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Vancouver named a Cultural Capital of Canada

Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps paid a visit to Vancouver yesterday to announce the names of the five Cultural Capitals of Canada for 2003. Vancouver was named the winner in the category of cities with populations more than 125,000.

Calling Vancouver “the heart of Olympic country”, Minister Copps challenged the city’s current municipal government to continue to support arts and culture, particularly on the road to the 2010 Olympics.

“We need to encourage every municipal council to invest in the arts. We need to encourage every educational board to invest in the arts,” said Minister Copps, noting that as mayor of one of this year’s winners, Vancouver’s Larry Campbell will be a judge next year. “This puts pressure on council to continue to support the arts,” she added.

The Cultural Capitals program was launched in May 2002. Eligible applicant municipalities, as well as First Nations and Inuit equivalent jurisdictions, applied for the awards in several categories based on population. The program offers awards with matching contributions up to $500,000 to support specific activities.

The City of Vancouver indicated it would use the funds for several initiatives including an awards ceremony honouring Vancouver’s established and emerging creative talent. This will be done in partnership with the Alliance for Arts and Culture and CBC. A water-themed community celebration in also in the planning stages. 

Now that funding is in place, Mayor Campbell promised that planning for these initiatives will move ahead “expeditiously”.

In his remarks, Mayor Campbell thanked the diverse cultural community of Vancouver, as well as former Mayor Philip Owen and his council for getting the ball rolling last fall. These initiatives were first passed by council in October, 2002 (to see a copy of the report visit www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ocaand click on 'Recent Council Reports'). He said the award will pave the way for further collaborations with the arts community and the business community.

“For Vancouver to be named a Cultural Capital is a great and well deserved honour,” said Mayor Campbell. When it comes to supporting the arts and cultural diversity, he pledged that the “current city council will continue to be second-to-none.”

Winners were chosen by an independent advisory committee and include: Red Deer, Alberta and Thunder Bay, Ontario, in the population between 50,000 and 125,000 category; Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec in the population under 50,000 category; and Caraquet, New Brunwick, a town of 5,000 that last year directed $200,000 of the city's budget to the arts.

BC Nominees for 2004 include Kamloops, Kelowna, Campbell River, Nelson, Pemberton, Powell River, Revelstoke, West Vancouver and Fernie.

For more information on the program, visit the Canadian Heritage website.

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Last Updated: Thursday, July 22, 2004