Paul Dewar: Leadership you can trust:

• Hosted a town hall with community groups and residents of Ottawa Centre on their ideas for improving the state of the arts and culture in Ottawa, and in Canada.
• Released “Arts and Minds”, a collaborative report on the arts in Ottawa, based on Paul Dewar's community consultations.
• Led the creation of an all-party parliamentary arts caucus

New Democrat platform on the arts:

We will promote the production and broadcast of Canadian content on Canadian television and in Canadian theatres, and will strongly support Canada’s performing arts, cultural institutions, and creators.

Building Home-grown Film and TV Production:

We will ensure Canadian TV and telecom networks remain Canadian-owned by maintaining effective regulations on foreign ownership. We will re-focus the mandate of the CRTC to promote and protect Canadian cultural industries. We will provide sustained funding for the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada, enhance federal film incentives and develop a targeted strategy for the promotion of domestic films in Canada. We will set license requirements for broadcasters based on clear, binding and enforced performance standards for broadcasters, including increased Canadian drama.

Investing in our Shared Cultural Heritage:

We will increase public funding for the Canada Council and implement tax averaging for artists and cultural workers; explore the creation of a new international arts touring fund to replace the now-defunct Trade Routes and PromArt programs; implement a matching grant for Canadian museums, historic buildings and heritage lighthouses; introduce tax incentives to ensure the restoration and preservation of historic buildings; strengthen public broadcasting with long-term stable funding for CBC, Radio-Canada and other public broadcasters, including capacity to deliver superior regional production and internet services; reform the CRTC and also ensure it better reflects Quebec’s cultural and linguistic reality and that of the francophone community; develop a digital on-line culture service to broaden access to Canadian content.