[BCMA] Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services Releases 2024 Report

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv]

Hello everyone,

The Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services has
released their Budget 2024 consultation report. You can read the full
report and recommendations at www.leg.bc.ca/cmt/finance

This year our sector made its voice heard! Thank you to the members and
partner organizations who advocated for our sector. Here are some
highlights from the report:

*"The Committee additionally supports funding for museums and the heritage
sector including funding to support repatriation projects in Indigenous
communities"*


*"Organizations highlighted the importance of BC Arts Council funding as
the most direct way to help fund artists and arts organizations in the
province. The BC Museums Association noted that for over two decades, BC
spent less on arts, culture, and heritage than any province in the country
and that currently, roughly 10 percent of museums and galleries in the
province receive BC Arts Council operating funding."*


*"Several organizations and individuals noted that this lack of funding
resulted in the closures of two cultural institutions in 2023, the Bateman
Gallery and Point Ellice House Museum and Gardens. The Committee also heard
that additional funding for museums is needed so that staff can spend less
time writing grant applications and spend more time focused on projects, as
well as to increase wages and prevent burn out."*


*"The BC Museums Association noted that in 2021, two museums in Lytton
burned to the ground due to a wildfire. Several submissions noted that to
protect irreplaceable cultural heritage from future damage, an emergency
mitigation and response plan for the arts, culture and heritage sector
needs to be developed. Individuals added that available grants such as the
Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program and the BC 150 Time
Immemorial Grants were oversubscribed and that there continues to be
significant unmet demand for climate mitigation projects in the heritage
sector."*


*On the topic of reconciliation, the BC Museums Association recommended
ongoing grants to allow Indigenous communities to continue the work to
repatriate culturally significant artifacts, as institutions and collectors
around the world hold culturally significant items that should be returned.
The West Kootenay Regional Arts Council echoed the BC Museums Association’s
call to ensure that funding for Indigenous arts, culture, and heritage is
sustainable and Report on the Budget 2024 Consultation 21 reflects the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and
the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA)."*

*Ryan Hunt*
Executive Director
Pronouns: He/him To learn why pronouns are important, click here
<https://equity.ubc.ca/resources/gender-diversity/pronouns/>

The BC Museums Association office is located on the traditional, unceded
lands of the Lekwungen <https://vimeo.com/275788251> peoples (Songhees and
Xwsepsum Nations). We respect past, present, and future Indigenous stewards
and recognize that we are uninvited guests on this territory.

BC Museums Association || 675 Belleville Street  || Victoria, BC || V8W 9W2

Direct: 250-884-0499 || Office: 250-356-5700  || www.museum.bc.ca
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