For many, loss of funding means ‘being shoved further into the margins’
Illustration by Neha Saxena.
On Dec. 12, the City of Victoria released a report outlining potential budget cuts. Included in the proposed cuts, which will attempt to lower a nine per cent property tax, are multiple arts and culture programs, such as the Poet Laureate and Youth Poet Laureate, the Butler Book Prize and Children’s Book Prize, the Pro Art Alliance, Theatre SKAM, and the Victoria Music Strategy (VMS).
These budget cuts, which will be finalized in 2026, have resulted in outcry from the local art community. Leda Shields, program coordinator for the Ministry of Casual Living (MoCL), said that based on a survey conducted after the proposal was announced, the morale of Victoria’s artists is low. Fear of isolation, inaccessibility for low income and marginalized artists, less queer spaces, and lack of safety were other concerns, according to Shields.
“The fears aren’t only around the loss of grants and exhibition space,” said Shields. “They are rooted in fear of losing connection to community and [being] shoved further into the margins in a climate that is already challenging for artists.”
The report’s proposal to increase the Victoria Police Department (VicPD) budget — while arts funding gets slashed — has also drawn criticism. Set separately from the city is a 3.5 per cent increase to the VicPD’s budget, or seven million dollars. The Poet Laureate and Youth Poet Laureate currently cost $8 000 each annually.
Laura-Beth McDonald, founder of the now-dissolved Esquimalt Community Arts Hub (ECAH), said that mentorship of emerging artists is invisible work, and ECAH’s biggest contribution.
For every festival, concert, gallery, exhibit, play, or book produced by Victoria artists, months if not years of prior work must be done — and supported.
“The potential Taylor Swifts of the world start in high school programs [and] in church choirs,” said Doug Jarvis, Administrator at the ProArt Alliance of Greater Victoria.
“Not everyone can afford music lessons or go into university or college programs,” Jarvis explains. “All of that takes nurturing.”
The report states that some programs, like the Poet Laureate and Youth Poet Laureate, have opportunities to receive funding from other sources, like the Capital Regional District (CRD). But applying for CRD grants can be competitive, as multiple municipalities vie for funding from the same pool.
Matt Dell, City of Victoria councillor, says putting funding for arts programs on the chopping block also disregards the economic value they bring to Victoria.
“Arts funding is [an] affordability policy,” said Dell. “[It] lets people do affordable things in their own city. We fund 45 not-for-profit festivals. You go downtown in the summer, there’s maybe a Caribbean Music Festival, an African Festival, Ska Fest, all these things that allow you to do something in the city for relatively cheap — or for free.”
Matthew Payne, artistic and executive director of The Other Guise Theatre Society, said the last time the arts suffered major cuts was in 2008-2009 — and Victoria lost many emerging artists to municipalities where they felt more support.
“Staff members have worked with members of our community to develop these programs over a number of years…. When I see those things come on the radar for cuts, I just go, ‘Oh my goodness, we are really losing some institutional work if the cuts go through.’” said Payne.
Dell may have said it best: “If a local government is not supportive of the arts, you are not going to have a strong arts community.”
