Spencer Chandra Herbert
Bulk of $10-million arts legacy fund going to B.C. Spirit Festival Days, NDP MLA says
The bulk of the new $10-million arts legacy fund that B.C. Liberals promised in its March budget is earmarked for a new B.C. Spirit Festival Days, NDP MLA and culture critic Spencer Chandra Herbert says he has discovered. Chandra Herbert said Tourism, Culture and the Arts Minister Kevin Krueger made reference to the new event at the [...]
Vancouver arts groups raising questions around community gaming grants
Arts groups are raising questions about who exactly is eligible for community gaming grants in the province now that announced changes are ready to start. New Democrat MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert, the Opposition critic for arts and culture and MLA for Vancouver–West End said he was recently told by a bureaucrat with the B.C. Ministry [...]
If not for certain projects, B.C. could fund arts and culture
In your March 11 article, “Arts groups face another tough year,” it was curious to read Tourism, Culture and Arts Minister Kevin Krueger saying: “It‘s kind of silly to say that government’s doing cuts when you know that revenues have been drastically cut by forces beyond our control.” This shows a complete lack of understanding [...]
BC budget fails to restore arts funding: critics: MLA predicts ‘less vibrant cultural scene with less expression for queer stories’
The BC government today unveiled a $40.6 billion budget which critics say fails to rectify last year’s cuts to arts and culture organizations. “What I’ve been able to see in the budget so far is it looks like a 50 percent cut to the arts, gaming and [BC] Arts Council,” says Vancouver-West End MLA Spencer [...]
B.C. Film Commission budget cut by 23 percent
In the 2010 B.C. provincial budget introduced today, the estimates for the B.C. Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and the Arts included a 23 percent cut to the B.C. Film Commission. Last year’s appropriation (2009-2010) was $1,235,000. Next year’s appropriation (2010-2011) is $948,000. NDP arts and culture critic Spencer Herbert told the Straight that it doesn’t [...]
NDP culture critic Spencer Herbert warns of arts fudge-it budget
NDP culture critic Spencer Herbert says he’s worried the B.C. Liberal government might “try to fudge the numbers” in the next provincial budget to fool the public into thinking arts funding has been restored. In a phone interview with the Georgia Straight, Herbert said that even if the March 2 budget continues funding the B.C. [...]
NDP’s Spencer Herbert releases a chart that offers clarity on B.C. Liberal arts cuts
Since the last provincial budget was announced on September 1, none of the B.C. Liberal cabinet ministers responsible for arts funding has returned calls from the Georgia Straight to discuss this issue. Finance Minister Colin Hansen, Tourism, Culture and the Arts Minister Kevin Krueger, and Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman have all gone into hiding. Fortunately, the [...]
Williams Lake: NDP art critic visits Station House Gallery show opening
People who attended the opening of the new show at the Station House Gallery last Thursday evening had an opportunity to talk with the NDP opposition critic for tourism, arts and culture in B.C. Spencer Herbert, arts critic and MLA for Vancouver West End, stopped by the gallery show opening on his tour of northern [...]
Four NDP MLAs, including Carole James, submit petitions to legislature to reverse arts cuts
NDP Leader Carole James and three other NDP MLAs have submitted petitions in the legislature signed by constituents opposed to arts cutbacks. James, who represents Victoria-Beacon Hill, told the House yesterday that her petition was signed by 2,290 people. Stikine NDP MLA Doug Donaldson‘s petition had 843 signatures and Cariboo North NDP MLA Bob Simpson‘s petition had 224 signatures. [...]
NDP’s Spencer Herbert on the B.C. government’s new tax incentive announcement
After the government press conference held this afternoon to announce new tax incentive program for the film and digital media industries, NDP arts and tourism critic Spencer Herbert said by phone that he’s glad that the government has finally adopted most of the proposals that his party has been calling for since last July. “It’s [...]
B.C.’s Arts and Culture division disappears
NDP MLA Spencer Herbert has told the Straight that the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts has eliminated its stand-alone arts and culture division. Herbert, who is the Opposition critic for this ministry, said by phone that ministerial assistant Frank Costa informed him shortly before Christmas that arts and culture now falls within the [...]
Arts Minister Kevin Krueger talks about Bible, not cutbacks
Tourism, Culture and the Arts Minister Kevin Krueger has refused to answer a question from NDP culture critic Spencer Herbert in the legislature about next year’s cuts to core arts funding. On November 2 during the ministry budget estimates debate, Herbert stated that core funding for arts and culture will be reduced to $3.7 million [...]
BC arts sector was growing in importance
People in BC’s arts, culture and heritage area are scratching their heads trying to understand why the provincial government would gut funding to organizations which fuel the province’s largest economic growth sector. It’s a sector that drives tourism and provides employment in hard economic times, they say. Indeed, notes the NDP’s gay arts and culture [...]
NDP Critic wants improved arts funding
BRITISH COLUMBIA’S ARTS COMMUNITIES ARE MAKING AN ‘ECONOMIC ARGUMENT’ FOR GREATER FUNDING IN THEIR SECTOR. NDP ARTS CRITIC SPENCER HERBERT SAYS IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAKE THE ECONOMIC CASE BECUASE “SO OFTEN WE HEAR THE ARTS ARE A FRILL.” HE SAYS A NEW HARMONIZED TAX WILL ONLY FURTHER HURT FUNDING DEFICITS IN BC’S ARTS SECTOR. [...]
