[e-drive][PROTEST: HALIFAX, TODAY]

[Kaethe Yanovsky]

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SOAC Bulletin

Greetings Save Our Arts Council supporters,

Its been a dramatic and eventful six weeks since March 27th when Nova
Scotia's Tory government took its fateful and misguided step of closing down
the Nova Scotia Arts Council. As most of you know, since that time a storm
of anger and protest has swept the province with countless items in the
media, articles, editorials, letters to the editor, protest rallies,
speeches and questions in the legislature, petitions, letter and postcard
campaigns, etc. all demanding that the government reverse its actions and
re-instate the Nova Scotia Arts Council.

Throughout that time the government, and Tourism and Culture Minister,
Rodney MacDonald, have remained stubbornly intransigent, neither listening
to what the people of this province have been saying, nor responding to the
many objections to his plans that have been raised. He refused to speak at
the protest rally and has not replied to the many articulate criticisms of
his plans. MacDonald simply sticks to his script and endlessly repeats his
party line which has been thoroughly discredited.

The government is proceeding with its plans to pass Bill 109, The Financial
Measures Act. Sections 41-44 of this Act will abolish the Nova Scotia Arts
Council and take control of its Endowment Fund. Despite searing criticism
from both the New Democratic and Liberal Parties in the legislature during
first and second readings, and attempts by the NDP to have the sections of
the bill that deal with the Nova Scotia Arts Council removed, the government
has pressed ahead.

Now we have arrived at what is the LAST OPPORTUNITY to stop the passage of
this bill. Starting at 4:30 PM on Wednesday, May 8th, the Law Amendments
Committee of the Nova Scotia Legislature will consider representations from
the general public on the Financial Measures Act. This is your opportunity
to speak directly to members of the Legislature and let them know exactly
what you think and the LAST CHANCE TO SAVE OUR ARTS COUNCIL.

If it is at all possible for you to do so, we STRONGLY ENCOURAGE everyone to
come and speak to this committee. If enough people make there voices
heard there is a chance that the Tories could still change their mind and
the Arts Council could be saved.

It's not complicated or hard, and the opportunity to speak directly to your
government can be both empowering and fun! Get your frustrations off of your
chest, address important issues, vent, hold your elected officials to task -
you can do all this and more!

Instructions for how to sign up and speak to the committee are included
below, as are suggestion for topics, ideas, and facts which you can use as
part of your presentation. There will be a "cheering section" of your fellow
artists there. Charles Crosby, of the SOAC steering committee is willing to
provide a "warm-up session" for people who would like some tips on what to
say and how to deliver it. Call him at (902) 425-3876.

What's important is that you MUST REGISTER TO SPEAK BEFORE 4:30 PM ON
WEDNESDAY, MAY 8TH. Call the LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL AT (902) 424-8941 AS SOON
AS POSSIBLE to schedule a time to appear before the committee.

It's particularly important that people from across the province, and from
the ridings which are represented by Conservative MLA's, speak to the
committee. The Conservative Party needs to understand that if it persists in
this course of conduct, that it will have consequences for them during the
next election. There are a number of Tory MLA's who won their seats by only
a few votes (such as Ron Chisholm, Barry Barnett, & Rodney MacDonald) who
need to be very responsive to the desires of the electorate if they want to
retain their seats.

Many thanks for all your continuing support!

Steering Committee
Save Our Arts Council Campaign

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Who, What, Where, When, and Why

The Committee meets in the Red Chamber of the Nova Scotia Legislature. It is
composed of 9 MLA's: Five Conservatives: Mike Baker (Lunenburg) -
Chair; Mary-Ann McGrath (Halifax Bedford Basin), Cecil Clarke (Cape Breton
North), Barry Barnett (Sackville Beaverbank), Ron Chisholm (Guysborough
Port Hawksbury): two New Democrats: Bill Estabrooks & Kevin Deveaux; and two
Liberals: Michel Samson & Jim Smith. The Minister of Tourism and
Culture will not be present.

You will likely be given 15 minutes to speak (which includes time for any
questions at the end of the presentation.) The Red Chamber is open to the
public so there will be a number of artists and Nova Scotia citizens waiting
to speak to the Committee or listening to presentations being made to the
committee. The media are also present and might film or record portions of
what you have to say or might wish to interview you afterwards. If you wish
to leave written materials for the committee, you have to bring fifteen (15)
copies.

You can address you comments to any aspect to the governments planned
elimination of the Arts Council, or the process it is following to do so.
Below are a number of points which you can use or develop as part of your
presentation

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BACKGROUND

* The Nova Scotia Arts Council was established in 1996 by a unanimous vote
of every political party in the Nova Scotia Legislature. Almost 15 years in
the making, and the subject of several in-depth studies and reports, it
represented the almost universal desire of the artists and citizens of this
province.

* Since then it has distinguished itself as an exemplary organization.
Hundreds of artists from across the province participated on its
peer-assessment committees and many hundreds of awards were made to a broad
swath of organizations and individuals from every artistic discipline and in
every corner of the province.

* Success rates for applicants from rural areas of the province were, time
and again, virtually identical to those of applicants from urban areas.
Rural artists were at no disadvantage to urban ones in terms of receiving
support.

* The Arts Council always operated in a financially and administratively
responsible manner. It filed its three-year plans, budgets, and audited
financial statements, which were always in the black, in both a timely and
thorough manner, allowing the Department of Tourism and Culture full
opportunity to make known any concerns.

POINTS CRITICAL OF THE GOVERNMENT PLANS

* The main issue at stake in this dispute is not about budgets or numbers
it's about the freedom of artists and arts organizations to function at
arm's length from government, without fear of censorship, reprisal, or
political interference. Arm's length is the fundamental principal which
underlies all arts funding in Canada and much of the rest of the world -
except for Nova Scotia!  Arm's length and peer review together mean that
funding decisions are based on artistic excellence and organizational
performance, not on political whims or "the broader needs of government."

Having arts funding directly under political control is an unacceptable
infringement of freedom of expression. Only totalitarian governments seek
to control their artists. This move throws the province more than twenty
years backwards in terms of arts policy.

* The government year after year cut the budget of the Nova Scotia Arts
Council (a total of 20% of its funding, and constantly stalled on making
appointments to its governing Council, sometime delaying appointments by
many months at a time.

* The heavy-handed manner which the government choose to shut down the Arts
Council on March 27, (firing its director, locking its offices,
shutting out its staff, seizing its bank accounts, shutting down its
website, etc.) is deeply offensive to the artists and citizenry of this
province, and is without parallel in Canadian history.

* This closure was done without any public input or discussion whatsoever.
In fact, the Department of Tourism and Culture had just finished a series
of public consultations on arts funding during which such an action was
never so much as mentioned. The Department has not even issued a preliminary
report on these consultations and yet it is taking these steps to shut down
the Arts Council

* Over two thousand individual artists and over a hundred organizations have
voiced their concern and have publicly called on the government to
immediately re-instate the Nova Scotia Arts Council. These individuals and
groups are a virtual who's who of the arts in this province. In addition
organizations such as the Coastal Communities Network, which represents 200
small coastal towns in the province, have called on the government to
reverse its stand and restore the Arts Council.

 The Minister states that he wants to "create an inclusive and supportive
environment for Nova Scotia artists and cultural organizations." The truth
is that the Minister's actions have had precisely the opposite effect. A
very large segment of artists and cultural organizations are outraged by
what the Minister has done. They don't feel included, they don't feel
supported, and their passionate defense of the NS Arts Council has been
completely ignored.

* The Endowment Fund of the Arts Council, which recently reached $1,000,000
in value, was established to assist the arts in Nova Scotia in
perpetuity. Now in a spectacular breech of faith, the government plans to
take with this money under a framework which allows the Minister to
spend it however he pleases with no guarantees or protection that it should
be used in the way which was envisioned.

The Minister says that the Arts Endowment Fund "framework established by the
former arts council is the same framework that will govern the future
use of this fund." The truth is that proposed legislation adds two new
sections to the framework. These give the Minister sweeping new powers to
spend monies from the endowment fund exactly as he sees fit.

* The Minister has repeatedly said that he took his actions because the
administrative costs of the Arts Council were too high. He keeps using
the figures of administration costs at over $429,000. The truth is that the
NS Arts Council's audited financial statement for 2001 shows administration
costs at $237,086 - only 17.3% of the budget. Compare that with roughly 33%
for administration in the Department's budget and 20% for
administration in the Culture Division's budget. If the Minister really
wanted administrative savings, he would have kept his promises and
transferred programs to the NS Arts Council - not the reverse.

* The Minister has repeatedly claimed that "roughly $270,000 in savings will
be redirected into the hands of artists and cultural organizations."
The truth is that the Minister gives with one hand and takes away with the
other. The Culture Division's budget for grants and contributions is
actually $259,000 less than last year, and that means a lot less money for
artists and cultural organizations.

* In speaking of his own proposed "Arts and Culture Council" the Minister
has repeatedly said that "Individuals ... will still be judged by an
impartial body of peer reviewers." The truth is that the Minister is only
offering peer review for individuals artists. The NS Arts Council's
system of peer review for organizations will be dropped.  This means that
roughly 14% of Department grants will be subject to peer review, leaving the
lion's share of 86% to be disbursed by the Minister. Even in the case of the
grants to individual artists, the Minister has given no indication how
peer reviewers will be selected or their impartiality maintained.

* By including the measures to abolish the Arts Council in a huge omnibus
bill (which contains everything in it but the kitchen sink) called The
Financial Measures Act (rather than introducing specific legislation to deal
with the issue) the government is employing fundamentally
undemocratic tactics. It won't debate the issue of the Arts Council on its
own merits and by including the measures in a financial bill, it ensures
their passage since backbenchers aren't able to vote against the
legislation. The government has rebuffed repeated attempts by the opposition
parties to pull out the sections dealing with the Arts Council. It should
have the courage of its own convictions and debate the measures their own
merits.

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For more information about the Campaign, visit the Nova Scotia Cultural
Network website at www.culture.ns.ca. There are many informative
background documents available there. You can also find out more about
the Nova Scotia Legislature at http://www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/ and can
access transcripts of what has been said in the Legislature at:
http://www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/HOUSE_BUSINESS/hansard.html