Response to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Statement on SK Arts Funding
The Saskatchewan Association of Theatre Professionals (SATP) enthusiastically echoes the Saskatchewan Arts Alliance’s response in rejecting the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s attack against SK Arts and their funding of the Saskatchewan arts industry.
Haubrich has cited roughly $46,000 out of SK Art's $7mill budget, which is referencing roughly 0.7% being "wasted money." He did not have in-depth details for these projects, but only looked at the titles, not understanding the impact of these projects both on the community and on the artists trying to make a living off the art they create. Could he say the same for the other 99% of the projects and artists that received funding?
The arts that SK Arts is funding are not "Saskatchewanians working on their hobbies after work or on the weekend." Yes, those people exist, and it's great that the people of SK have lots of options to bring vibrancy and meaning to their lives through artistic hobbies. But SK Arts is funding an industry. One that “generates over $92 million in economic output annually, with $74 million of that impact occurring within Saskatchewan alone” and supports almost 13,000 jobs throughout Saskatchewan.
A government grant system like this for the arts industry isn’t something a lot of people have experience with, but shares similarities with for-profit business start-up funding - do we often see all the wacky, niche projects that weren't hyper-successful in the for-profit sector? Longtime investor on Shark Tank, Mark Cuban, has invested roughly $20 million USD in startups over the years, but admits to many financial losses and says that he does "99.99 percent [of it] just because it teaches kids about the power of entrepreneurship," not to make more millions. (Killpack) Similarly, Haubrich has chosen to focus on the more niche and unique projects that were funded to draw a visceral reaction from those who do not understand how the arts sector functions or why those projects may have been funded in the first place.
The arts industry (this includes live performance like theatre, music, comedy, dance, etc., film/tv and other forms of digital media like video games, web and graphic design, as well as the visual arts like painting, sculpture, crafts, pottery, books, and the list could go on and on) provides the general populous with inspiration, meaning, and ways to process emotions. Art also challenges all of humanity to do better. For example, in Mandy Patinkin's 2025 Sondheim Award acceptance speech, he said that "every theatre... that is gathering humanity together and sharing their likeness, their kindness, their care for their fellow human beings and celebrating the existence of humanity, not tearing it down!" He goes on to say that creating theatre (and art by extension) is "the lifeblood of our existence. It is the healing centers of our souls. It is the necessity of the food that we will feed to our children, and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and the unborn. Recognize that privilege." Art is not something we can live without.
And while the industry of creating art has never been a lucrative one, Saskatchewan artists are some of the hardest-working people you will meet. Not only are they trying to earn income and create art that feeds the souls of the rest of the province, but they are also dealing with the same problems as the rest of society. They are somehow managing to create art on top of the side hustles that often don't quite pay the bills. And with that art they are inspiring and empowering all those Saskatchewanians who both have and don't have artistic hobbies to keep making art and lifting up their communities too.