Ottawa festivals dealing with 'catastrophic' provincial funding cut
Jazz festival says it's already spent much of the $290K it expected from Celebrate Ontario grant
Some festivals in the capital say they've been left reeling after finding out they won't be receiving provincial funding they were relying on.
The Ottawa Jazz Festival lost out on $290,000 it had applied for from the province through the Celebrate Ontario grant. It was notified Friday and called the cut "catastrophic."
"Three weeks before the opening of our event, a loss of this kind, I can't even really begin to describe its impact," said Catherine O'Grady, the festival's executive producer.
The festival has received funding from the grant for the last 13 years and expected to receive money again this year, she said. The money has already been spent on marketing initiatives to attract tourism to the city, she added.
Organizers have been frantically trying to figure out how to make up the loss, which will likely come from layoffs and drawing on savings, she said.
"I just think we're being treated abominably. No other business in the province would accept this decision of this magnitude lying down and say, 'Oh well, too bad, so sad.'"
'A lean festival this year'
Gina Maddalena, who helps organize Ottawa's Italian Week Festival, said that less than a week before its June 6 launch, it's had to cancel appearances by artists from Italy, as well as an opera event, because it didn't get a $10,000 grant it expected from the province.
The festival is also going to start charging money for events that had previously been free.
"It really limits what we can provide from a cultural perspective and limits the artists we can provide. We need to redirect other funding to cover events," she told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning on Wednesday.
"It will be a lean festival this year."
Maddalena said the application process for the Celebrate Ontario program was delayed with the change of provincial government.
She based her expectations on the $9,000 grant the festival got last year, she said.
'Respect for taxpayer dollars'
In an email, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport wrote that the department focused on new and emerging rural, northern, Francophone and Indigenous events, and on festivals that are financially sound.
"We made sure to provide funding to those festivals and events that demonstrate a clear return on investment, respect for taxpayer dollars, and were focused on increasing tourism in the province of Ontario," wrote Brett Weltman.
He added the program got more than 400 submissions this year for a pot of $20 million, and approved a similar number of requests as previous years.
Mayor critical of timing
"Ottawa's festivals are not only important tourism and economic drivers in our city; they also contribute to Ottawa's social fabric and cultural identity," Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson wrote in an emailed statement.
The cuts came two months late, when festival season is already underway, and will harm programming and put some events in jeopardy, he wrote.
The city is working with the Ottawa Festival Network about next steps and looking to speak with the province about the cuts, he added.
With files from Kimberley Molina and CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning