About
The Canadian Arts Coalition is a collaborative non-partisan advocacy movement of national associations, arts organizations and artists, lead by a volunteer Steering Committee comprised of representatives of national, provincial, regional, territorial arts organizations and/or associations committed to equity in the arts and inclusive of Indigenous, racialized, the deaf and disabled.
Mission
The Canadian Arts Coalition is united in the belief that the future of our citizens, their towns and cities, and the nation itself depends on a rich, vibrant and diverse arts and heritage community and in support of this belief, the Coalition works to:
● Strengthen Canadian cultural policies based on the needs of the professional arts communities.
● Ensure investments in arts and culture at the federal level to support the vitality of the cultural sector and the many peoples of Canada
● Advocate to the general public by promoting sustainability of the arts sector
The Steering Committee of the Canadian Arts Coalition
- Karla Etienne, Canadian Dance Assembly
- Caroline Gignac, Conseil Québécois du théâtre
- Sarah Iley, Canadian Arts Summit
- Em Ironstar, Saskatchewan Arts Alliance
- Jacoba Knaapen, Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts
- Catherine Lindquist, Canadian Art Museum Directors Organization
- Christina Loewen, The Association for Opera in Canada
- Simon Mallett, Rozsa Foundation
- Kevin Ormsby, CPAMO
- Chris O’Neill, Ross Creek Centre for the Arts
- Barbora Racevičiūtė, Independent Media Arts Alliance
- Aubrey Reeves, Business for the Arts
- Heather Young, Young Associates
Activities
The Canadian Arts Coalition organizes and manages a broad range of activities for and with artists and arts organizations, including the following:
● Coordination of Arts Day on Parliament Hill and other advocacy campaigns;
● Participation and development of recommendations in the Pre-budget consultations;
● Publication of a communique on the Federal Budget;
● Development and publication of the Analysis of the Federal Budget;
● Participation in public consultations and preparation of written submissions on significant
legislation and policy that relates to arts and artists;
● Coordination of an arts awareness campaign during the federal election; and,
● Collaboration with other like-minded organizations and groups.
Guiding Principles
- We support equity and diversity in all aspects of the arts with the full inclusion of Indigenous, Black, racialized, the deaf and disabled, those in northern Canada and its regions
- We advocate on federal-level issues within Canada.
- We advocate for the betterment of the arts and culture sector, on behalf of artists and arts organizations.
- We aim to achieve broad-reaching consensus. We identify and rally behind major opportunities and issues that affect the professional arts sector. On occasion, we may support a policy recommendation that benefits a single or a few disciplines, to help ensure the strength and resilience of the overall sector.
- We establish mutually beneficial partnerships with other stakeholders from the culture sector and beyond, to broaden the conversation and to focus our advocacy in the public good.
- We are non-partisan. We seek to establish positive relationships, based on mutual respect, with all political parties. We encourage all parties to engage and collaborate on arts issues.
- We take a positive and constructive approach to advocacy. We acknowledge positive decisions and arts policies and when we provide a critical eye, we also attempt to propose solutions or alternatives.