This fall is all about making the most of Arts Day on the Hill, where representatives from the Canadian Arts Coalition meet with Members of Parliament and government officials to advocate for the arts sector in Canada. On November 19, we will be championing an ask to the Federal government for a permanent allocation of 1% of government funding to the arts, culture, and heritage sector in Canada.

We need your help!

Wherever you are this fall or on Arts Day, November 19, you can help amplify the Canadian Arts Coalition’s objectives and budget ask by meeting with your local politicians and helping spread the message. We have one guide to help you do this throughout the fall, and a second guide dedicated to making an impact with Arts Day on the Hill. Please download and share them in your community. Let’s make history and secure 1% for the arts!

The contents of each resource guide are included below.

Fall Advocacy Guide

(download social posts here in English, et en Français ici

The Canadian Arts Coalition invites you to be part of a movement this fall!

Let’s talk about Arts and Culture!

Let’s make history together

The Canadian Arts Coalition, representing artists and arts organisations across Canada, calls on the Federal Government to adopt a permanent 1% funding commitment to the arts, culture and heritage in Canada.

To achieve this for the 2025-26 fiscal year, we ask that the Government increase its allocations by $270 million, or 1% of federal spending,via:

a. An increase of $140 million to the Canada Council for the Arts; and

b. An increase of $130 million to the Department of Canadian Heritage.

This would result in a more sustainable and vibrant arts and culture sector serving Canadians in and through the arts for generations.

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Take a meeting, make a difference

This fall, we are asking artists and allies who care about culture in Canada to spend time with both Members of Parliament and prospective candidates. We need to speak with one voice to ask them to commit to a permanent allocation of 1% of Canada’s overall spending to arts, culture and heritage through immediate increases to the Canada Council for the Arts and the Department of Canadian Heritage. This spending will revitalise and sustain activity which is integral to the economic, social, and cultural health of our communities.

The Canadian Arts Coalition has created this toolkit so you can easily welcome your local politicians to see why the arts matter nationally and to understand that culture is a part of every constituency.

Please invite both sitting and potential MPs to your cultural events and get to know them, and have them get to know why what you do matters.

Together, we are the storytellers of our neighbourhoods and our nation.

If we each speak with our Parliamentarians and candidates as neighbours this fall and winter, we can help all the politicians from coast to coast to coast understand the role that artists and arts organisations play in every single community of Canada.

Let’s make these moments matter.

Don’t forget to follow the Canadian Arts Coalition on all your socials!

Follow our five steps to make new neighbourhood allies and get to 1% for the arts!

Step 1: Look up your MPs here (www.ourcommons.ca/members/en) and candidates for all parties if you can. Not all parties will have candidates for every riding yet, but this work will continue.

Step 2: Invite sitting members and candidates to your facility, gallery, studio, performances, and events this fall. Thank them for coming out and talking with you and ask them to keep coming to cultural events and to pledge their support or the 1% call.

Step 3: Tell the story of the arts in your community and ask your guests to support the national call for 1% for the Arts! Use this guide to give you some national perspective, but also tell your story – for example:

• How long have you lived in the riding,
• Do your kids go to school there,
• Pick a couple of stories of your impact – something meaningful to you that you can share that connects culture to community in a local way.
• Point out that your story is repeated in unique and powerful ways in every constituency across the country – that arts and culture matter and need meaningful federal investment, and that the call for 1% would make a sustainable and lasting impact on our Canadian culture for a generation.

Step 4: Invite sitting members and candidates to all your gallery, studio, facility, and your performances and events this fall.

Step 5: Take a photo (that does not include any sloganeering clothing) and post about their visit on Social Media. Use the hashtags #1percentforthearts #artmatters #canadianartscoalition #canadacouncilforthearts #artsfunding #artsallies #artscoalitionca #bringingtheartstolife and tag @artscoalitionca @canada.council Let the Canadian Arts Coalition know how your meeting went here.

Other Ideas to get the movement going across Canada!

• If you have a facility, invite local artists to come to events where your candidates will be so they can be part of this movement.
• If you are an independent artist and you feel shy about doing this on your own, reach out to an arts venue (e.g. gallery, theatre, community centre where arts is a focus), and ask if you can do something together.
• If you have a program for performances or recitals, consider including a call for this movement with a call to action for your patrons or members.
• Write a letter to your MP and Candidates, with a copy to the Federal Minister of Heritage.

Want to find out more about the Canadian Arts Coalition?

Join us! Become a member and add your voice to the movement

Some things to know!

Canadian Arts and Culture produce vibrant and meaningful ways of connecting Canadians to each other and to the world. With individual artists, craftspeople, musicians, writers, filmmakers and all the organizations that make arts and culture in every single community in Canada, we impact the lives of every Canadian.

There are more workers in the arts, culture, and heritage than in hospitals, wholesale trade, farms, and real estate. There were over 900,000 workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations in Canada in 2021! We are central to our communities, also offering social outreach, cultural education, community integration, and reflect the diversity of Canada.

We work with funders at all levels of government including (but not limited to) the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage and others to create jobs, educate and engage our communities and this investment from Government is repaid many times over through meaningful employment, social engagement, tax dollars and community vibrancy.

Canadian Artists are taxpayers and business people, and non profit arts and culture organizations bring tremendous value and employment to their communities.

A majority of Canadians over 15 years old actively have participated both in consuming culture products, and in engaging directly in artistic activities (drawing, making music, etc) in the past year.

What’s YOUR story? Name the impact in your community.

Artists aren’t a special interest – we are Canada.

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Arts Day on the Hill Advocacy Guide

On November 19, 2024, 13 representatives of the Canadian Arts Coalition will be on Parliament Hill to meet with policy experts and Members of Parliament to put forward an ask on behalf of the Canadian arts sector.

This ask is that the Government of Canada permanently allocate at least 1% of its overall spending towards arts, culture, and heritage every year.

To achieve this for the 2025-26 fiscal year, the Government should increase its allocations by $270 million, specifically:

• An increase of $140 million to the Canada Council for the Arts; and
• An increase of $130 million to the Department of Canadian Heritage.

In advance of the Canadian Arts Coalition’s 2024 Arts Day on the Hill, we have created a guide to provide members with an advocacy engagement toolkit to support the Coalition and the Canadian arts sector from coast to coast.

The support and participation of members who will remain in their communities is essential as it further demonstrates the national scope in Coalition membership and unity.

Click the image below to download the guide for your organization or community.

The guide contains the following information:

Arts Day on the Hill Objectives:

1. Introduce the Canadian Arts Coalition to key stakeholders in the federal government conveying the Coalition’s mission, activities, and priorities. This includes Members of Parliament, Ministers, senior political staff, Senators, and department officials.
2. Increase sector awareness of the Coalition’s ongoing advocacy efforts through increased engagement on social media.
3. Chronicle what’s happening on the ground in real-time.
4. Promote and push our pre-budget submission.

The Ask:

That the Government of Canada permanently allocate at least 1% of its overall spending towards arts, culture, and heritage every year.

To achieve this for the 2025-26 fiscal year, the Government should increase its allocations by $270 million, specifically:

• An increase of $140 million to the Canada Council for the Arts; and
• An increase of $130 million to the Department of Canadian Heritage.

What Can I Do?

In advance of Arts Day on the Hill, all members are asked to upload photos to the Google Drive by Friday, October 25, 2024. This may include recent advocacy efforts, meetings with elected officials, photos of elected officials and politicians at your events, or photos from previous Arts Day on the Hill. Please share any photos, videos, and content related to Arts Day with Annyse Hawkins (annyse.hawkins@paainc.ca).

 

How Should I Engage on Social Media?

• Share Coalition Social Media Posts

Beginning on Friday, October 18th the Coalition will begin posting weekly on all social media platforms. To increase visibility and engagement we ask that Coalition members who have the capacity to share/re-post do so from both their personal and organization/association accounts.

• Comment & Like

Positive comments and engagement provide us with the opportunity to boost the recognition and impact of the Coalition. When individuals/organizations outside of the membership engage with our social media posts it will be important to like/respond to them. Coalition accounts are:

Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn

• Post from your personal or organization’s accounts

All posts should be accompanied by at least one image or video.

We want the message to align with our objectives and convey the advocacy goals of the Coalition, our support for the sector, and push our ask for 1% of Government spending to the arts.

• Use Canadian Arts Coalition Arts Day Hashtags

#ArtsDay2024

#CdnPoli

• Tag Your Politicians

Name	Social Media Handles
Canadian Arts Coalition	X: @ArtsCoalitionCa LinkedIn: @Canadian Arts Coalition Instagram: @artscoalitionca Facebook: Canadian Arts Coalition
Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance	X: @cafreeland LinkedIn: @Chrystia Freeland Instagram: @chrystiafreeland Facebook: @Chrystia Freeland
Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage	X: @PascaleStOnge_ LinkedIn: @Pascale St-Onge Instagram: @pascale.stonge Facebook: @Pascale St-Onge Brome-Missisquoi
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister	X: @JustinTrudeau LinkedIn: @Justin Trudeau Instagram: @justinpjtrudeau Facebook: @Justin Trudeau
Damien Kurek, Conservative Shadow Minister for Canadian Heritage	X: @dckurek LinkedIn: @Damien C. Kurek Instagram: @dckurek Facebook: @Damien C. Kurek
Martin Champoux, Bloc Québécois Critic for Heritage, Arts and Culture	X: @martchampoux LinkedIn: @Martin Champoux Instagram: @martinchampouxbq
Niki Ashton, New Democratic Party Critic for Canadian Heritage	X: @nikiashton Instagram: @nikiashtonmp Facebook: @Niki Ashton

Social Media Dos and Don’ts

• It is essential that the Coalition and its members remain non-partisan. Posts will not favour or criticize one party over another.
• It is important to remain politically neutral, both in person and when engaging in online posts.
• Do discuss the impact, history, and mission of the Coalition.
• Do discuss the topics of meetings and statements that Coalition members have said. For example: We asked the Minister of Canadian Heritage to implement our ask of 1% spending.
• Don’t name a Member of Parliament and mention any promises, commitments, or specific comments made during the meeting. (Further explained under Chatham House Rule below.)

What are Chatham House Rules?

While not officially the rule for social media, the custom in Ottawa is to maintain the Chatham House Rule in all social media posts. Under the Rule, participants are free to use the information they have received but are not allowed to identify the affiliation or the identify of the speaker.

Example of what not to do : “In a meeting with Member of Parliament Andrew Walker, he stated that he and his government are supporting an increase to the Canada Council and the sector broadly.”

Members can share if, during their meetings, a Member of Parliament indicated their support for the sector’s ask for an increase to the Canada Council, but should not identify any Member by name.

This rule includes statements made during the reception or in meetings that members have, even outside of Arts Day, that they would like to post online.

Questions?

If you have any questions before or during Arts Day on the Hill, please contact Annyse Hawkins (annyse.hawkins@paainc.ca) or (647-883-2464).

Thank you for your advocacy!