The Ministry of Housing and Social Development’s decision to cut close to $20 million in Direct Access gaming grants to arts organizations will have widespread repercussions, according to the Alliance for Arts and Culture’s executive director, Amir Ali Alibhai.

He noted that many small community groups are not eligible for B.C. Arts Council funding: “That leaves out all of the community-based amateur groups that have a social mission, and that is frightening.”

Those concerns were echoed by NDP culture critic Spencer Herbert. “There’s a number of folks who got gaming funds and were not and cannot get onto the B.C. Arts Council,” he said. “The B.C. Arts Council, its focus is on professional work.”¦To think of one example, the Korean Dance Festival, they would be able to get gaming [funds], but because they rely so much on volunteers they were not able to get B.C. Arts Council funding.”

And while gaming money does not make up the bulk of funding for larger professional groups, Alibhai noted that it plays an important role in securing additional support. “Because they [arts organizations] can count on it [gaming funds], it’s possible to leverage it against other levels of government and against private sponsorship,” he explained. “Very often it provides the cash flow that’s necessary to survive.”

Max Reimer, artistic managing director of the Playhouse Theatre Company, said that although his organization will not be hit hard by missing gaming grants, he’s concerned for smaller groups—in particular, Victoria’s Belfry Theatre and the Firehall Arts Centre in Vancouver, with which he is collaborating on upcoming productions. “The ones that we’re most concerned about are projects that we have in partnership with other companies that do get large gaming funds,” he said. One of the Playhouse’s upcoming coproductions with the Firehall, Where the Blood Mixes, is part of the 2010 Cultural Olympiad. “One of the things the Olympics has done is try to connect with the community, with all the various producers large and small, and they’ve got a lot of projects with smaller and mid-sized companies, and they may have difficulty delivering,” he warned, adding: “We’re able to multiply the effect of money, because support for one organization feeds all organizations. We’re able to combine and share resources.”¦Just as the money has a multiplier effect coming into the system, it will have a multiplier effect coming out. That’s the part I’m really bracing for.”

Alibhai also pointed out that many groups, including the Alliance, will be forced into deficit this year, making it more difficult for them to secure funding from other levels of government. “Canada Council and Canadian Heritage, much of the funding they give is based on their fiscal responsibility,” he said. “Many groups that were running quite responsibly, counting on money that had been promised to them until very recently, are now going to be in deficit, and they will not appear to be fiscally responsible to these other funders.”

On August 28, arts groups whose gaming grants had been frozen were informed via e-mail that their grants had been denied, including those organizations with multiyear funding commitments. Some were later informed that they had been approved for B.C. Arts Council funding, which would be dispensed through B.C. Gaming channels. A ministry representative confirmed to the Straight on August 31 that the government is essentially rolling gaming grants and B.C. Arts Council grants into a single application process. However, the B.C. Arts Council budget has not been increased accordingly.

“Basically, it’s almost a 70-percent cut to the arts if you think about it,” said Alibhai. “If you cut all the gaming grants, and you’ve cut 40 percent or whatever of the normal grants, then it adds up.”

A request for an interview with Housing Minister Rich Coleman was denied.

After this story was edited and sent to the printer for the September 3-10 edition of the Georgia Straight, Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman announced that the province would fully fund three-year gaming-grant commitments. The ministry's news release did not clarify if any gaming-grant money would be clawed back from the B.C. Arts Council, which received $10.9 million in grants.