'Such small potatoes': Actor, tourism operator bemoan budget cuts
A tourism operator and a film maker are warning government that cuts to arts funding in the 2016 provincial budget are shortsighted.
The Department of Business, Tourism, Culture and Regional Development had its budget cut by about $5-million, the equivalent of a kilometre of highway, according to John Fisher, owner of Fisher's Loft in Port Rexton.
"The crazy thing about cuts to the arts, for the most part, is that it's such small potatoes," said Fisher. "The number of dollars we actually save, it is so miniscule, it is almost not noticeable."
Fisher said politicians and civil servants need to be educated about why the arts are so important.
"I think most of us in Newfoundland and Labrador know we have to have a smaller government, but surely to God we can find a way to cut things, and make a leaner government, but still retain our commitment to the arts," he said.
"If we are cutting creativity off at the path, I think the long-term future for this province is grim."
Big payoff
The government has also reduced the grant to the Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation by $1.3-million.
"Any cut to the film development corporation alarms me because that fund actually requires 70 per cent of outside investment in order for anyone to access the 30 per cent they can get here," said actress, writer and film maker, Ruth Lawrence.
"So, it's like saying, 'We don't want your money.'"
Lawrence said the benefits of featuring the province in a film or TV program are long lasting.
"Those benefits pay off for years," said Lawrence. "Look at Random Passage."
"I still have people staying at Fisher's Loft because they saw The Shipping News," said Fisher.
"What puts the province on the map, is the work of creative people," he said. "Look at those commercials we have. That's creative work."
Different approach
Fisher said he fears that cutting the arts will dampen interest in tourism, at a time when bookings from outside the province are way up.
He would take a very different approach
"I would dramatically ramp up the funding for the arts, because it is an investment in the future of this place."
"All of the other stuff that we do, from the fishery to hi-tech, it all gets bound together, ultimately, by the arts," he said "It gives it a soul and a purpose."
Lawrence said she doesn't understand the government's thinking.
"When you are in tough times, you don't cut the things that are making money. That would be a terrible business decision on my part as an artist."
"If you take the culture out of Newfoundland," she said, "who would want to live here?"
As for tourism, "I really think you are going to see the biggest losses in the at-home, staycation people, because they are really not going to be able to afford it," she added.
"Living on an artist's income, it is certainly going to impact me pretty broadly. I'll be making less money, and I'll have less money to spend on the things I like to do, like going out to see other arts events."
With files from Weekend AM