Several cultural organizations threatened with closure in the National Capital

Many cultural artists in the Quebec region are struggling to continue their activities due to lack of sufficient funding.

Around fifteen cultural organizations announced the creation of the Common Front for the Arts. The slogan: Our culture deserves better than to be broke. They are asking François Legault’s government to increase the funding granted to the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ), which is responsible for redistributing money to various cultural organizations.

Even if the Minister of Culture and Communications Mathieu Lacombe recalls that the budget of CALQ has increased by 35% since 2010, the reality is more complex and the situation of artisans is more precarious than ever.

Alexandre Fecteau, director and artistic director of the theater company We are here explains that the small increase received this year for his company is far from acceptable. It’s barely an indexinghe said.

The organization grew from $39,000 to $50,000 in seven years. With inflation, we are just as tight as we were and here we have this for the next four years and we don’t see how we will be able to improve our situation.

In recent years and to remedy the lack of financing, the company has launched co-productions with Trident, La Bordée and Porte-Parole. Enriching experiences, but which did not allow the organization to free itself and offer its own creations.

When we made our request to CALQ, we asked the amount we considered it would take us to start producing again on our own explains the director from Quebec. He didn’t receive it.

Alexandre Fecteau launched a cry from the heart in the company’s newsletter on Tuesday to explain the situation to subscribers and recall the consequences of the lack of financing for companies in the region.

For examplePupulus Mordicusa puppet theater company for adults has emptied its workshop and closed its doors. The Incompletesa research, creation and production company specializing in early childhood, has lost two employees.

After 13 years, with the influence we know and the recognition we have acquired, we find ourselves again, Audrey [Marchand] and me, in a situation of hyper precariousness which is the same as eight years agosays Laurence P. Lafaille, co-founder of Incomplete.

We did our homework to see how we could get out of this and within three years, maybe four years […] The company is definitely closing.

Same story with L’Artère, a non-profit organization working to promote the art of dance and movement in the National Capital region. We were happy to be supported for the first time by the Mission program [du CALQ]but we received a third of what we asked forsays Ariane Voineau, dance artist and president of L’Artère. The consequences? We had to cut hours from our employees, we had to cut our activities […] But by spring, if we don’t find funding, we will close.

Alert the public

Director Alexandre Fecteau’s speech in the company’s newsletter We are here aimed to alert the public in the interests of transparency.

We still have a taboo on money, we don’t like being beggarshe explains We prefer to celebrate our successes because we work well in the cultural sector, we do a lot with a little. If we have this pride, that is to say not talking about money and always trying to speak in a positive way, I find that in moments like now it doesn’t work.

The current Regart Artist Center in Lévis also finds itself in a precarious situation. The Center, which has not received any increase in more than 10 years and which has even seen significant amounts cut, has had to cancel exhibitions. This is very bad news for usexplains Claire Goutier, general director of Regart. We have to cut programming, cut our human resources.

We no longer really know how to take it, we wonder if the CALQ take this seriously.

In its letter, the Common Front for the Arts writes that the Quebec government has been decreasing the budget of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec for several years. In the last three budget years, the total budget of the CALQ increased from $185 million in 2022-2023 to $172 million in 2023-2024. It would be $160 million for 2024-2025 and other reductions are expected if nothing is done, according to the Common Front for the Arts.

Different vision of Minister Lacombe

Questioned after the exit of cultural organizations, Minister Mathieu Lacombe rejected the idea that funding is decreasing. I don’t deny that there are challenges. On the other hand, I object to people saying that funding is declining because that is false. Objectively, since 2010, the budget of CALQ has increased by 35%, meanwhile inflation is at 22%.

I’m careful when I talk about thishe adds People who express themselves live realities that belong to them and I will not be the one who denies their reality, I am not the one who will tell them that everything is fine. I understand there remain challenges. I am ready to work on these challenges.

In parallel with the creation of the Common Front for the Arts, 300 artists, including Michel Tremblay, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Lorraine Pintal, signed an open letter Wednesday morning in The Press asking the government to organize a general meeting on culture, an assembly aimed at debating this particular subject in depth.