Paul Dewar, MP for Ottawa Centre, had a new plan to force the government to stop playing “political football” with the arts.
He is forming an arts caucus where MPs from all parties will meet to discuss issues relating to the arts community, a segment of the population that has been ignored, he says.
“Either through ignorance or for matters of politics, we haven’t respected the place of the arts in our country,” he says. “We want to cut through the noise and offer a forum for both legislators and artists.”
Dewar says he hopes that the creation of the caucus, which will have its first meeting this month, will allow the arts community to be heard directly by the government.
The creation of the arts caucus holds a special importance, says Dewar, especially in light of the recent cancellation of the Portrait Gallery of Canada project, which had been in discussion for over a decade.
Dewar says that it speaks to a larger issue: that the arts are being used as “a political piñata.”
“When the new government cancelled the project, and then tried to shop it around for political gain, it touched our collective soul,” he says.
“I think that people took an issue with how politicians were playing with art as an idea without really taking it seriously.”
Dewar was approached by members of the arts community looking for a forum where they could have a civilized, mature discussion about the arts in Canada with members of Parliament.
Anika Houlse, producer and programmer for the now-defunct Le Groupe Dance Lab, also says she believes that artists and MPs need to communicate.
“Within the arts world, people who belong to the government are sometimes seen as people who just don’t get it,” she says.
“We sometimes get the feeling that we don’t speak the same language.”
Le Groupe closed this summer due to several administrative changes and drastic cuts in government funding.
“The government basically told us ‘We’ll invest in you, but if you don’t deliver, you’re dead,’” says Houlse.
She says that Le Groupe struggled with funding for years before finally closing their doors in August.
Peter Honeywell, executive director of the Council for the Arts in Ottawa, says he sees this as a trend that is specific to Ottawa artists who are constantly “overwhelmed” by Canada’s national institutions.
“My hat is off to any artist who can live and work in Ottawa,” he says.
“You’re basically competing with the national arts institutions for fundraising and corporate money.”
Dewar says he sees his home riding as a city where artists face special challenges.
He says the rest of the country could learn from Ottawa artists’ “grit and determination.”
But to him, it’s not just about grant money – it’s about giving art and artists the attention they deserve.
“It’s about money for sure, but it’s also about the literacy of members of Parliament about the diversity of the arts and the importance of the arts in everyone’s community,” he says.
According to Honeywell, members of the arts community will be pleased that the government is finally taking notice of their world and creating a more formal dialogue.
Houlse also says she loves the concept of the caucus and is glad that members of Parliament are ready to communicate with the arts community.
“Often you’ll hear people in the art world say ‘They work in an office; they have no emotion,’” she says.
“But I think there are finally some people in politics who get it and understand what is going on in the art world.”