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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 177

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 31, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 177 - Mar/31/23
Mr. Kelly McCauley
  • Mar/31/23 12:46:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this being such an important private member's bill, we should have quorum here. And the count having been taken:
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Context: House Hansard - 177 - Mar/31/23
Mr. Kelly McCauley (Edmonton West, CPC)
  • Mar/31/23 1:36:18 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to this today. I want to thank my colleagues. There were a lot of really heartfelt speeches. I have asked the member before about when she opens her remarks. It was hilarious. It was a great story about the general neutrality of it, so I want to say thanks and to thank my colleagues today for some really great speeches. I hope that we could actually see that in other speeches, not just my own, going forward. I have limited time today, so I want to talk about some of the great events going on in my own city around art. However, before I do, I wish to point out that when we look at the Treasury Board contributions page for grants to the arts and culture, per capita, Alberta and Edmonton are receiving far less than other provinces are. I hope that the government will take a serious look at that and provide equal funding to the arts on a per capita basis. One of the programs we support is the Edmonton Opera. It does phenomenal work and provides a lot of jobs in the arts and culture industry, but we see a struggle for Alberta organizations to receive federal funding. I hope that the government will address that. I know that my time is very short, but I just want to talk about some of the things going on in Edmonton right now. People like to make fun of Edmonton. They call it “Deadmonton”. We actually have a coffee called Deadmonton coffee. They think it is kind of a backwater for arts and culture, but I think that people would be surprised by what goes on in our city. We are called the “Festival City” for a reason, with all the events going on in the summer. I just want to point out events for this week alone, and I am going to read out some of the things going on in Edmonton to do with visual arts. We have a paint night with Red Pepper Painting Parties, and that is at the Anvil Coffee House in the Ottewell area. We have a “Sip & Paint Night” with Viniology Art, which should be great because my wife is in the wine business, and being in politics, I am in the wine-drinking business. That is at the Stanhope Eatery just off of Whitemud. We have “Weekend with the Model” going on at Harcourt House. Again, this is all in just one weekend in Edmonton. We have a paint night with the Pub N Paint at Western Barcode. I want to bring out this specific location because it is in my riding. For people in Edmonton looking for something to do, it is at 20130 Lessard Road, so that is a free plug for Western Barcode in my riding. There is “Paint Night in the Secret Garden” going on at the Brew+Bloom Café. There is a great one at Pure Casino, and I love this one: “Art Battle Edmonton”. It is described as 12 artists, three rounds and one champion. That sounds like some artist Lord of the Flies-type event. I look forward to going to that. As well, actually going on tonight is “Gallery '23” at the Dinwoodie Lounge near the University of Alberta; it is a music, art and research event with formal dress. I can go if Air Canada actually obliges me, which I doubt. It has delayed me twice, and it looks like I am missing my connecting flight tonight. We see that this is, again, one small capsule of time in Edmonton. This is just in painting. Edmonton has a flourishing visual arts district and community as well, whether it is in video games or YouTube production. There are lots of events, and I am glad that the bill brought up this opportunity to perhaps celebrate and grow the arts industry. Again, I hope that we can approach arts and culture funding in Alberta, and I am sure, probably in the other western provinces, with a more fair and equitable funding process. That way, arts and culture in Alberta and especially in Edmonton West, where it is more important than the other areas, is treated fairly and equally as if they were perhaps in downtown Toronto or Vancouver. The jobs that they create in Edmonton and in Alberta are just as important as the jobs created in the rest of the country and just as important to the people of Edmonton.
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