The following is from the Canadian Arts Coalition website.
HERE’S A STORY WE ALL SHARE…
The date was February 12, 2010 and Canadians were settling in for a live broadcast from Vancouver, British Columbia. That night, through the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Canada told its story to 67.5 million people around the world - and we did so through the arts.
For that brief moment, every Canadian watching that night was engaged in a collective imagining of how, through the arts, their story of Canada might be told.
THE ARTS DEFINE US.
They give depth and meaning to our lives. The arts celebrate our humanity, broaden our horizons, demonstrate our openness. They are a civic right and a beacon for our future. They enhance our children’s experience of the world, feed their imaginations and their intellects, and help them to grow into responsible, well-rounded citizens. The arts are an important segment of our society and our economy. Internationally, our arts and artists promote Canada’s reputation as a dynamic, prosperous, inclusive and fair society.
We know that our artists are inventive and generous storytellers. We also know that the beneficial impacts of the arts –social, creative and economic – are best sustained by an economic model that balances private and public investment. Public investment enables greater access to the arts in our schools, libraries, galleries, museums, cultural centres, and at community events, and more affordable performances for adult and school-aged audiences alike.
Our artists are among our best ambassadors to countries around the world. They help build our international reputation as a dynamic, prosperous, inclusive and fair society. Enlightened govern- ment policy and investment is critical to the distribution of Canadian stories around the world.
To achieve this vision, and to catalyze Canada’s creative economy, during this election campaign the Canadian Arts Coalition is asking all parties to sustain and, over time, increase federal investment in the arts by an additional $120 million annually through the Canada Council for the Arts; and acknowledge the role that Canadian artists and artistic innovation can play in enhancing Canada’s international reputation, by embracing cultural diplomacy and investing in international market access and development initiatives that will bring Canadian artistsad artistic innovation to the world stage.
THE NUMBERS TELL THE STORY
The arts and culture sector contributed $85 billion to Canada’s GDP in 2007 (7.4% of Canada’s real GDP).
SOURCE: Valuing Culture: Measuring and Understanding Canada’s Creative Economy, Conference
Board of Canada, 2008
The cultural sector generated approximately $25 billion in taxes for all levels of government in 2007. This is more than three times higher than the $7.9 billion that was spent on culture by all levels of government in 2007.
SOURCE: Valuing Culture: Measuring and Understanding Canada’s Creative Economy, Conference
Board of Canada, 2008
The cultural sector has about 600,000 workers, which is about double the level of employment in the forestry sector in Canada (300,000) and more than double the level of employment in Canadian banks (257,000).
SOURCE: A Statistical Profile of Artists in Canada : Based on the 2006 Census, Hill Strategies
Research, 2009
In 2005, two thirds of Canadians read a book (66.6%), one in two attended a performance by professional artists or a cultural festival (48.8%), and one in four visited an art gallery (26.7%).
SOURCE: General Social Survey, Statistics Canada, 2005
In 2008, Canadians spent more than twice as much on live performing arts ($1.4 billion) than on sports events ($0.65 billion).
SOURCE: Survey of Household Spending, Statistics Canada, 2008
The arts are important for personal health and well-being, having an impact on personal confidence, sense of control, social connectedness, education, and ensuring supportive physical environments.
SOURCE: Arts and Culture in Medicine and Health: Survey Research Paper, Cooley & Associates,
2003
The Canadian Arts Coalition is a national, non-partisan movement made up of business leaders and arts philanthropists, sponsors and volunteers, artists and arts organizations. We are united in the belief that the future of our citizens, their towns and cities, and indeed, the nation itself depends on access to a rich, vibrant and diverse arts community.
email/courriel: info@canadianartscoalition.com
Twitter: @artscoalitionca
Hashtag: #artsvotecan
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/artscoalition
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