Executive Council
August 28, 2008

Provincial Government Will Cover Impact of Federal Cuts to Arts Programming

The Honourable Danny Williams, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, has announced the Provincial Government will cover the financial gap left by the elimination of federal arts programming to ensure local artists and the province's cultural industries will not be negatively impacted.

"In the past couple of weeks, the public has been made aware of the elimination of at least a dozen federal arts programs - and there may be more bad news to come," said Premier Williams. "In this province, many of our artists accessed these programs, particularly those which enabled them to bring the arts and culture of Newfoundland and Labrador to national and international audiences. This is the latest in a series of program funding cuts by the Harper Government, and it amounts to another slap in the face to the people of this province and indeed the entire country."

Premier Williams said the export of our music, theatre, film, visual arts and literature is crucial to the overall development of our cultural industries.

"Our artists serve as Newfoundland and Labrador's cultural ambassadors, and ensuring they have an opportunity to showcase their work outside this province is of benefit to us all," added Premier Williams. "As a province, we have invested heavily in order to strengthen our arts and culture sectors and to improve the status of our professional artists. We can not, and will not, risk losing the momentum we have gained because of ill-advised cuts to important federal programs by the Harper Government. Given the importance of the arts in our province, it is beyond me how our federal cabinet representative, Loyola Hearn, and our two other Conservative Members of Parliament, Fabian Manning and Norm Doyle, could stand idly by and allow this to happen."

In 2006, the Provincial Government released Creative Newfoundland and Labrador - The Blueprint for Development and Investment in Culture, which included a commitment of $17.6 million over three years to preserve and promote the arts and culture sectors.

"We are at the point now where we are evaluating the initiatives launched as part of our cultural strategy and determining how we can build on the success we have had to date," said Premier Williams. "Ensuring our artists can continue to bring our culture - our stories - to the world will certainly be a priority."

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