Mobilization and demonstration to demand sustainable provincial arts funding
Office of the Minister of Culture and Communications
Provincial budget allocations were voted on March 12, and what was granted to Culture was catastrophic. This vote shows the government’s refusal to consider the importance of culture as part of a social project. The arts community confirms that this budget plunges Quebec’s artistic ecosystem – institutions, companies and artists – into an absolute emergency.
Several arts organizations have sounded the alarm over this untenable situation: Conseil québécois du théâtre (CQT), Association des compagnies de théâtre (ACT), Association professionnelle des diffuseurs de spectacles – RIDEAU, Théâtre associés (TAI), Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD), En Piste – Regroupement national des arts du cirque, Regroupement des centers d’artistes autogérés du Québec (RCAAQ) and more than a dozen Canadian writers’ and publishers’ organizations, including the Association nationale des éditeurs de livres (ANEL).
The country’s largest provincial arts council has a budget of $160.46 million for 2024-2025. Last year, before inflation, CALQ received $161.18 million. That’s less money in the midst of a cost explosion. Above all, it’s $100 million less than what the community considers a minimum viable threshold (Le Devoir, March 18, 2024).
Let’s not forget that, in the performing arts, in 2023-2024, many companies and artists had to produce their shows without funding or cancel them. A 2016 study by Hill Strategies for the Canada Council for the Arts found that the typical artist’s employment income was $17,300, 56% below the median employment income of the working population ($39,000).
Stagnating salaries and rising costs (materials, transport, insurance, rent, etc.) that are not offset by a consequent increase in funding are resulting in an intolerable deterioration in working conditions. “Investing in Quebec’s culture means helping to ensure its strength and longevity as a mirror of our society and our own identity. If we want to continue to play this role, it’s essential that arts workers are paid not only for their skills, but also for the real cost of living, enabling them to live a dignified life free of poverty.
On April 18, we invite all artists to dress in black and pay tribute to their unsubsidized projects by placing photos or objects on the altar set up outside.
Now it’s the turn of artists to unite their voices to denounce this fatal blow. Let’s take to the streets to make our refusal to accept this unbearable situation for thousands of workers heard.
WE DEMAND A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN GOVERNMENT PROGRAM SPENDING ON CULTURE
