26 Sep 2008
Rosebud (Citizen Harper)
David Craig is Artistic Director of Roseneath Theatre, which is Ontario’s largest professional (Canadian Actors Equity) touring theatre, as well as Ontario’s largest disseminator of Theatre to Young Audiences. David resides in Toronto. This note was a direct response to the Harper arts funding cuts and proclamation that “ordinary Canadians do not support nor care about art or artists in this country.” Much is being said about Prime Minister’s Harper’s comments depicting artists attending “galas” on taxpayers money, whining about their grants. I don’t know what artists Mr Harper is referring to. Astrid Van Wieren, who is playing Louise in Danny King of the Basement is 43 and is being paid $700 for a 50 hour week. She says she loves acting. She describes it as the air she needs to breathe. Young Zarrin Martin Darnell, who is playing Penelope, has just graduated from the National Theatre School and has a $13,000 student loan. She was in the hospital last night, but is performing the play this morning. She loves playing Penelope and is excited to have her first professional job. The biggest supporter of the arts are the artists. […]
26 Sep 2008
Guest Post by David Craig: Stephen Harper Provides an Ironic Twist to Arts Investment
In an ironic turn of events, the same day as almost 150 very senior business, educational and municipal leaders in Waterloo Region rallied around dramatically enhanced arts and culture investment at the Task Force on Creative Enterprise, Stephen Harper was quoted by the Toronto Star as saying “that ordinary Canadians do not support nor care about art or artists in this country.” Not surprisingly for a country populated by extraordinary people, the response has been swift and and widespread. See the rapidly growing Facebook group Ordinary Canadians DO SUPPORT the Arts, Mr. Harper. You are dead wrong. It is fitting that our first, of many, guest posts, which follows directly, is a view from the front lines of theatre penned by David Craig, Artistic Director of Roseneath Theatre, Roseneath is a fabulous and, typical of Canadian arts organizations, undercapitalized, gem providing professional theatre for young audiences. I am volunteer Treasurer and Board member of Roseneath Theatre. Credit: Diana Hamblyn, FacebookCredit: Garnet Hertz (Facebook)
24 Sep 2008
Prosperity Council of Waterloo Region: Task Force on Creative Enterprise
Earlier today, a much heralded conference took on the heady task of defining the future cultural landscape of the Waterloo area. Called “Creative Dimensions in Prosperity”, it was a major milestone for the Prosperity Council of Waterloo Region which is an initiative of Communitech, Canada’s Technology Triangle and the Chambers of Kitchener/Waterloo and Cambridge. Over the last few decades, the Waterloo area has, quietly but spectacularly, taken a quantum leap in economic stature and quality of life by: leading the charge with a world class technology cluster with companies like Google, RIM, COM DEV, Open Text, Descartes, Dalsa, Desire2Learn, MKS and Christie Digital; investing heavily in post-secondary education at University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Guelph and Conestoga College, not to mention the new life sciences campus and major research parks in Waterloo and Guelph; delivering over $300 million in capital spending on healthcare (which was admittedly catch up for past under-investment), including the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre, St. Mary’s Regional Cardiac Centre and Mental Health Centre and development of major public institutions such as Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, The Centre for International Governance Innovation and […]
18 Sep 2008
Digital Policy #2: Taxing Talent Down the (Brain) Drain
The knowledge based economy is all about businesses finding, motivating and retaining the very best talent. And the quest for top talent goes way beyond the lofty C-suite and includes top developers, product managers, sales people, marketers — i.e. pretty well everyone in a knowledge-based company. I personally view building talented teams as the number one determinant of business success Technology startups tend to use stock-based compensation, mostly Employee Stock Option Plans, most liberally in part as a way to level the playing field in competing with larger companies in the talent search and in part because the “lift” in value as startups grow from zero to exit can be quite significant. With that in mind, it is ironic that stock options were originally adopted as a key strategy in the Silicon Valley employed to leverage equity in cash-strapped startups and because of their tax efficiency. Today in the US, and even more so in Canada, they can also be a real headache as people negotiate the tax maze of CRA and IRS. The labyrinth of unfair taxation problems relating to stock options is unbelievably complex, and more importantly, potentially punitive. And, […]
8 Sep 2008
Kitchener Gets Unhinged – Not Just Another Waterloo Conspiracy
Back in May, we provided a sneak preview of Waterloo Region’s newest performing arts organization, Flush Ink Performing Arts in Gotham in Kitchener: Waterloo Area Arts Truly Striving for World Stature. In just over a week, Flush Ink will take the wraps off their true piece de resistance by launching Unhinged – Kitchener’s Festival of Site-Specific Theatre, September 18-27, 2008. As a founding Board member, a long time fan of the fabulous work of Artistic Director Paddy Bentley-Gillard and a sponsor through Verdexus I couldn’t be more excited by the cutting edge work that will soon envelop downtown Kitchener. There is a rich smorgasbord of 7 ( technically 8 ) plays, all in interesting locations: Copy Protection Dead Cat Bounce Nonna’s Party Quantum Entanglement The Sculpture Matilda the 10th Undertow Rock ‘Em Dead Below is the first commercial, that should give you some of the unique flavour you’ll savour with Unhinged. [kaltura-widget wid=”h715vas16g” size=”large” /] All jokes about the rivalry between Kitchener and Waterloo aside, the Waterloo Region is now producing top, international calibre artistic fare. Make sure you are among the “early adopter” of this new wave of performing arts in our region and […]
3 Sep 2008
Digital Policy #1: Why Bill C-61 Is a Bad Idea for Canada’s Digital Economy
As we approach a Canadian Federal Election, the long simmering issue of proposed Bill C-61 copyright “reform” (often known as Canada’s even more onerous Digital Millenium Copyright Act, patterned after its US counterpart) has surfaced as a potentially big election issue, at least among those who participate in our digital economy. This is the first in a series of posts around public policy for the digital age. A recent blog post by my colleague Alec Saunders, “Why I will be voting against Stephen Harper’s Conservatives when an election is called”, reminded me of some of the key reasons why this represents such bad public policy. In Alec’s words, “Bill C-61 would make most ordinary Canadian families into criminals”, because the law’s focus is so askew that ordinary consumer actions would create infringement. Furthermore, the law as drafted gives too much power to the industry to levy fines in ways that short change our cherished judicial process. Alec isn’t alone. A good example of the grassroots protest is the Facebook Group, “Fair Copyright for Canada”, created by noted Canadian internet legal authority Michael Geist. Notably, this group has grown quickly to 92 […]
2 Sep 2008
Public Policy for the Digital Age
With the imminent federal election call in Canada, it seems timely to start a discussion on public policy principles that our governments (federal and provincial) should be considering. From the context of the information technology industry (web, mobile, digital media, etc.), why is this important? Firstly, as more and more traditional manufacturing jobs migrate to the Pearl River Delta, the knowledge-based industries, given the right macroeconomic environment, could well be one of our best job growth options. By “macroeconomic environment”, we are referring to the complex web of legislation providing fair regulation, securities legislation and tax code that better encourages the growth of a globally competitive IT industry. Secondly, it should be noted that the Silicon Valley, where most of the IT industry originated, has not historically been that engaged with government, policy or lobbying. In fact, many in the technology industry have proudly worn the badge of libertarianism, erroneously believing they represent a future that has transcended the need for government intervention or regulation. In fact, all the time, these people may have been simply living in a sheltered world created, ironically and in large measure, by big government […]
13 Oct 2008
Digital Policy #3: Startup Investment and Taxes
During the current credit crunch, you can imagine that getting startups financed is a big challenge. And, you’d be totally right. In Canada, with our rapidly diminishing venture capital system, startup financing was tough long before the current financial situation.Yet, for our economy the healthy generation and regeneration of young companies is a motor that drives our future economic well being – or doesn’t. The startup economy represents the most likely path to diversify beyond such industries as automotive manufacturing (a just over 100 year old industry), not to mention to find the next Research in Motion’s.Hot sectors like web, mobile, green technology and life sciences, transform knowledge and research into valuable commercial businesses via a healthy appetite for capital. In another post, we’ll examine why, particularly in Canada, there is less insitutional capital, such as venture capital, available to these startups. We’ll also examine issues like international visibility of Canadian technology, LSIFs, historical returns and the like.With institutional capital frozen like never before, we are reliant upon angels, high net worth individuals, strategic investors and friends and family like never before to build our startup future. As a result, I’d […]