Letter co-signed by 58 presidents of boards of directors and submitted to the Committee on Culture, Heritage and Sports as part of the public hearings on the proposed Montreal Cultural Development Policy 2025-2030.
Since November 5, the Montreal population has been invited to express their views on the proposed Montreal Cultural Development Policy 2025-2030. Representing civil society and voluntarily assuming the presidency of the boards of directors of cultural institutions reflecting the Montreal artistic ecosystem, we are uniting our voices today to demand increased investment in arts and culture by the municipal administration, a sine qua non condition for the success of this Policy.
Last month, Toronto showed its ambitions with a 10-year plan and new investments in culture which will provide the Toronto Arts Council with an annual budget of $35 million within five years. If Montreal wishes to maintain its status not only in Quebec, but across Canada and as a French-speaking cultural metropolis of the Americas, it must act.
Without any financial vision to implement its orientations and achieve its objectives, this Policy will not be able to be the major lever of development nor play the mobilizing role with the cultural environment to which it claims. If culture contributes to the quality of life of the population and the arts are real connectors and vectors of change, Montreal must be ambitious, exemplary and deploy means commensurate with a cultural metropolis that is currently weakened.
Given the documented issues facing the cultural sector and the devastating effects of the pandemic, this Policy represents a unique opportunity for Montreal to assert its leadership. For culture to shine and the population to have access to it, the City must increase the budget of its Culture Department and other organizations that it finances, in particular by increasing its annual contribution to the Conseil des arts de Montréal (CAM) to 30 million dollars by 2030, as rightly demanded by professional artistic associations and groups.
The purpose of the CAM being to ensure artistic vitality throughout the island, how can it adequately finance the approximately 725 artistic organizations and collectives who count on this support to meet the challenges of the future?
Witnesses to the reality of our artists and the workforce that surrounds them, witnesses also to their talent which capsizes us, to their resilience which impresses us, to their commitment beyond the practice of their Art, we invite the municipal administration to be sensitive to the recommendations of these consultations which aim to improve the conditions of the creative heart of the metropolis.
Without artists, organizations and cultural entrepreneurship, culture does not exist. Montreal needs a strong and representative creative community, which lives and works in all its boroughs, anchored in our living environments. Artists must maintain their ability to create and dream on our territory.
By investing more, Montreal will be recognized with all the legitimacy and credibility necessary to rally other authorities, public and private, around a strong and unifying common vision. Note that the direct contribution of culture, arts and entertainment to our economy is $9.2 billion, or approximately 6% of GDP (study Montreal, cultural metropolis: protect and develop our cultural assetsCCMM).
Our city is unique in the world! The first source of pride of the Montreal population is its cultural scene, as revealed The Press last October 27. And 800 people from the business, tourism and culture sectors participated in the Forum on performing arts and culture of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal. The energy is there! As leaders, we are committed to contributing our time, our networks and our money to its recovery.
Our priority is therefore unequivocal. As citizens of Montreal, we firmly believe that investing in culture generates human and social benefits that are incalculable for all of our fellow citizens.
The following 58 presidents of the boards of directors signed this letter:
- Mathieu Bouchard (Montreal Arts Council), Vice President, Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Deep Sky
- Jean-Martin Aussant (Technological Arts Society), economist
- Manon Barbeau (Cinémathèque québécoise), filmmaker, co-founder of Wapikoni, founder of Musique nomade
- Jad Barsoum (La Messe Basse), vice-president, institutional affairs, Quebecor
- Mo Belleus (Dynasty Foundation), manager in the financial sector
- Charles Bender (Productions Menuentakuan), co-artistic director
- Stéphane Bertrand (Factory C), president, SB Stratégie
- Caroline Biron (Théâtre du Nouveau Monde), partner, Blake, Cassels & Graydon SENCRL/srl / LLP
- Lucien Bouchard (Montreal Symphony Orchestra)
- Pierre Bourgie (Bourgie Room)
- Rene Branchaud (Opéra de Montréal), partner, lawyer, LAVERY, DE BILLY, SENCRL AVOCATS
- Mariana Castellanos (SBC contemporary art gallery), cultural manager, museologist, specialist in cultural policies, doctoral student at ENAP
- Nathalie Cauwet (Association of parallel cinemas of Quebec), general and artistic director, Rencontre Théâtre Ados
- Alain Chevier (La Cenne, Center-Nord cultural space), director and cartoonist, Barbutène
- Dr Nicolas Chevrier (International Festival of Films on Art – FIFA), psychologist, president Séquoia Psychological Services inc.
- Fabienne Colas (Montreal International Black Film Festival, Haiti en Folie Festival), actress, director, producer, entrepreneur
- Sylvie Cordeau (Théâtre du Rideau Vert), Vice-President, Philanthropy and Sponsorships, Quebecor
- Maurice Cote (Les Grands Ballets Canadiens), regional vice-president, Royal Bank of Canada
- Susan There you (Centaur Theater), CFA
- Natalie Doonan (OBORO, Self-managed artist center), associate professor, Department of Communication, University of Montreal
- Natasha Drouin-Beauregard (The Company of Others), producer, ComediHa!
- Gilles Duceppe (Jean Duceppe Foundation)
- André Dufour (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts), associate, BLG
- Ingrid Enriquez-Donissaint (Vie des arts), brand strategist and co-founder, Pre&ent
- Michael P Wolf (Black History Month), director of the Little Burgundy youth association Youth in Motion
- Maxime Gagne (National Theater School of Canada), Founding Partner, St. Lawrence Law Firm LLP
- Gaëtan Gravel (New modern ensemble – NEM), composer and producer, Le labo de musique
- Annick Guerard (Théâtre Espace Go), President and CEO, Transat
- Patricia Hanigan (Cinéma Beaubien and Cinéma du Parc), ASC, education and governance consultant
- Sarah Houde (House Theater)
- Raphaëlle Huysmans (MUTEK), vice-president and partner, URBANIA
- Claudie Imbleau-Chagnon (Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art), partner, Blake, Cassels & Graydon SENCRL/srl / LLP
- Lesley Johnstone (MOMENTA Contemporary Art Biennale), curator and consultant in contemporary art
- Florence Junca Adenot (Agora de la danse and Canada Youth Foundation), professor of urban studies, University of Quebec in Montreal
- Christopher Kent (Repercussion Theater), Partner, Sectoral Asset Management
- Eric Larochelle (Compagnie Duceppe), president, Larochelle Groupe Conseil
- David Lavoie (Ecosceno)
- Michèle Lefaivre (Festival TransAmériques – FTA), First Director, Legal Affairs | Real assets and shares, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
- Diane Lemieux (La TOHU, city of circus arts)
- Stella Laney (Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui), lawyer
- Patrick Leonard (Les 7 Doigts de la Main), co-founder and artistic director
- Stéphane Létourneau (Montreal BD Festival), executive vice-president, Mila – Quebec Institute of Artificial Intelligence
- Leila Mahiout (Alchemies Creations and Cultures/Montreal Arab World Festival and Orientalys Festival)
- Manuel Mathieu (Montreal, intercultural arts – MAI), multidisciplinary artist
- Imelda Morales Garcia (LatinArte Foundation), financial advisor – IT performance management, Cirque du Soleil Group
- Danny Pagé (Tangente), President and CEO, M3DP Consulting
- Stanley Péan (International Literature Festival), author and presenter
- Ghislain Picard (McCord Stewart Museum), Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador
- Sylvia Plante (Segal Center for Performing Arts), lawyer
- Emmanuelle Poupart (Danse Danse), associate, McCarthy Tétrault
- Louise Roy (Montreal International Musical Competition), OC, OQC, OM, president of the CA, CIRANO
- Eric Ryan (Orchester Métropolitain), executive vice-president, Strategy, Growth and External Relations, AtkinsRéalis
- Damien Siles (Arion Baroque Orchestra)
- Louise St-Pierre (Société de la Place des Arts de Montréal), IAS.A – ICD.D, corporate director
- Philippe Sureau (Outremont Theater Corporation)
- François Taschereau (Compagnie Marie Chouinard), vice-president of corporate communications and public affairs, TC Transcontinental
- Lamine Toure (Productions Nuits d’Afrique), CM, CQ, CALQ
- François Vaqué (Ballets Jazz Montréal), principal, Navigator ltd
Related News :