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1/6/2006 - Dose/Hotspex Arts Poll Results

The importance of arts funding is one issue that hasn't come up yet during the federal election campaign. But while the political parties are strategizing the release of their arts and culture platforms, we went ahead and asked young Canadians what they think. In an online Dose/Hotspex poll, conducted from Dec. 23 and Jan. 4, we asked a little more than 1,000 Canadians ages between 18 to 34 living in all regions of the country how they felt about a number of issues from student loans to same-sex marriage and each day until Election Day, we'll profile a different issue. The majority of young Canadians support continued funding for the arts. When asked if they agree Canada is doing enough to support artists/musicians/writers, 58 percent said yes. The highest number of voters to agree 71 percent were Conservative Party voters, followed by 61.5 percent of Liberal voters and 61 percent of NDP voters. However, roughly 68 percent of Bloc Quebecois voters and nearly 60 percent of Green Party supporters dont agree Canada is doing enough to support artistic talent. Just before the government fell last November, the Liberals announced they would double arts funding to the Canada Council for the Arts to $306 million over the next three years or about $5 per capita. That would still place Canada well below other countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, with similar arts funding councils, according to a CCA comparison study. The Arts Council of England, for example, enjoys more than $24 per capita and in Scotland, home to five million people, the arts council has a budget of $114 million. Only the United States ranks lower, with a paltry $0.51 per capita investment in the arts. The vast majority of respondents 91 percent to the Dose/Hotspex survey also felt Canada should hold a strong position in the world. When asked if being a Canadian citizen is an important part of personal identity, well above 80 percent agreed, except in Quebec, where 71 percent agreed.