Canada Economic Development, a Federal Ministry, has decided to cut the grant annually awarded to First Peoples' Festival. There was no forewarning of this cutback, announced less than four weeks prior to the event. It will have a destabilising impact on the event's activities and is a serious blow for the continuation of the only annual event of international scope devoted to the First Nations in Quebec's major city.
As First Peoples' Festival has a proven record of excellent performance, this decision is very difficult to understand, while other events with greater access to budgets and funding have seen millions pour into their already deep pockets.
Political repression? Influence peddling? A fit of pique on minister Blackburn's part after AFNQL's testimony at the UN? We can only conjecture on the motivations lurking behind this brutal cutback. It seems obvious that the timing and approach chosen are intended to inflict the greatest possible damage on the festival's prospects for survival.
As a first step, we call upon partners and friends of First Peoples' Festival to support our appeal, demanding that the Ministry rescind this unacceptable decision.
Here is a form letter we are asking you to send to the minister concerned, Jean-Pierre Blackburn blackburn.j@parl.gc.ca, with a copy to the Prime Minister's office pm@pm.gc.ca. Feel free to add any personal statements and comments, but at this stage, please remember that the tone must remain polite.
Thank you for supporting First Peoples' Festival
André Dudemaine
Director, Land InSights
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