Tourism, Culture and the Arts Minister Kevin Krueger proclaimed the annual B.C. Arts and Culture Week at an event in Victoria on April 19, but he did not, as expected, make an announcement about how a new $10-million arts legacy fund will be dispersed.

In the provincial budget at the beginning of March, it was announced that there would be $10 million given to arts as part of an Olympics legacy. But because the announcement came at the same time as cuts to core funding and gaming grants, arts groups have called for the money to be given to the arm’s length B.C. Arts Council to oversee.

On March 31, in a legislature debate over budget estimates for the next fiscal year, Krueger said he’d announce how the $10 million would be administered by mid April, and that the arts council and others had been asked to write up proposals.

When no announcement came at the launch, NDP MLA and culture critic Spencer Chandra Herbert told the Straight, “It does concern me that we still don’t know where this money is going. This tells me this was really about public relations and this $10-million fund, rather than a clearly laid-out plan. What does that say about cultural funding in B.C.?”

Krueger’s office did not respond to the Straight’s interview requests.