Wonderbolt is celebrating it’s Thirtieth Anniversary with a fundraising gala at The Majestic Theatre, Thursday April 21st.

Join in for a “Night of Wonder” with great music, comedy, circus acts and incredible auction items. Have an amazing night out and help Wonderbolt continue its acclaimed outreach programs to the youth of our province and our creation of a world class circus based right here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Ticket costs are Adults $25, Seniors and students $20. and children $15.

We also offer a family pass for $65. for four with a maximum 2 adults. Tickets are available at the Holy Heart Box Office Ph. 579-4424

Evoking an enchanting world populated by amazing Tricksters, Newfoundland’s own world class circus is a thrilling ride for all ages. Our show features home-grown internationally renowned aerialist Anahareo White-Malone, who has just returned from a performance in Berlin, along with Josh Oliver from Oregon on aerial straps. The talented cast include Ringmaster Beni Malone, Musical Maestros George Morgan and Bill Brennan, along with Gentlemen Jugglers David Mercer and James Burke. Alley Oop will be returning home from British Columbia for this star studded event, as well as the incredible strong woman, Zinga Zuma (Kat Finck) herself!

As if this were not enough, Wonderbolt will feature a very special guest artist, the world champion hoop dancer, Terrence Littletent, joined on stage with his brother, Jason, who will accompany him on drum.

Don’t miss “Tricksters”, a high-spirited expression of circus arts Beni Malone.

In early May, ACI approached MP Siobhan Coady about the need for an Arts and Culture Town Hall meeting at which cultural producers and audiences could gather in a spirit of cooperation to air their concerns to the Government of Canada. Coady was receptive and invited MP Pablo Rodriguez, Opposition Critic for Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, to attend.

ACI has helped plan and facilitate the June 29th meeting and encourages all of its 1200+ member and associate-member organizations and individuals, as well as any other interested parties not yet affiliated with ACI, to attend. Come voice your Arts and Culture concerns to Ottawa.

When: Monday, June 29, at 7pm
Where: Masonic Temple, 6 Cathedral Street, St. John’s
Who: MP Siobhan Coady, St. John’s South/Mount Pearl, MP Pablo Rodriguez, Opposition Critic for Canadian Heritage and Official Languages
What: Arts and Culture Town Hall

(View this event on ACI’s Cultural Calendar at http://acinl.ca/event/330)

“The cultural industries in Canada account for almost 7.5% of the GDP each year [The Conference Board of Canada]“, says ACI Executive Director George Murray. “The culture sector is a vibrant contributor to our national economic fabric. It is natural that Ottawa would want to consult with sectors in which resource and funding investments yield so much positive growth for all of Canada.”

For more information or comment, please contact ACI Executive Director George Murray at 709.738.4333

ACI is a pan-provincial, pan-cultural not-for-profit organization serving as a unified voice, acting as advocate, and performing research on behalf of professional artists and arts organizations in Newfoundland Labrador. In 2008, ACI celebrates 10 years of advocacy. ACI is continually working to provide a nexus for communications between artists and arts organizations, the government, and the public.

Tickets are available at NIFCO for just $10.00.

c2c Theatre continues its 2008-2009 season with Morris Panych’s Earshot, from February 4th to 8th , 2009. This production is the 3rd offering in ”The Basement Series,” a 4-show partnership between c2c Theatre and the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre.

Earshot is directed by Jordan Canning and features one of Newfoundland’s most talented stage actors, Charlie Tomlinson, in his first one-man show in over 10 years. Tomlinson portrays Doyle, a loner by both choice and circumstance who rarely leaves his run down one-room flat. Afflicted with extra sensitive hearing, he can hear the irritating clatter of one neighbour’s dentures on her fridge as they vibrate or the sensuous sound of another neighbour as she enters her bath.  This cacophony of sound is his world, describing and defining his relationships with those that surround him, separated only by his the thin walls of his squalid apartment.

c2c Theatre was founded in 2003, and  has produced more than 20 plays under Artistic Director Charlie Tomlinson and Associates Sandy Gow and Brad Hodder. Its mandate is to produce modern theatre from around the world, encourage the creation of new works by aspiring artists and to establish an active involvement in the local community.

Earshot runs in The Basement Theatre of the St. John’s Arts & Culture Centre at 8 PM from February 4th to 8th, 2009, with a Pay-What-You-Can matinee 2 PM on February 7th. Tickets are $20 and are available by calling 729-3900. 

Stage Manager George Robertson, Set Designer Shelley Cornick , Lighting Designer Brian Bishop and Sound Designer Jody Richardson,  round out the crew for this professional production.

This time it’s for Jenny Gear’s dad, Steve. He’s very, very sick with colon cancer that has spread. He can’t work, has run out of sick time, going to start getting a small pension. He’s only 54! and their mum is not working so she can take care of him.

Steve is one of the most generous, loving men I have ever met. I’ve seen him empty his freezer for people. And I hardly know of a single fund-raiser where Jenny hasn’t performed for free! So we’re looking for donations of items for raffles and auctions.

We’d love tickets for events, gift certificates, stuff, films, CD’s, your art, your home made whatevers, services… Anything would be appreciated!

We could pick them up or you can drop them off at The Travel Bug, 155 Water Street; phone 738-8284.

And the event is taking place on Friday, February 6th. It’s a TGIF… let us know if you can help, and hope you can come.

There’ll be live music, featuring Jenny Gear, Sandy Morris and more… raffles, live and silent auctions, libations and more… it’s gonna be fun!

* * * * *

TGIF
Friday, Feb. 6th 5pm to 9pm
The Wonderbolt Circus Space
72 Harbour Drive (same door as Eastern Edge Gallery)
Admission $10

If you can’t make it and want to donate, donations can be dropped off at The Travel Bug 155 Water St. 738-8284.

— Gerry Rogers

I’m sure, by now most of you have heard about Suits Do Codco.

It’s a major fundraiser for the LSPU Hall. Various people from the business community and politicians, lawyers, etc. have been invited to act in Codco skits.

We’re being directed by Greg Malone, Mary Walsh and Andy Jones. It’s quite mad!

The shows are Friday and Saturday, Jan 23 & 24th at Holy Heart.

It’s all volunteer work.

The Hall would love to have it video taped. So we are looking for volunteers to do that. Anyone willing and able? Peg & I can’t as we are acting in the show. (Not sure how we ended up in it, we’re NOT SUITS!!!!!!)

If you are mad enough to jump on board please call or email me 728-2161.

It would be great to have at least 2 cameras and then of course that means cutting it together. But if not possible then 1 would do. The sound shouldn’t be too big an issue as we are all going to be mic’ed individually so there’s the possibility of plugging into the board. Then of course some room would be nice!

Looking forward to hearing from some brave souls.

Gerry Rogers
grogers@nf.sympatico.ca

The Political Crisis Almost Eclipses the Economic Crisis

Just the Facts

Canadians witnessed high political drama this past week as the government was challenged with a possible successful non-confidence vote on the Economic Update delivered the preceding week by the Minister of Finance, the Hon. James Flaherty. The creation of a coalition by the Liberal and New Democrat parties, supported by the Bloc Québécois, threatened to defeat the government on December 8, 2008. The political crisis has been forestalled for the time being by the prorogation by the Governor General of the first session of Parliament after a mere two weeks of business.

What does this mean for the business of government? The Prime Minister has now promised that Parliament will reconvene on January 26, 2009 and a new federal budget replete with stimulant measures will be delivered on January 27, 2009. In the meantime, Cabinet retains its full powers to make appointments and to deal with the day to day business of running the government. The main impact of the crisis for the arts and culture sector is that since there was insufficient time for the government to place legislation on the Order Paper, revisions to the Copyright Act are once again in limbo.

The Coalition and the arts and culture sector

On December 1, 2008, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, New Democrat Leader Jack Layton, and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe announced that an agreement had been reached among the three opposition parties to support a cooperative government to address the impact of the global economic crisis on Canadians.

The resulting policy accord includes a proposal “…to provide active stimulus for the economy over the next two years, with a shared commitment to return to surplus within four years” maintaining that the necessity to stimulate the economy “is consistent with the understandings arrived at by all nations in the G20”.

While arts and culture did not figure widely in the proposal, the fact that the sector was mentioned at all in the brief four-page document is of some significance. The following sections are particularly noteworthy for the sector:

Support for culture, including the cancellation of budget cuts announced by the Conservative government;

Accelerating existing infrastructure funding and substantial new investments, including municipal and intergovernmental projects;

Ensuring that the federal government has the appropriate programs in place to assist those most affected by the economic crisis so that all citizens will be in a position to fully participate in the economic recovery to follow;

Facilitate skills training to help ensure Canadian workers are properly equipped to keep pace with the rapidly changing economy, while respecting provincial jurisdiction and existing agreements.

The CCA has already identified three of the four coalition proposals as possible elements of stimulus package.

Tell Me More about the economic crisis

Any attempt to read the tea leaves regarding the Canadian economy is a confusing challenge. In the past few weeks, three different assessments of where the economy is headed have been released by three different sources with three different perspectives!

The Minister of Finance, the Hon. James Flaherty delivered the annual Economic Update in the House of Commons on November 27, 2008. This statement joins that of the Parliamentary Budget Officer and another by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, each of which has delivered prognostications on the performance of the Canadian economy.

The Update includes few measures to stimulate the economy but most surprisingly of all, Minister Flaherty is projecting a balanced budget for this and following years, with a modest surplus of 800 million dollars at the end of the current fiscal year. Hoever, this confident projection has not stopped the Prime Minister’s talk of the likelihood of a deficit in the current fiscal year.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer is a position created by the Conservative government to ensure that Canadians could have access to a fact-based assessment of budgetary issues free from political coloration or interpretation. The Parliamentary Budget Officer’s Economic and Fiscal Assessment projects a balanced budget for 2008-09 but deficits in 2009-10 and 2010-11. These conclusions are based on a number of factors such as real growth in the Gross Domestic Product, decline in Canadian exports and American domestic demand, the reversal of commodity prices and a slowing in the growth of employment.

The Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Alternative Fiscal and Economic Report shares the Prime Minister’s view about the likelihood of a deficit, including closing 2008-09 in the red. They see this trend escalating from a modest deficit at the end of 2008-09 to a 31 billion dollar deficit by 2010-11. The Centre has also developed four different scenarios on which its calculations are based: a slowdown, a minor recession, a recession and a major recession.

It was widely expected that the Minister of Finance would announce spending initiatives to bolster the lackluster economy. The Minister of Finance did announce a program of restraint and spending cuts following a comprehensive review, some fiscal measures to shore up lending institutions’ access to credit, and changes to the rules regarding Registered Retirement Income Funds.The lack of stimuli to the economy drew fire from the Opposition but it was the elimination of the subsidies to the political parties that hardened its resolve. Since 1998, each political party receives a payment for every vote received in the last general election. These funds are used for party operations, research, and other political activities. Minister Flaherty announced that the government would introduce legislation to bring this practice to end on April 1, 2009.

Since the Economic Update and faced with the revolt of the Opposition, the government has backed down and simply indicated that it will cap the subsidy after April 1, 2009 rather than eliminate it. This news did little to assuage the anger of the opposition parties. The government has also promised a new federal budget on January 27, 2009 in response to the saber rattling by the opposition parties.

Proroguing the first session of the 40th Parliament has bought the government some breathing room. Canadians can expect to see the drama unfold once again as the 2009-10 federal budget comes to a vote when Parliament reconvenes. A defeat of the government on the budget could once again trigger more drama on Parliament Hill and maybe another election.

The CCA continues to develop ideas for the consideration of the Minister that use the arts and culture sector as key players in the advancement of the creative economy. These ideas will be the basis of a brief to the Minister which will be delivered before Christmas 2008.

What Can I Do?

The CCA is very interested in hearing any idea you or your organization may have about measures that can be used to stimulate the economy through the efforts of the arts and culture sector. If you have suggestions, please send them to the CCA by December 15 at the latest, for possible inclusion in the pre-holiday submission on economic stimuli and the arts and culture sector. You can also write directly to the Minister of Finance: The Hon. James Flaherty, House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario KIA OA6.