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Advocacy

BC Election Arts and Culture Advocacy

BC Live is part of the BC Coalition of Arts, Culture, and Heritage, 30+ organizations representing thousands of arts, culture, and heritage organizations in every region and more than 188 communities in BC. View the Election Engagement Toolkit to share this message with your local candidates. The Coalition has developed a government relations and advocacy action plan for our sector with the following requests for provincial support:

For a nearly 20-year period between the early 2000s and the late 2010s, BC’s provincial government invested less in culture than any other province in the country. Actions have been taken by the province in recent years and through the pandemic to remedy this chronic underinvestment, however, the compounding impact of COVID-19, high inflation, and a general affordability crisis threaten to erase any gains we’ve made in the past five years.

We call upon the Government of BC to fulfill its 2017 election promise to double the BC Arts Council’s budget and raise this amount to $55 million to account for inflation. Increasing the annual BC Arts Council budget to $55 million will provide a valuable long-term investment in BC’s arts, culture, and heritage community.

On the ground in communities, the sector continues to rely on pandemic-focused support to sustain its existence – special one-time BC Arts Council funding delivered in 2023 prevented catastrophic closures in our sector. We understand that pandemic-level investments are not intended as a sustainable, long-term plan, but these funds have been a lifeline for a sector that has been in crisis long before the pandemic.

We call upon the Government of BC to maintain the current financial, pandemic-recovery funding ($34.5 million annually) to be distributed by the BC Arts Council and its partner agencies, in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 fiscal years. In the immediate term, maintaining COVID-era investments helps to stabilize the sector and ensure the survival of our cultural organizations and events until longer-term plans can be put in place.

No matter how hard individual artists or cultural organizations work, the system in BC that has been built over decades does not work – it inevitably leads to burnout and the slow impoverishment of our province’s cultural legacy.

We call upon the Government of BC to work with our sector to initiate an inclusive and resourced action plan development process that will create a new vision for the sector, along with sustained funding models supported by economic and infrastructure development planning. An action plan for our sector will leverage the impact, creativity, and innovation of BC’s arts, culture, and heritage sector to build a sustainable, healthy, and resilient future to support all British Columbians.

Campaign to Renew BC’s Fairs, Festivals & Events Fund

Join us in advocating for the renewal of the BC Fairs, Festivals, and Events (BCFFE) Fund.

Established by the Province of BC in 2021, the BCFFE Fund was a one-time fund that was a lifeline for event organizations struggling to overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, the fund was renewed to address rising costs, decreased revenue and sponsorships, and increased equipment expenses, and supported 1,172 organizations across 184 communities.

Throughout 2024, we’ve engaged with arts organizations across the province to gather valuable feedback. Based on these conversations, we are campaigning for the Government of BC to renew this vital fund with three key action points in mind:

  1. Annual Fund with Multi-Year Support: Establish the BCFFE as an annual fund with multi-year support to provide stability for long-term event planning and growth.
  2. Reinstate 2023 Funding Levels: Restore funding to 2023 levels, $30 million, to address current challenges and ensure equitable support.
  3. Administer the Fund through a Third Party for Equitable Distribution: To enhance transparency, objectivity, and fairness in fund allocation, it is crucial to manage the fund through an independent third-party organization.

Support the Renewal Campaign

We need your support! We’ve created template letters for both your organization and your patrons. Please download, personalize, and send these letters to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, and Sport and to your local MLA. Please CC festivals@bclive.ca on your advocacy emails.

#FutureOfLIVE

BC Live was one of many active partners in the #FutureOfLIVE Campaign with CAPACOA, the Canadian Live Music Association, and the Canadian Independent Music Association, advocating for increased investment of funding from the federal government.

This robust campaign delivered results for the touring and presenting sector. The Federal Budget 2024 provides $31 million in supplementary funds over two years to the Department of Canadian Heritage for the Canada Arts Presentation Fund to help support organizations that present professional arts festivals or performing arts series.

This is nearly double the current supplementary funding provided to the program since 2019. The program will now receive $15.5 million annually, up from $8 million.

This funding will benefit nearly 1,600 organizations in every province and territory and contribute to sustaining 78,000 cultural jobs. It will immediately impact artists and their representatives whose Summer, Fall, and Winter tours were still awaiting funding confirmation.

“BCTC wishes to extend its gratitude to the federal government for recognizing the important role festivals and presenters play by significantly boosting the Canadian Arts Presentation Fund. The temporary nature of this funding means we need to continue our joint efforts to advocate for the performing arts.”

– Miriam Manley, Executive Director, BC Touring Council

While none of the supplementary funding has been permanently added to the program’s funding base, this funding offers immediate relief and a significant boost. The program is still set to return to its 2007 funding level in two years. The #FutureOfLIVE coalition and partner organizations will continue to advocate for long-term sustainable funding.