EQUIFLASH [ART, CULTURE AND HERITAGE COMMON PLATFORM FOR ELECTION 2011]

[CAEA e-drive]

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ART, CULTURE AND HERITAGE COMMON PLATFORM FOR ELECTION 2011
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Over 70 national, provincial and municipal cultural organizations from across Canada have signed a common platform for the 2011 federal election, in which they ask federal parties to make specific commitments concerning Canadian arts, culture and heritage. 

This common platform, the first ever achieved by the sector, was established through a series of consultations led by the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) over the past three months.

"Canadian Actors' Equity Association is proud to have its name be part of this impressive list of signatories" said Executive Director Arden R. Ryshpan. "Arts and culture is not only critical to Canada's national identity, it plays a considerable role in the health of our economy. It is unfortunate that based on what we have seen so far in the election, culture does not appear to be a priority for most of the national party leaders. It is our hope that this call for commitment will find resonance on the campaign trail."

The common electoral platform covers four broad themes: investments in the production of Canadian cultural content in the context of a national economic strategy; investments in developing domestic and foreign markets; making arts and culture an integral component of Canadian foreign policy; and implementing the National Museum Policy that was conceived in 2005.  

A detailed copy of the 2011 Federal Election Common Electoral Platform is available at EQUITYONLINE (http://www.caea.com).

More specifically, here are the priorities identified by the signatories: 
1. Encourage the production of Canadian cultural content in the context of a national economic strategy by: 

* Increasing the budget of the Canada Council for the Arts to at least $300 million by 2015;

* Modernizing the Copyright Act to ensure fair compensation for creators and other rights holders and to facilitate access of cultural works by Canadians without undermining existing rights;

* Committing to increased and long-term funding for the CBC, the National Film Board, Telefilm Canada and various funds such as the Canada Media Fund, the Music Fund, the Book and the Periodical Funds, etc. 

* Making internet and wireless services providers contribute financially to the production of Canadian cultural programs;

* Adopting tax measures to address the realities of self-employed artists and creators;

* Adopting tax incentives to encourage arts philanthropy and private investments in arts and cultural industries.

2. Dedicate $40 million to increase access to Canadian artists and their works by Canadians and the international community.

3. Reintroduce arts and culture as a component of Canadian foreign policy. 

4. Implement the National Museum Policy agreed to by all parties in 2005 with an injection of $50 million per year. 
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Lynn McQueen
Communications Director
Canadian Actors' Equity Association
44 Victoria Street, 12th floor
Toronto, ON  M5C 3C4
tel: 416-867-9165
fax: 416-867-9246
commdir at caea.com
www.caea.com




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