Help save the Arts in BC!

· Restore funding to the BC Arts Council to the 2008-09 levels, and maintain the arms-length relationship with the province by funding it through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and the Arts;
· Restore gaming grants to the 2008-09 levels;
· Find ways to offset the impact of the HST on the arts and culture sector.
 

· The latest budget update shows funding for the arts will be cut by 85% next year;
· Arts and Culture is a $5.2-billion industry in BC; 80,000 people work in the sector;
· Provincial arts funding in BC is the lowest per capita of any province in the country;
· BC is the only province to cut investment in the arts - all other provinces, along with the  
  Federal and US governments, have at least maintained, and in many cases increased, 
  funding as a stimulus measure;
· Every dollar the province invests in the BC Arts Council returns up to $1.36 in tax revenue.