January Arts and Culture Newsletter

As the year begins, Alberta's arts and culture scene is as vibrant as ever, offering a variety of events, exhibitions, and performances to brighten the winter months. In this edition of our newsletter, we highlight what you can expect from my role as the Shadow Minister of Arts and Culture in the upcoming Legislative session.

The Legislature is back in session on February 25^th. The 2025 budget will be tabled soon after and for those who aren’t aware of the process, once the budget is introduced in the Leg we begin what is called “Estimates” – essentially an opportunity ask questions and give direct feedback to each Minister about their budget prior to the official debate in the Leg. 

As part of Estimates, I will take the opportunity to ask Minister Fir about the government’s priorities for the creative sector, and I would encourage anyone to reach out to me with your ideas about helpful avenues I can explore. For example, I’m hearing a lot of interest around the funding of an Alberta Music Commissioner whose focus would be on promoting and retaining local Alberta musical talent, supporting local venues and enhancing the local music ecosystem.

I’d be happy to set up a meeting with you in the coming weeks to hear your thoughts on any improvements to the Arts and Culture sector you’d like me to ask the Minister about. Email me at [email protected]

I’m also anticipating that my Private Members Bill 211, which received 1^st reading in the fall session, will be debated at some point during the spring sitting. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to read the Bill and reach out with your feedback. I will keep you apprised of the timing of the debate and would appreciate you sharing the Bill with your networks to amplify support for this important initiative.

In other news…..

Question Period is an exciting time in the Legislature, and I’m always looking for ideas on questions to ask the government on behalf of constituents and stakeholders. One issue that I will be pursuing is the idea of expanding the Every Kid can Play program that provides subsidies to low income kids to participate in sport and recreational programs. My questions center on including creative educational programming like music, theatre and visual art, similar to what the province of Saskatchewan does. Please reach out with your ideas of how to make Alberta a more inclusive province that values kids who want to explore creative experiences.

In upcoming newsletters we’ll touch on a recap of Film and Television production in 2023-24 (down nearly 20% across Canada), the impact of AI on creative industries and cultural workers, and I’ll share outcomes of budget discussions.

In the meantime, I’m grateful for invitations you might send my way. Please reach out to book a meeting and otherwise stay in touch so together we can continue the work on growing a thriving Arts and Culture sector in Alberta.

Creatively yours,

Joe