Support Ontario Arts Council funding level

Councillor Votes

Full Resolution Text

Whereas the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is the province’s largest public granting agency and; Whereas, the Ontario Government is proposing a cut of 15% to the OAC’s annual budget and; Whereas, many organizations and individual artists in Peterborough and Peterborough County receive funding from the OAC and; Whereas, Council received correspondence from the Electric City Culture Council (EC3) requesting support for the advocacy efforts of EC3 and other provincial arts service organizations to maintain the OAC’s funding level and; Whereas, maintaining the OAC’s funding level could help the arts, culture, and tourism sector work towards financial viability as it recovers from the lingering economic aftershocks of the pandemic and; Whereas, the Arts and Culture Advisory Committee passed a motion at its meeting of March 9, 2023 to recommend that Council send a letter to the province in support of the EC3’s advocacy efforts regarding the proposed cuts to the OAC budget; Now therefore be it resolved, that Council direct the Clerk’s Office to send a letter on behalf of the Corporation of the City of Peterborough, addressed to MPP Smith; the Minister of Finance; the Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Sport; and Premier Ford, supporting the request from the EC3 to provide stable funding to the OAC by maintaining their existing funding level.