EMPTY BUDGET
Two weeks ago I sat at a Dalhousie economic roundtable discussing how to build successful communities in Nova Scotia. Two weeks later, the province tabled a budget that undercuts the very things that make communities successful. The irony writes itself.
This budget touches every Nova Scotian, whether they realize it yet or not. It hits small communities hardest. It hits nonprofits. It hits arts and culture organizations. And while the spreadsheets may look tidy, the fallout will not. Arts and culture are not hobbies. They are not decorative flourishes added after the “real work” is done. They are part of the foundation.
They are why people stay.
They are why young professionals don’t immediately move to Montreal or Toronto.
They are why retirees choose to relocate here instead of Florida.
They are why families feel anchored rather than stranded.
Without arts and culture, communities do not collapse in flames. They thin out. Quietly. Gradually. Like a store that never restocks.
Let’s also be honest about business. Businesses exist to make money. That is the point. They extract revenue in exchange for goods and services. They employ people so those people can pay rent, mortgages, buy groceries, fuel their cars, and maybe take a week off in August. That is the economic engine. But arts and culture are the social engine.
You cannot run a province on transactions alone. People need places to gather. They need something to participate in. They need somewhere to volunteer that isn’t just another revenue model.
The Canada Council for the Arts reports that three-quarters of Canadians who attend arts and cultural events say it strengthens their sense of belonging. Participation in the arts is also linked to greater civic engagement and social cohesion. This is not sentiment. This is infrastructure. Arts do not just entertain. They create citizens who feel connected enough to care.
Full transparency: I run a nonprofit arts organization. We are newly formed. We have applied for charitable status. Yes, I am concerned. But this is not about one organization. When you weaken nonprofit arts groups, volunteer networks shrink. Civic participation declines. Young people leave. Businesses struggle to recruit. Main streets get quieter. Property values stall. Municipal tax bases soften. The damage does not show up in a quarterly report. It shows up later, when a town looks around and realizes it has become a place people pass through instead of build in.
Premier Houston’s government speaks often about growth and prosperity. Growth requires more than balance sheets. Prosperity requires people who actually want to live here. A provincial budget is a statement of priorities. It tells us what the government believes is essential and what it considers expendable. And if arts and culture are treated as optional, then community becomes optional too.
You cannot cut your way into a vibrant society.
But we are about to find out how affordable emptiness can be.
