August 15, 2008
Harper Government cuts yet another vital programme
Ottawa —Yesterday the Harper government cut funding to the Canadian Arts and Heritage Sustainability Program (CAHSP), designed to help arts and heritage organizations strengthen their financial footing. The cuts are part of a broader budget cut at the Department of Canadian Heritage amounting to over $40 million annually.
The capacity building component of the program alone provides at least $3 million annually to beneficial projects for museums, galleries and related institutions. Needless to say, this cut will have significant impact on the Canadian museums community. The government has shown little if any support to the arts and heritage sector. In its first month of power, it cut the Museums Assistance Program (MAP) which it classified as “wasteful and inefficient” despite election promises to bring in new funding for museums. Although quiet to comment, the government has been very active this August. The elimination of CAHSP follows a series of surprise cuts to international cultural programs, PromArt, administered by DFAIT and Trade Roots of the Department of Canadian Heritage. Rationale for these cuts was unclear or appears to be driven by ideology. “The funding cut to CAHSP is very bewildering as it truly supported beneficial programs which helped museums and other organizations become more sustainable” said Dr.
John McAvity, Executive Director, Canadian Museums Association. Once again, other than it being part of a wider government review, no clear reasons were given for the program’s elimination. “I can only hope that the Conservative Government has some creative ideas up its sleeve to replace it with something better. We are completely in the dark with this government when it comes to consulting the community before or after slashing such important programs”.
The CMA has sent a letter to the Prime Minister asking for a meeting to discuss possible solutions and to remind the government of the importance of the social and cultural fabric which makes Canada a distinctive nation. A public opinion poll commissioned earlier this year shows that Canadians are overwhelmingly supportive of museums and the federal funding given to them. Some of the results of this poll are available on the CMA website at www.museums.ca.
The last deadline for CAHSP funding will be October 15th, 2008 and all projects must be completed by March 31, 2010. Program details are available on the DCH website at www.Pch.gc.ca 
Read the letter to the Prime Minister. 
For further information:
Dr. John G. McAvity
Executive Director
jmcavity@museums.ca
Monique Horth
Deputy Director
mhorth@museums.ca
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