As the October 2026 provincial elections approach, the Front commun pour les arts is launching the Debout pour les arts – Stand Up for the Arts campaign, a collective effort aimed at placing the arts and culture at the heart of the electoral debate.
En Piste is joining this initiative and invites the circus community to familiarize itself with the demands collectively put forward by the cultural sector.
The campaign is structured around four key priorities:
- Making culture an ambitious and foundational government priority: Update the cultural policy Partout la culture, link it to all cross-cutting ministries, and adopt a phased approach to increase the share of the overall budget dedicated to arts and culture to 3 percent.
- Guarantee access to the arts and culture for youth: Reinstate budgetary protections for book purchases, school field trips, and the “Culture in Schools” program; update the interministerial protocol between Culture and Education; and ensure high-quality arts education in schools.
- Ensure the long-term sustainability of CALQ funding: In the next budget, consolidate the funding base for the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) at $200 million and implement automatic cost-of-living indexation for its regular programs.
- Aim for genuine social protection for artists and cultural workers: Provide financial support for the work of the “Chantier sur le filet social” (Social Safety Net Initiative) led by Compétence culture, which aims to establish social protections tailored to the atypical nature of cultural work; exercise strong government leadership and consult with the community to conduct an in-depth evaluation of the Act on the Professional Status of Artists
The mobilization will continue on September 9 with a debate bringing together representatives from political parties to discuss the major issues facing the cultural sector.
This event will be an opportunity to hear the commitments of the various political parties and to better understand their vision for the arts and culture in Quebec.
The debate can be followed online.