With a federal budget looming, there will be plenty of hand-wringing in the coming months as organizations that rely on government grants brace themselves for the worst. For artists and the institutions that support them, public money isn’t their only source of income, but it often plays an invaluable role – not only at the federal level, but locally as well.
So it was undoubtedly with relief that the Great Canadian Theatre Company learned that Ottawa’s community services committee decied that the city should offer up another $250,000 to help it pay off its building on Wellington West. In an economic and political climate where no funding is guaranteed, support from the city, even on a project that it has backed from the start, must alleviate some stress.
But while the report that spurred the decision may have been a comfort to some, the sentiment isn’t unanimous . Those with acutely tuned social consciences have pointed out that the money might serve the community better were it directed towards, say, housing the homeless – an argument that overlooks the fact that the funding for the GCTC is coming from a budget designated particularly for the arts.
A more compelling point against the proposal is that the quarter-million-dollar contribution is equal to roughly half the city’s annual funding for all such projects. To pump that amount into the company’s Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre – on top of previous grants to help with the building’s costs – will divert a significant chunk of public money away from other ventures.
Still, anyone with a passing knowledge of the GCTC is aware of the kinds of programs it runs and it’s difficult to say that it offers no social value beyond entertainment or art for art’s sake. Focusing on productions with a specifically Canadian bent or origin, its programs maintain a commitment to promoting the craft within the country – a mandate that’s increasingly important as the level of foreign cultural material consumed in Canada continues to creep higher.
And the benefits of the GCTC extend beyond the obvious value it adds to the capital’s (and, indeed, the country’s) cultural landscape. The establishment of the new theatre at the corner of Wellington Street and Holland Avenue is at least one factor in the area’s emergence as one of Ottawa’s most desirable neighbourhoods. Retailers and residents alike are drawn to areas marked by cultural institutions, and Wellington West has certainly benefitted from the GCTC’s presence.
The new facilities have also allowed the theatre to increase its level of community engagement through events co-hosted with local outreach groups, part of a ripple effect often overlooked by those who criticize public funding for the arts.
The advice on its way to city council is evidence not of a city hall beholden to the interests of a few, but one making good on its commitment to a vision it first endorsed nearly a decade ago.At this point, it makes little sense to cut the legs out from under an organization that has the potential to not only operate as a self-sustaining enterprise, but as an entity that will continue to enhance the vibrancy of the surrounding community for years to come.