Arts purse strings loosened ahead of federal budget

Heritage Minister Bev Oda has made a flurry of arts funding announcements in the past week, ahead of Monday's federal budget.

On Friday, she had $389,000 for Toronto's Harbourfront Centre and $316,167 for Vancouver record company Mint Records.

Harbourfront got the money to upgrade facilities in its three theatres. The funding is in addition to $25 million over five years announced in May 2006.

Mint Records is to use the funding to record Canadian artists.

That followed on the heels of an announcement Thursday of $9.3 million for the cultural sector in the Greater Toronto Area, with the lion's share of it going to the town of Markham.

Markham got $954,500 to upgrade performance facilities at the Markham Theatre for Performing Arts and to improve the conditions of the Markham Museum storage building.

It is the second whack of cash announced this week in the federal riding of Oak Ridges-Markham, with the prime minister offering $225 million for land conservancy on Wednesday.

The riding is held by Liberal MP Lui Temelkovski, but with an election looming, the Tories may be hoping to move on Toronto area ridings.

On Thursday, Oda, MP for nearby Durham riding,also announced $5.9 million for 47 Ontario book publishers to expand their promotional activities and reach new markets.

The grants include $597,359to KidsCan Press, $439,858to Firefly Books and $420,419 to McClelland & Stewart.

Much of the cash is being given under long established Heritage Ministry programs, which traditionally give a round of grants in the spring including Book Publishing Industry Development and Arts Presentation Canada.

Among the Toronto-area arts organizations getting grant money:

• Chamber Concerts Canada: $100,000 for a series of new music concerts.
• Northern Visions Independent Video and Film Association: $50,000 for an annual spring festival for independent film and video.
• Ontario Campus and Community Impresarios: $50,000 for the Fresh Start IV Programfor emerging artists.
• Young People's Theatre: $50,000 for professional theatre productions.
• Living Arts Centre in Mississauga: $40,000 for two performance series aimed at emerging Canadian performers and youth audiences.
• Factory Theatre Lab: $34,000 for two performance series in Toronto.
• Association for Native Development in the Performing and Visual Arts: $25,000 for a music festival in Toronto.
• Dusk Dances: $25,000 for a two-week summer dance festival in Toronto.
• Summerworks Theatre Festival: $20,000 for an annual summer juried theatre festival.
• Southern Currents Film and Video Collective: $18,000 for a multi-disciplinary festival of Latino culture.

Conspicuously absent was any funding to top up the capital budgets for high-profile cultural building projects such as the Four Seasons Performing Arts Centre or the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.

On Wednesday, Oda had $60,000 for the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts to support its 2007-2008 season, and made two additional announcements of money for Acadian publisher Bouton d'or Acadie and research libraries.

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is to deliver a budget on Monday and, with the Tories making funding announcements across the country,analysts are saying allsigns point to a spring election.