The Kevin Files: play nice advises the alliance

The Vancouver-based Alliance for Arts and Culture has posted on their blog that they had a meeting earlier this week with Kevin Krueger, Minister for Tourism, Culture and some other portfolio we can't quite remember the name of right now...

In the posting, the Alliance termed the meeting as "frank" and "productive" and the Minister confirmed his - and the Premier's - commitment to the arts. The Minister also held out the possibility of roundtable discussions with the arts community in the future.

The Alliance concluded with a plea to the arts communities to be polite and respectful in their approaches and dealings with the Minister. They also described him as an important ally in the Legislature.

I would never advocate that anyone be rude or aggressive in their dealings with any one individual, whoever they are. However I think there needs to be some awareness of the true situation we find ourselves in right now.

When Vancouver was "awarded" the Olympics, we all knew there would be an increase in public funding for the arts (cultural activities being a requirement of the IOC); we also knew that once the Olympics left town that the funding would be dramatically reduced (for further info see: 1986, Expo).

From the Government's point of view, funding has returned to "pre-Olympic" levels. The Government can - quite reasonably - claim that they met their obligations to the IOC and that the arts communities in BC had a few years of bumper funding (if you could twist yourself into the right kind pretzel to get the cash that is). After the Olympics, it’s back to business as usual. So why complain?

I'm sure this was the Minister's point of view when he made his initial comments. 

I'm sure that the Alliance did have a frank discussion with Kevin Krueger. I also imagine that he's a really nice guy. I've met a number of politicians over the years - from across the political spectrum - and to a person they've all be engaging and charming. They've also been able to furrow their brows and nod their heads and say "I understand" to whatever constituent was making a representation to them.

I believe that the truth of the matter is that even if the Minister had been a ballerina before entering politics, we would still be in the same place. Krueger may be able to agitate for the arts at the cabinet table. He might be able to make impassioned speeches about the value of culture to our lives but – to be blunt – that wasn’t what he was hired to do. He was hired to oversee the reduction in spending on arts and culture in this province after an usual spending spree. 

When Gordon Campbell called Krueger into his office and offered him the Ministry, this was part of the package: this was one of the jobs he was tasked to undertake.

Does that mean we should give up? Hell no. It means that we should redouble our efforts. We have to continue to embarrass this Government over its – if you’ll excuse the expression – provincial attitude towards the arts. If they want to govern a dynamic province, they need to support a dynamic cultural sector.

The arguments need to be aggressive but they also need to be concise and focused and completely free of any sense of entitlement.

Is Kevin Krueger an ally in making these arguments? I sure hope so. Just remember, that wasn’t what he was hired to do.