capita contribution that the City will give for culture in the proposed budget.

Here today also, are the professional heritage staff who work for the City and in our museums and archives. If the draft budget is approved, most of them will be laid off by the end of March.

We also have with us today a number of Museums Studies students from Algonquin College. Ces étudiants sont le futur de la préservation de notre patrimoine. With these budget cuts, these students will be deprived of opportunities to undertake community museum workplace assignments in Ottawa. And your worship, to talk in the language that many of your colleagues might understand, these 100 students bring with them Ontario transfer payments from the Ministry of Education amounting to $800,000.

On the east coast of Nova Scotia, the town of Canso lies on the far easternmost point of land on continental North America. For over 500 years, Canso has been a fishing port and over the years the community has seen some tough times, especially in the past few years with periodic closings of the fish plant and the decline of the fish stocks. Despite the hardships, the Town of Canso with a population of 900, one of the poorest towns in the country, contributes to an award-winning cultural event held each July, Stanfest, a cultural festival inspired by the music of the late Stan Rogers. They contribute more than 57 cents per capita to culture. Perhaps you, the Mayor of one of the wealthiest cities in Canada should call Mayor Frank Fraser of Canso and seek his advice on the proper stewardship of our City's culture.

Two years ago we began work on an Official Plan for the City along with a number of subsidiary plans, including the Arts and Heritage Plan. At that time we told you of our vision for arts and heritage and you seemed to have agreed. In January, you asked us again, and again we told you. You and your colleagues seemed to ignore the Plan almost from the time that you approved it. During January's consultations we were branded by some of your Council colleagues as "special interest groups", as if our view were somehow not as worthy as those of the "silent majority" whose desire for a continuing tax freeze seemed to coincide with that of you and most of your Council colleagues. Did you listen? I guess but you still allowed City staff to propose an 82% reduction in the cultural budget, a reduction out of all proportion to its share of the total City budget.

Mayor Chiarelli, we don't want to live in Jan Harder's Ottawa; it is a mean-spirited place and its only visionaries are those who can't see beyond their property tax bill. We shall continue to share with you our vision for Ottawa over the next five weeks and offer our suggestions on how the City can operate, more effectively and hope that at the end of this process, most of these programs will be restored. If not, your only legacy as a supporter of the arts may be the answer to a question on some future Great Ottawa Heritage Day Quiz: "What Mayor presided over the destruction of the City of Ottawa's cultural programs in 2004?" And there will not be a multiple-choice answer.

We are going to mourn and protest now with a moment of silence. Please stand and hold your copy of the Arts & Heritage Plan on high as your placard. Nous pleurons la mort de la direction politique, tuée par l'opportunisme politique, et nous pleurons la perte de nos museés, de nos programmes et travailleurs patrimioniaux. We mourn the death of political leadership at the hands of political opportunism; we mourn the loss of our heritage resources and we mourn the loss of so many excellent heritage colleagues. A moment of silence, un moment de silence, s'il vous plaît.

Thank you, merci beaucoup.

For more information:

David B. Flemming

260-7113

By Tamara Bernstein, tberns@magma.ca
National Post, Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Barbarians capture the capital: Ottawa city council proposes to slash its already meagre arts funding

Back in his undergraduate days, Bob Chiarelli's claim to fame was his prowess as a penalty killer on the university hockey team. Today Chiarelli is the Mayor of Ottawa, and he is poised to go down in history as a city killer, at least as far as the arts go.

Last week, the Ottawa city council introduced a draft budget that wipes out funding for, to quote from the document, "28 major festivals, fairs and special events," in the national capital, suspends the acquisition of artworks for the city's public art program, eviscerates the Council for the Arts in Ottawa, shuts down four small museums, wipes out funding for six more and reduces public library hours, among other measures.

The arts aren't the only victims of this barbaric proposed budget, which is posted on www.ottawa.ca. Among other "highlights" (their word): isolated senior citizens will find their services cut by 50%; nine outdoor pools will be closed; affordable housing development programs will be slashed by 20%; a Well Baby Drop-In program will shut its doors; and beach water will be sampled 75% less often. The city's crisis intervention program, meanwhile, is about to lose 90% of its funding, so I for one will be sure not to have next mental breakdown in Ottawa.

But let's focus on the arts. At $3.89 per capita, Ottawa's funding for culture is the lowest in Canada. In contrast, Vancouver spends $17.71 per capita; Montreal tops the list at $26.62; and even Toronto, considered one of the worst offenders, spends $14.64, according to a report released last fall by the Toronto Culture division.

If the new Ottawa budget goes through, Ottawa's arts spending will fall to 57¢ per capita, making the national capital a national disgrace--and an international laughingstock.

Yet, once more, advocates of the arts have to trundle out the statistics: Every dollar spent on the arts generates at least $2.30 in economic activity. We should all get such returns on our investments.

But those figures are conservative. Take one of the jewels in the crown of Ottawa's cultural scene, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival. According to a recent study, the annual summer festival, which attracts 60,000 people and is the largest such event in the world, directly generates more than $5-million in economic activity each year.

Before last week's budget came down, the City of Ottawa was giving the festival a paltry $110,000. What part of a 4,545% return on investment does Chiarelli not understand?

And that doesn't take into account the press and prestige the festival brings Ottawa through coverage in international magazines such as BBC Music and Strad. The indirect economic benefits to the city amount to at least $30-million, according to artistic director Julian Armour.

What's particularly irritating is that Ottawa city council should be bending over backward to encourage ventures like the Ottawa Chamber Music Society, which presents year-round events as well as the summer festival. The society has built an exemplary base of support from individuals and corporations in the community. Whenever I attend the festival--and it's the only Ontario festival I attend as a "civilian"--I'm amazed by the army of local volunteers and the enthusiastic crowds--even concerts starting at 11 p.m. are packed.

Last year, someone donated what Armour describes as the best piano in the city to the Chamber Music Society--an $80,000 gift; another supporter recently donated a bottle of wine of 1858 vintage, valued at $50,000, for its annual wine auction, which takes place tonight.

The short-sightedness of Chiarelli, who did not respond to the Post's request for an interview Monday, is staggering. As Peter Honeywell, executive director of the Council for the Arts in Ottawa, pointed out, by proposing draconian cuts on vulnerable, non-profit organizations in the middle of the fiscal year, the budget destabilizes the entire Ottawa arts community. This in turn raises the spectre of personal financial liability for their volunteer board members. What a brilliant way for the city to foster strong community and corporate support for the arts!

Then there's the ripple effect. Provincial and federal arts councils tend to scale their funding to the contributions of other levels of government. And if those councils pick up the slack, clients in others regions will suffer.

Armour, meanwhile, sees the draft budget as cowardly political ploy. "There hasn't been a [property] tax increase in 10 years in Ottawa," he said. "They're hanging the arts out to dry beause they know that people will rally and say: 'Please don't cut these programs. Increase our taxes instead!' They don't have the courage to sell a tax increase to the people, so they're making us do their work. They're abdicating leadership."

If this happened in Paris, the French would call a general strike and perhaps storm the Hôtel de Ville. Canucks tend to be more sedate, so Ottawa residents may have four long years ahead of them. But even Chiarelli and his cronies back down from this vile budget, let's hope the people of Ottawa will remind him of it the next time the ballot boxes come out of storage.

MARGIE BARKLEY, B.Ed, MA.

Arts education is a cornerstone, not a frill

It seems like such a cliche to say that things are harder for "kids" now than they were for us, but it is true, nevertheless. Just read the headlines. That's why now, perhaps more than ever, we need to cultivate creative thinking, and one of the best ways to do that is by providing high quality arts education. The artists of the Ottawa region are essential to the delivery of the excellent arts education that is available to young people in this community. If their funding is cut, arts education in Ottawa is sure to suffer. We must defend them. They are worth it. Their work is an investment, not an expense.

Having to defend the arts is not new. Plato asserts in The Republic that there is no place for the poet (a.k.a. the artist) in the perfect city state. His reason is that art is mere artifice -- imitation, not truth -- and thus it interferes with the pursuit of a virtuous life. Aristotle's defends the place of art in society. In Poetics he argues that art (specifically Tragedy) offers the experience of catharsis, a purification of emotions in the viewer; witnessing the dramatization of a powerful story might enlarge our souls and make us more sympathetic, and therefore better citizens.

The debate over art hasn't changed much. Artists have become used to hearing that they are of little or no use. The modern argument is that the arts are a luxury, too expensive for everyday (although we like to have them around for important occasions). The arts are regarded as frill -- not essential to the fabric of society. I offer another analogy -- the cornerstone.

In the arts, children learn to think creatively and to see things in a new way. Einstein himself stated that imagination was more important than intelligence. Participation in the arts is satisfying to most children, as it gives them an opportunity to express themselves, which is thought to be beneficial in building self esteem. But that is not all. It is through the arts that children develop and sharpen some of the most important skills for survival in modern society. Of course they must be literate and numerate; it goes without saying. But, think about your most stressful day at work. Chances are that the stress was due to interpersonal problems, not intellectual challenges.

In the arts, children learn to take and offer criticism. In a creative writing class, students learn to seek the peer editor who will give their work the most vigorous reading, as painful as it may be, because they know that that is the way to excellence. In visual art classes, students learn to manage whole class critiques. In the arts, children learn to work cooperatively in groups. In music classes, children learn that harmony - literally - is achieved when people work well together and social skills are not just an idea in drama; they're curriculum. Corporations hire consultants to teach the cooperative games developed by drama educators to team build and improve interpersonal relationships.

Social skills are not just nice. They just might be survival skills. Some anthropologists say that the Australopithecines -- our ancestors - became the dominant species because, unlike the Neanderthals, the Australopithecines were able to work in groups and anticipate the future. The Neanderthals had fire and they adapted more easily to climate change; they should have been able to survive. Basic biology was on the side of the competition. But supposedly, the Australopithecines just moved farther South when it became too cold and stored water in hollowed out Ostrich egg shells in times of drought. Australopithecines survived because of their ability to work cooperatively and think imaginatively.

The arts don't just help us learn to live harmoniously with others. They help us to understand ourselves. In the arts we learn a kind of emotional literacy, which has been called "emotional intelligence." Psychologist James Hillman believes that we need to reevaluate our present psychological approach to the development of personality that portrays the early years as a series of traumas, and perhaps creates the acceptance of a widespread victim mentality. Hillman suggests that most highly successful people see their own lives as stories, that they regard their own biographies as heroic tales in which they achieve their quests. This notion fills me with hope. I know the structure of a hero's story; difficult times are the bumps on the way to the satisfying ending. It is story which allows us to see the "light at the end of the tunnel," and face challenges which can seem insurmountable.

Art helps us keep hope. In our teen years, when we first perceive just how difficult life can be, it feels like we might not survive. Like Frodo and Sam, sometimes it feels that we are "stuck in one of the worst places of the story," but the ability to imagine the outcome helps us progress towards it. Not only will arts education help create the next generation of problem-solvers, it also nurtures the student through the difficult years of transition into adulthood, as well as the challenges of the future. The money we spend on arts education is an investment in that future.

LYNDA HALL, founder, director of
Mutchmor Arts Collective

Hopefully you have received countless messages of concern from Ottawa citizens regarding the drastic cuts proposed in the 2004 Draft Budget.

Let me add my voice to the growing list of people who forsee a greatly diminished city should these cuts be approved and implemented.

Of particular concern to me is the gutting of the city's arts and heritage programming and funding. As the past recipient of both a Heritage Project Grant and an Arts Project Grant, I know very well how important these small kernels of support from the city are to the development of a healthy community.

In our case, these monies have been used to bring elementary students together with professional artists, dancers, architects, landscape architects, Master Gardeners and historians, in a number of projects that connected to and expanded upon the Ontario Elementary School Curriculum. In the process, the artists and other professionals were given a unique opportunity to learn from one another, the broader community of parents and local businesses were enticed to get involved in their local school, and the neighbourhood was improved by the collective creation of a heritage garden.

The money the city spends on these and other community-based projects foster valuable partnerships with local businesses and other levels of governance, result in tangible assets for all, and represent an investment in civic participation and pride.

It takes many years to build up a reliable, efficient and accessible community funding program. Don't destroy the fruitful relationship that has developed between the city and its citizens.

MAUREEN KORP, PhD

Subject: Carleton students' organizing petitions

Hello, Line:

My first-year seminar students from Carleton University's Art History department (FYSM 1509.A) have organized a number of petitions--four, to be exact. They began circulating them last Thursday evening. I'm hoping their efforts will snowball.

Each of the four petitions presents a cogent and clear argument for City funding of the arts from the point of view of a student living and working in the City of Ottawa.

My students come from all over Canada, and a few foreign countries, too. The beauty of Ottawa's culturally diverse and vibrant arts scene is as much a part of their education as the books they read or the lectures they attend.

In fact, without the strength of Ottawa's arts scene, I could not have put this seminar together. What is the course about? Art. Ottawa's art. My students are learning how to look at art and how to write about the art they find in Ottawa. To date, they have visited three or four different galleries, looked for examples of public art, religious art, and outsider art, and they have been talking to artists, art dealers, and curators. All of this in Ottawa.

Along the way some, maybe most, have been falling in love with the City. What a kick in the teeth this proposed budget represents.

If anyone would like a petition to circulate, I will be glad to put that person in touch with the class list.

All best wishes,

Maureen Korp, PhD
Ottawa, Canada
e-mail: micki@cyberus.ca

LOIS SIEGEL

City budget will destroy the arts and other much-needed services

Letter to the Editor:

The projected budget cuts to the arts are an embarrassment to a city that is the nation's capital. I have supported the arts and been involved in the arts for decades. I am a former volunteer member of the Arts Advisory Committee of the City of Ottawa. I feel that all my work in this area may have been for naught because everything I believe in has now been cut.

I've participated in almost all the major and minor arts festivals in this city, either by playing music with The Lyon Street Celtic band, showing my films or displaying my photographs. If you cut the arts, some of these festivals, such as The Fringe Festival or Art in the Park (Glebe) will suffer.

I know the effect of what some of these cuts will mean because I perform for Senior Citizens community centres and have already been told their budgets have been cut. Senior Citizens need some variety in their lives. The arts provides this and helps keep them alive.

And why are you cutting recreation programs for seniors. If they were your parents, wouldn't you care that they had some form of healthy recreation?

I also know what services the various community and visual arts centres provide, such as the Glebe Community Centre and the Visual Arts Centre. I use their facilities and they have gone out of their way to provide space for music rehearsals and other activities in their communities.

And in the age of obesity, why are you cutting funding for organized sports?

I would rather pay a higher property tax than see our city services diminish. If you lower the quality of life in a city, then what's the point of living here. I'm not interested in a city that has no respect for the arts or the well-being and health of individuals. And in the future, I certainly will not vote for politicians who do not support these services.

Lois Siegel,
Orléans

Lois will also have a letter published this week in the Ottawa Citizen.

Go read other letters to the editor on the website Orleans Online.ca
www.orleansonline.ca

JENNIFER DICKSON

2004-02-12
Mayor's Sweetheart Lunch for the Arts

To all Citizens of Ottawa and media representatives attending tomorrow's Mayor's Sweetheart Lunch for the Arts, I urge you to protest the Council's decision to eliminate funding to the arts by dressing completely in black at the Mayor's Sweetheart Lunch for the Arts to be held tomorrow at the Canadian Museum of Nature (240 McLeod Street, reception in the Salon at 11:30 am, followed by lunch at 12:15 pm). I will be wearing full funeral garb with accompanying black veil.I encourage you all to dress in black or wear a black armband to demonstrate that we stand together in protest to the City's budgetary cuts.

Jennifer Dickson, RA

PS Attached is a letter that I sent to Mayor Robert Chiarelli this morning. Please circulate it widely.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mayor Robert Chiarelli,
Mayor of Ottawa.

Your Worship,

On January 19th, I attended the Budget Consultation Meeting at the City of Ottawa. At this meeting a vote was taken and a majority of citizens present voted FOR Scenario 4: a 9.7% property tax increase with no reductions in tax-supported expenditures.

I was informed by Diane Holmes that at the similar meeting on January 15th in Kanata, the majority also voted for a tax increase in order to sustain programmes.

The fiscal mess we are in is a direct result of amalgamation. Instead of pitting one group of citizens against each other, I would urge you to exercise vision and leadership. As a leading member of the cultural community I am enraged, disgusted and angry in studying the brutal proposed cuts to culture. They are out-of-line, unacceptable and stupidly shortsighted. Ottawa is rapidly declining to third world status. I am one of the majority of taxpayers who are willing to pay more taxes in order to live in a city which is CULTURED AND HUMANE.

Why are our voices not being heard?

Yours sincerely,

Jennifer Dickson

20 Osborne Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1S 4Z9
ronsweetman@canada.com
Residence: (613) 730-2083 Fax: (613) 730-1818

THE JAZZ FESTIVAL Affected by Proposed City of Ottawa Budget Cuts

Dear Friends of the Jazz Festival:

As you will have no doubt heard, the City of Ottawa is proposing to cut funding to all of the festivals by 100%. What that means to us directly is unimaginable. Given that we are only 4 months from the festival, we would have no choice but to cut staff and break contracts with people. At this juncture we have already committed to sound, tents, lighting, stages, advertising, and of course, artists. This cut would certainly compromise the integrity of the festival in the short term and in the long term could have dire consequences. It is extremely difficult to find a large amount of money like this on such short notice. In fact, it would take years to find a contribution of this size. As most of you know, we already operate on a shoestring so the cuts would inevitably fall to programming and even there we are already extremely modest in our expenditures.

The Board and I are asking you for your help in protesting this proposal to cut all of our city funding. We have been told that the city councilors will respond to what they hear from their constituents. As volunteers, members, and devoted audience of the festival, we hope you will want to tell your councillors that this cut, at this juncture in the planning cycle, is not acceptable. The councillors will want to hear that a tax raise is acceptable to the majority and that does seem to be the only way that we can maintain the quality of life that is important to us.

We need your help. Please take the time to write or call your councillor and tell them that they’re proposal is not the direction you support. Their proposal would see that support for the arts drops from $3.58 per capita (already the third lowest of ALL municipalities in the country) to .57 – yes, 57 cents - per capita! If you want to see the festival continue – and the arts in general – please take the time to write or call. The link to Ottawa councillors is:

http://www.www.city.ottawa.on.ca/city_council/wards_councillors_en.html

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to call me at 241-2633 or email me at director@ottawajazzfestival.com

Thank you for whatever contribution you feel you are able to make.

Catherine O’Grady
Executive Producer
Ottawa International Jazz Festival

GALLERY 101 Affected by Proposed City of Ottawa Budget Cuts

Gallery 101

With the recently proposed City of Ottawa budget cuts, culture and heritage is the sector hit the hardest. With an estimated 80-90% cut in municipal funding to arts organizations, this budget will decimate the cultural sector and leave no organization unscathed.

Gallery 101 has just been notified that we will lose the majority of our municipal funding if these cuts are approved. We receive a yearly operating grant from the City of Ottawa of $50,000. In 2004, we have already received $12,500 from the city. The remaining 75% of the expected funds are now frozen and will not be provided to us if this budget is passed.

The impact of this cut will be reflected in our 2004 programming and operations, as measures to address this deficit will need to be carefully considered. This is a significant loss affecting 1/4 of our total budget.

community. Your help is needed, individually and as part of a larger community, to present a collective voice that speaks to the severe impact of this recent news in the arts.

We are encouraging all artists, cultural workers, and community members who value the cultural life of this city to declare their outrage at the proposed City of Ottawa budget cuts.

Over the course of the next several weeks, public consultations with city councillors will take place at the following locations and times. Gallery 101 urges you to attend these sessions and express your views on these cuts.

Over the course of the next several weeks, Gallery 101 will continue to provide its members with updates and information on this crisis. We will continue to forward information about ways our community can take an active role in letting City Hall know we will not accept the decimation of our city¹s cultural life.

LA GALERIE 101 touchée par les réductions budgétaires projetées à la Ville d¹Ottawa

Le secteur de la culture et du patrimoine est le plus durement touché par les réductions budgétaires projetées récemment par la Ville d¹Ottawa. Avec une compression budgétaire prévue de 80 % à 90 % du financement municipal aux organismes artistiques, ce budget décimera le paysage culturel, affectant toutes les organisations de ce secteur.

La Galerie 101 vient d¹apprendre qu¹elle perdra la plus grande part de son financement municipal si ces réductions budgétaires sont approuvées. La Galerie reçoit une subvention de fonctionnement annuel de 50 000 $ de la Ville d¹Ottawa. En 2004, elle a déjà perçu 12 500 $ de ce montant. Les trois quarts du financement qui reste a été gelé et ne sera pas versé à la galerie si ce budget est accepté.

Ces réductions budgétaires auront des répercussions sur notre programmation et nos opérations, puisqu¹il nous faudra considérer soigneusement les mesures à prendre pour combler ce manque à gagner. Il s¹agit d¹une perte importante pour nous, qui représente le quart de l¹ensemble de nos fonds budgétaires.

La Galerie 101 travaille de manière responsable pour faire face à cette situation financière, tout en remplissant ses obligations envers les artistes et la communauté. Nous avons besoin de votre aide, à titre d¹individu et de membre d¹une communauté plus vaste, pour dénoncer d¹une voix collective les dures répercussions à prévoir à la suite de l¹annonce de cette nouvelle affectant les arts.

Nous encourageons tous les artistes, travailleurs culturels et gens de la communauté qui apprécient la vie culturelle de cette municipalité de faire connaître leur indignation face aux réductions budgétaires projetées par la Ville d¹Ottawa.

Au cours des prochaines semaines, des consultations publiques auront lieu avec les conseillers municipaux aux lieux, dates et heures suivants. La Galerie 101 vous invite fortement à assister à ces rencontres et à faire connaître votre opinion au sujet de ces réductions budgétaires.

CANADIAN MUSEUM ASSOCIATION

L'ASSOCIATION CANADIENNE DES MUSEES

The City of Ottawa presented its draft budget today which calls for massive funding cuts to the city's arts and heritage programs.

-4 city museums will be permanently closed.
-4 city museums will be permanently closed.
-4 city museums will be permanently closed.
-funding eliminated to 6 community museums in the city.
-4 city museums will be permanently closed.
-4 city museums will be permanently closed.
-eliminate funding for 28 major festivals and heritage projects.
-suspect acquisition of city's public arts program.
-reduce "Canada Council style" arts funding by 80%.
-eliminate the city's own department on arts and heritage planning.

The full details can be found at this link:
http://www.city.ottawa.on.ca/inside_govt/budget/budget_2004/draft_highlights_en.pdf

Both CMA and OMA deplore these cuts and an official press release will be issued very soon. We offer our complete support to fight these cuts which paradoxically come after the Auditor General of Canada criticized the federal government for neglecting the preservation of its heritage responsibilities. (see CMA's Advocacy Alert at www.museums.ca which was just issued and may not even be posted yet--check back tomorrow).

We urge all concerned to participate in the City of Ottawa's budget consultation process. Letters of support from across the country (or emails) will help greatly. Details can be found on the city's website at the above link.

We are further concerned that other municipalities in Ontario and other provinces are grappling with similar cuts. For example Regina's excellent Dunlop Art Gallery is to be closed soon, something that CMA has spoken out against. Other municipalities have been reducing their arts and heritage spending.

This does not bode well for our sector and flys in the face of the public's strong support for museums and heritage funding as stated in the public opinion poll conducted for CMA in 2003 (see our website for details).

---------------------------------------------------------

John G. McAvity
Executive Director/Directeur général
Canadian Museums Association
www.museums.ca
www.museums.ca Association des musées canadiens
www.musees.ca

THE CANADIAN CONFERENCE OF THE ARTS (CCA)

"WARNING TO CANADIAN CITIES: DON'T FOLLOW OTTAWA'S EXAMPLE!"

Ottawa, February 12, 2004 -

Only last week, the new federal government presented its Speech from the Throne, touting a "new deal for communities", which Governor General Adrienne Clarkson described as:

"A new deal that targets the infrastructure needed to support quality of life and sustainable growth. A new deal that helps our communities become more dynamic, more culturally rich, more cohesive, and partners in strengthening Canada's social foundations.... Another defining characteristic of our communities and of our reputation around the world is the vitality and excellence of our cultural life. Canada's artists and cultural enterprises are among our best ambassadors, as well as being an increasingly dynamic element of the knowledge economy. Their work holds a mirror on our society and builds a legacy for future generations."

In an unfortunate juxtaposition to this utopian vision of Canada's municipalities, the City of Ottawa unveiled a draft "no tax increase" budget this week, and culture has been virtually eviscerated. While culture was not the only area to hit the chopping block, it received the most damaging cuts - cuts which would result in per capita funding falling from an already dismal $3.89 in 2003 to a ridiculous 57 cents in 2004. (As a comparison, a 2002 study undertaken by the Halifax Regional Municipality provided the following per capita figures for funding of arts and heritage: Halifax $1.14; Montreal $11.32; Toronto $5.26; Winnipeg $4.28; Calgary $6.56; Vancouver $11.64.)

An example of these draconian proposals includes the total elimination of funding to heritage programmes; all major festivals, fairs and special events; and community associations and recreation boards. In addition, 80% of the funding to individual artists and arts organizations of every discipline would be cut. (This is particularly disconcerting given that the City of Ottawa recently underwent a major consultation process which resulted in a report entitled "Ottawa 20/20 - Arts & Heritage Plan", adopted by City Council in April 2003; the current budget proposals directly contravene the recommendations in this plan.)

Mela Constantinidi, Director of the Ottawa Art Gallery, feels that the cuts will have a devastating multiplier effect on arts organizations. The Gallery stands to lose three-quarters of its funding from the city, as a result of which programming will have to be greatly reduced. In addition, the cut backs will prevent it from attracting funds from the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the private sector. "The arts are so underfunded by the city that it's laughable" said Constantinidi.

These sort of stringent measures will knock the City of Ottawa right back into the Dark Ages. The CCA sincerely hopes this draft budget is a trial balloon, more hot air than substance, and that more enlightened views will prevail before the budget is finalised. (However, some arts groups report having just received cheques for the next fiscal year which reflect the 80% cut back.) We also hope that other municipalities around the country will not be following Ottawa's example.

http://www.ottawa.ca/inside_govt/budget/budget_2004/draft_highlights_en.pdf

For more information:

For more information:
Kevin Desjardins
Communications and Public Relations Manager
(613) 238 3561 ext.11
Fax (613) 238 4849
info@ccarts.ca
www.ccarts.ca

Solutions for Heritage Institutions - and Others!

Friends;

In recent years, we have heard with sadness about the closing of one site or another. Today, the City of Ottawa tabled proposed budget cuts.

Here is a summary of how the most visible target - you guessed it, arts and heritage - would be affected.

Arts & Culture / Community Funding

* Eliminate arts and heritage planning and development, including annual promotion of local arts and culture (i.e., Join the Crowd) and e-ticketing
* Eliminate heritage programs, including Doors Open and Museum Day
* Close four City-owned museums (Billings Estate, Pinhey's, Cumberland, Gloucester) and eliminate funding for six community museums (Bytown, Diefenbunker, Goulbourn, Nepean, Osgoode,Watson's Mill)
* Eliminate funding to historical societies and one-time heritage projects
* Eliminate funding to 28 major festivals, fairs and special events
* Suspend acquisition of arts for the City's public art program
* Reduce the Canada-Council-style arts funding program by 80%
* Eliminate funding for a number of annual community events
* Eliminate funding for 80 one-time community projects
* Eliminate funding to 31 community associations and recreation boards thatprovide community recreation programming
* Eliminate funding to 15 agencies that provide recreation programs for seniors
* Eliminate funding to 17 organizations that provide organized sports

While this will not affect nationally or provincially-owned museums, historic sites and programs, if approved by the City of Ottawa. the proposals will effectively close down everything else smacking of culture and heritage in Canada's national capital and do major damage to recreation, as well. It would be difficult to find another example of such draconian effect and proportions elsewhere in North America.

Harry

Harry Needham, Principal (harry@hncs.ca)
Harry Needham Consulting Services Inc.
Solutions for Heritage Institutions - and Others!
74 Abbeyhill Drive
Kanata ON K2L 1H1 Canada
(Voice) +1.613.831-1068
(Fax) +1.613.831-9412

OTTAWA BUDGET 2004

WHAT THEY SAID? ILS ONT DIT...

Alcatel, Telesat, Bell, Mitel and Telus Support the Arts!

A LETTER FROM MAYOR CHIARELLI

HAVE YOU NO SHAME--The Shocking Expenses of Our Unelected City Managers

By Claire Tremblay, Dan Donovan and Donna Brousseau, Ottawa Life, March 2004

Jeff Stellick, Executive Director, OTTAWA SCHOOL OF ART

City funding cuts affect OSA

Dan Donovan, Publisher, Ottawa Life Magazine - Letter to Chiarelli

John Hobday, Director of the Canada Council for the Arts - Letter to Chiarelli

Clive Doucet's 2004 Community Alternative Budget

Councillor Peggy Feltmate: budget 2004 update

Sample letter to councillors -- by the Council for the Arts in Ottawa (Peter Honeywell)

Call to art supporters -- by the Council for the Arts in Ottawa

Two key dates are looming.

LE GROUPE DANCE LAB:

OH WHERE FORE 'ART' THOU?
The demise of the City of Ottawa's arts and cultural community

LE GROUPE DANCE LAB:

Mais où donc es-tu passée?

La fin de la communauté des arts et de la culture de la Ville d'Ottawa

Penny McCann
copy of letter sent to mayor...and his response

GENE SWIMMER, Director of the Ottawa Folk festival

DAVID B. FLEMMING
President of Heritage Ottawa

Remarks by David B. Flemming, President of Heritage Ottawa, at the Heritage Day Ceremony and Reception, Ottawa City Hall, Monday, February 16, 2004 at 1200.

By Tamara Bernstein, tberns@magma.ca
National Post, Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Barbarians capture the capital: Ottawa city council proposes to slash its already meagre arts funding

MARGIE BARKLEY, B.Ed, MA.

Arts education is a cornerstone, not a frill

LYNDA HALL, founder, director of
Mutchmor Arts Collective

MAUREEN KORP, PhD

Subject: Carleton students' organizing petitions

LOIS SIEGEL

City budget will destroy the arts and other much-needed services

JENNIFER DICKSON

THE JAZZ FESTIVAL Affected by Proposed City of Ottawa Budget Cuts

GALLERY 101 Affected by Proposed City of Ottawa Budget Cuts

LA GALERIE 101 touchée par les réductions budgétaires projetées à la Ville d¹Ottawa

CANADIAN MUSEUM ASSOCIATION

L'ASSOCIATION CANADIENNE DES MUSEES

THE CANADIAN CONFERENCE OF THE ARTS (CCA)

"WARNING TO CANADIAN CITIES: DON'T FOLLOW OTTAWA'S EXAMPLE!"

Solutions for Heritage Institutions - and Others!

OTTAWA BUDGET 2004

WHAT THEY SAID? ILS ONT DIT...

Alcatel, Telesat, Bell, Mitel and Telus Support the Arts!

A LETTER FROM MAYOR CHIARELLI

HAVE YOU NO SHAME--The Shocking Expenses of Our Unelected City Managers

By Claire Tremblay, Dan Donovan and Donna Brousseau, Ottawa Life, March 2004

Jeff Stellick, Executive Director, OTTAWA SCHOOL OF ART

City funding cuts affect OSA

Dan Donovan, Publisher, Ottawa Life Magazine - Letter to Chiarelli

John Hobday, Director of the Canada Council for the Arts - Letter to Chiarelli

Clive Doucet's 2004 Community Alternative Budget

Councillor Peggy Feltmate: budget 2004 update

Sample letter to councillors -- by the Council for the Arts in Ottawa (Peter Honeywell)

Call to art supporters -- by the Council for the Arts in Ottawa

Two key dates are looming.

LE GROUPE DANCE LAB:

OH WHERE FORE 'ART' THOU? The demise of the City of Ottawa's arts and cultural community

LE GROUPE DANCE LAB:

Mais où donc es-tu passée? La fin de la communauté des arts et de la culture de la Ville d'Ottawa

Penny McCann copy of letter sent to mayor...and his response

GENE SWIMMER, Director of the Ottawa Folk festival

DAVID B. FLEMMING President of Heritage Ottawa

Remarks by David B. Flemming, President of Heritage Ottawa, at the Heritage Day Ceremony and Reception, Ottawa City Hall, Monday, February 16, 2004 at 1200.

By Tamara Bernstein, tberns@magma.ca National Post, Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Barbarians capture the capital: Ottawa city council proposes to slash its already meagre arts funding

MARGIE BARKLEY, B.Ed, MA.

Arts education is a cornerstone, not a frill

LYNDA HALL, founder, director of Mutchmor Arts Collective

MAUREEN KORP, PhD

Subject: Carleton students' organizing petitions

LOIS SIEGEL

City budget will destroy the arts and other much-needed services

JENNIFER DICKSON

THE JAZZ FESTIVAL Affected by Proposed City of Ottawa Budget Cuts

GALLERY 101 Affected by Proposed City of Ottawa Budget Cuts

LA GALERIE 101 touchée par les réductions budgétaires projetées à la Ville d¹Ottawa

CANADIAN MUSEUM ASSOCIATION

L'ASSOCIATION CANADIENNE DES MUSEES

THE CANADIAN CONFERENCE OF THE ARTS (CCA) "WARNING TO CANADIAN CITIES: DON'T FOLLOW OTTAWA'S EXAMPLE!"

Solutions for Heritage Institutions - and Others!

OH WHERE FORE 'ART' THOU?
The demise of the City of Ottawa's arts and cultural community

Mais où donc es-tu passée?

La fin de la communauté des arts et de la culture de la Ville d'Ottawa

Penny McCann
copy of letter sent to mayor...and his response

DAVID B. FLEMMING
President of Heritage Ottawa

By Tamara Bernstein, tberns@magma.ca
National Post, Wednesday, February 18, 2004

LYNDA HALL, founder, director of
Mutchmor Arts Collective

THE CANADIAN CONFERENCE OF THE ARTS (CCA)

"WARNING TO CANADIAN CITIES: DON'T FOLLOW OTTAWA'S EXAMPLE!"