Vote for music in the Toronto municipal election
October 10th, 2014
As the Toronto municipal election approaches, 4479 would like to encourage Torontonians to consider candidates’ approach to the local music sector when they head to the ballot box on October 27, 2014.
ArtsVote has provided a comprehensive overview of each council and mayoral candidates’ positions on arts and culture policy issues, in the form of a Report Card which grades candidates on their response to a survey on arts & culture issues. For incumbent candidates, ArtsVote also considered voting records on arts-related issues at City Council and track records of arts related projects in their ward.
Last month, ArtsVote hosted the Mayoral Arts Debate at TIFF Bell Lightbox, which was moderated by Fucked Up vocalist Damian Abraham, and featured mayoral candidates Doug Ford, John Tory, Olivia Chow, Morgan Baskin and Ari Goldkind. The full debate is now available online care of NOW Magazine, and is worth watching ahead of the election.
The three leading mayoral candidates are all talking about music: here’s a summary – take a look and judge for yourself:
- John Tory announced his plan to support the growth of the music industry in Toronto during Canadian Music Week. Tory’s plan incorporates three main elements:
o Support the creation of a stand-alone Music Office
o Work with the live music community to attract more music tourists to Toronto
o Work with the music community to create a plan for a more active outdoor festival schedule
- Olivia Chow’s plan for investing in the arts features measures to leverage Toronto’s music sector:
o Increase arts funding to $25 per capita per year, an increase on the current spend of $22.25 per capita
o Promote Toronto’s cultural sector a pillar of our economy, and making the mayor’s office an active participant in building the sector
o Establish a city music office and support the development of emerging cultural scenes
- Doug Ford has not listed his music polices on his website, but has made public statements about his plans for Toronto’s music sector in the media and the ArtsVote debate, including:
o Bringing a world-class music festival, similar to Lollapalooza, to Toronto
o Adopting music sector best practices from cities like Austin, Texas
4479 encourages Torontonians to ‘vote for music’ when they head to the ballot box. Please feel free to share our ‘Vote For Music’ image on social media.
4479 is a campaign to position Toronto as one of the greatest music cities in the world – to create energy and action around the concept of Toronto as a music city. For more on our recommendations, see the ‘Tuning Up Toronto’ video embedded below.
For more information on how and where to cast your vote, visit the City of Toronto’s election page.
