Artists want to be considered as equal constituents in this democracy.
In return for the creative community's contributions to the economic health of the country,
Artists wish to receive their fair share of government funding and public services.
When we pay for it, artists should be eligible for unemployment insurance, for example.
And artists should not be excluded from public pension programs simply because artists are considered self-employed.
The Cultural Community represents almost ten percent of the population,
and creates almost 8% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
This figure grows even larger when we consider both Culture and Communications.
This means the cultural community should be receiving at least 8% of government spending and investment, instead of the current 2% which is allocated to culture.
Federal Cultural Programs amount to around $2 billion, which is around 2% of federal government spending, depending on which costs are included in cultural program accounts.
By contrast, military, safety and security budgets, all tolled, amount to nearly 50% of federal departmental spending.
Does this mean military security is 10 - 20 times more important to the federal government than Culture and Communications?
Considering culture is the only thing this country still owns,
changing federal priorities to better reflect the contributions of the cultural community would be good for this country,
Especially where culture, as an investment, is probably the world's best hope for a better future.
The cultural community would like to renegotiate its contract with the federal government, so that culture can receive the public support and public services it deserves.
Members of the cultural community are encouraged to raise cultural issues in every election discussion.
Artists of all kinds should contact political representatives at every level of government to let them know your feelings on these issues.
Artists are invited to ask political parties to articulate their cultural policies. The media are invited to discuss issues that are important to the cultural community and the communications industry. Cultural priorities should be discussed publicly.
