Advocacy Resources
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LETTER TEMPLATE
WRITE YOUR MLA: Find out your Electoral district and MLA here: https://enstools.electionsnovascotia.ca/edinfo/.
CC: FinanceMinister@novascotia.ca, MIN_CCTH@novascotia.ca, PREMIER@novascotia.ca
Dear MLA ____________ (find your MLA here), The Honourable John Lohr, Minister of Finance, The Honourable Dave Ritcey, Minister of Communities, Culture, Tourism & Heritage, and The Honourable Tim Houston, Premier of Nova Scotia,
My name is ____________(your name), I live in ____________(your constituency) and I am deeply concerned about the 2026-27 provincial budget’s impact on arts and culture in Nova Scotia.
Optional: Add a personal note about yourself (as an artist, a parent, a community member, a business owner, etc) to help illustrate the impact these cuts will have.
The proposed provincial budget slashes $14 million from arts and culture — 72 grant programs fully or partially cut, 12 of 28 museums closing, Artists in Schools eliminated. Nearly 14,000 Nova Scotians work in the culture sector — more than farming, fishing, and forestry combined — contributing $1.18 billion to our GDP annually. This budget includes devasting cuts to arts and culture, and also to youth programs, disability services, education, equity-focused funding, Mi’kmaq programs, African Nova Scotian initiatives, and more.
Visual Arts Nova Scotia (VANS) supports visual artists throughout every stage of their careers through mentorship, professional development, sharing work opportunities, exhibitions, advocacy and more. A 20% reduction across the board, especially in funding to non-profit arts organizations, is a major blow to their operations. Besides the 20 – 30% cut to operational funding, taking away the funding stream “Artists in the Schools” means the destruction of the Professional Artists in the Schools (PAINTS) program – a program that has thrived for 20 years.
I urge you to abandon these cuts to arts, culture, and heritage. The solution to the province’s fiscal health is in realizing the sector’s potential and trusting in the economics of long term investment. I am asking you to oppose these cuts and advocate for their reversal.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
____________(your name and postal code)
