Election campaigns allow political parties to present their platforms to the people with the goal of being elected, but it is also an important opportunity for society at large to exchange ideas on the key issues that shape our collective future.
It is essential that cultural issues occupy an important place during the current and upcoming election campaigns. At the federal level as well as at the municipal level. For the cultural sector, getting out of the health crisis is already going to be a huge challenge. But it is far from being the only one.
federation
After years of lobbying, the Canadian government should put the C-10 bill back on the agenda and speed its passage through the Senate so that online programming services can be enforced as an incidental contribution as quickly as possible and fund Canadian content. The same goes for checking Copyright Law In order to ensure fair compensation to content creators in the end.
Other issues will also require active action by the government that will be elected on September 20. Consider an adequate giveaway from the National Film Board, Telefilm Canada, and Canada Media Fund, as well as the Canadian Heritage Cultural Infrastructure Program.
Federal action is also visible throughout Montreal. Despite the announcement on August 13, when will there be an organized intervention regarding the implementation of the master plan for the old port and silo 5?
in the municipality
Culture should also be put on the agenda for the November 7 municipal elections. Post-pandemic cultural dissemination, John A. MacDonald’s statue disaster, taxation of artists’ studios, future career of large heritage complexes, cultural future of the East: This short list is only a “sample of important issues” directly related to current events.
Culture: a priority issue
Making room for culture in electoral debates means ensuring that future states, federal and municipal, will contribute effectively to placing arts and culture at the center of the Montreal revival; A revival embodied in a vision of cultural development that unfolds in light of inclusivity and environmental requirements.
And as per its custom, Culture Montreal will ensure through various actions that we will be talking about culture in the coming weeks. First, it launched its program “Culture is campaigning” to re-launch the federal elections, which were dedicated to the municipal elections on September 7.
But cultural issues are for everyone. Let us not forget that culture is also a powerful tool that contributes to the achievement of societal goals. Candidates, residents and the media: Let’s touch on cultural issues in the coming weeks. Our quality of life is at stake in the coming years.
