Ottawa’s mayoral candidates have been making a lot of promises for changes around the city if they’re elected, but the issue of arts and culture funding seems to be at the bottom of the list.
Voters have a heard a lot from the so-called front-runners – Larry O’Brien, Clive Doucet and Jim Watson – about freezing sports and recreation fees, public transit and housing.
There seems to be a plan in place for most aspects of city life from roads and housing to what will happen with Lansdowne Park.
These are important subjects that need to be addressed.
Candidates are approaching the campaign from all angles, but what still seems to be lacking from all three front runners’ campaigns is any cohesive arts policy.
The campaign websites of the three top candidates are littered with promises for changes and services they will provide if elected.
Jim Watson’s homepage has headlines about housing, business and sports fees.
When asked about the arts and culture scene in Ottawa, Watson says the mayor needs to be more active in the arts and work more closely with the tourism community in order to integrate arts with tourism.
Watson says that if elected he would lobby other levels of government to increase grant opportunities.
He would use the mayor’s office to help leverage funding from private companies and promote the idea that funding arts is a good investment.
“There are always challenges, arts organizations run on small budgets, good at stretching the dollar but they need help of government as well as public and private sector,” Watson says.
He says he is proud of his work with local arts groups and hopes to be a strong voice and advocate for them should he be elected.
Clive Doucet’s homepage has information about small businesses and recreation fees, as well as the light rail transit plan he hopes to push forward.
However, the majority of his homepage is taken up by attacks on his opponents, O’Brien and Watson, and the problems facing Ottawa should either of these be elected.
There is no information of arts funding.
When asked what he sees for arts in Ottawa, Doucet said there needs to be a policy of providing lower studio costs to artists and that the chamber hall and art gallery need to become a priority.
He said there needs to be more of a focus on lowering the cost of workspaces for artists.
According to Doucet, voters can expect to know more soon, as he will be presenting a comprehensive plan for arts within the next two weeks.
Larry O’Brien’s homepage has information about his iPhone app that you can now download, numerous articles debasing Watson, and a bit of information on his plan to freeze taxes.
There is no information on his website regarding his plans for the arts and culture scene.
He was unavailable for comment regarding his plans for arts.
Each of these candidates is promising to make changes around the city to make Ottawa a better place to live for all residents.
There is little being promised for arts and culture, and though the candidates have some plans for funding, Ottawa residents need to demand more attention for the arts.