The federal Liberal party’s election platform has received positive reviews from the local arts community. On Sunday (April 3), the party released its 98-page election platform online, and devoted one page to arts and culture.

In addition to doubling the annual budget of the Canada Council for the Arts from $180 million to $360 million over the next four years, the party says it will restore the PromArt and Trade Routes programs that were eliminated in 2008 by the Conservatives, and increase their funding to $25 million. The Liberals also pledged to create a domestic tours program and provide the CBC and Radio-Canada with “stable and predictable funding”.

Amir Ali Alibhai, the executive director of the Alliance for Arts and Culture, called the platform promising. “Those things are definitely in line with what the arts community has come out in support of, in terms of initiatives,” he said. “Any increased funding to the Canada Council for the Arts benefits all the provinces, including B.C., and with the provincial supports that are drying up it becomes even more important that that be available.”

The cancellation of the PromArt and Trade Routes programs has had a tangible effect, Alibhai noted. “We’ve seen a contraction of foreign and international touring, and the opportunities for that for Canadian artists. We’ve also seen modest small increments of increased funding to the Canada Council, but nowhere near what the organization really needs to meet the growing arts [community] in the country.”