Funding for sports, arts and culture are the backbone of any community.
A community can be known for many things, but without these aspects, it's almost impossible for it to thrive. It's almost an empty vessel floating into the future without something for the community to be proud of – for something for residents to latch onto behind their daily working live.
Those who uproot their families to different communities often look for a thriving culture as a sticking point for relocation. Those who have called a community home for many years often volunteer to try and build up aspects of art and culture for the sake of growing a stronger community.
I was thrilled to see Red Deer City Councillor Dianne Wyntjes propose a notice of motion in this respect earlier this month. It calls for "a city-administered community grant program to be changed to offer non-profit groups two streams for applications."
If it's approved, community groups would be able to apply to one granting stream to potentially receive more operations dollars, and another stream for special program funding.
I couldn't be a stronger supporter of this motion but given the city's financial position, I just don't see how it gets off the ground. There would have to be some extremely creative solutions to find grants to fund these programs, because as was explained last week, the city is already facing an unenviable budget position heading into 2025.
Council spent a full day going through 36 options for potential cuts, without new funding being potentially earmarked for organizations that are integral to the fabric of this community.
That's the thing about tough financial times, is support for things deemed "not essential" are the first things to get cut. Road maintenance, emergency management, water and watershed utilities, public transportation and maintenance of parks and green spaces all take priority over sports, arts and culture. To understand how dire the situation is, council is even considering cuts to parks maintenance and public transit, in order to potentially avoid an increase in property taxes in 2025.
The problem with financial support for sports, arts, and culture is that the return is not always immediate, and the results aren't always tangible. Beyond hosting big sporting events or conferences, where there's a boon to the local economy, which is easily measured in financial gains the contributions to these aspects don't show up in balance sheets.
Community wise, you can't measure how happy it makes people be part of a club or community group. Or the influence that has on a future generation to do the same. Those community impacts aren't easy to measure and make it harder for groups to guarantee a return on investment. You can survey about life fulfillment and satisfaction until the cows come home, but it doesn't necessarily pay the bills.
With essential services, the return is much more tangible. This much was spent on road maintenance, this is how many roads got fixed (whether it's ever fast enough or the roads people want fixed get fixed on time is a whole different debate). Those are bills that need to be paid first and foremost for a community to function.
I'm not optimistic that the city can find a way to fund arts and culture beyond what it already does, given the cash-strapped environment it finds itself in. Like I mentioned last week, some of that is due to a lack of provincial support for municipalities, which has dwindled in recent years.
I once again hope that the city council finds a way to get creative and makes this notice of motion a reality. Creative solutions are key in difficult financial times and if we want to have a happy, thriving community, finding ways to support all aspects that make life livable are necessary.
Byron Hackett is the Managing Editor of the Red Deer Advocate and Regional Editor for Black Press Media.
