A festival meant to promote Prairie artists has hit a public-relations snag, with a number of artists signing a petition objecting to an energy company's sponsorship of the event.
The National Arts Centre (NAC) is putting on the Prairie Scene festival in Ottawa and Gatineau this spring. Billed as the largest-ever gathering of artists from Manitoba and Saskatchewan outside of the prairies, it will feature performances and exhibitions from 500 musicians, dancers, actors and artists.
One of the three major sponsors is Enbridge, a Canadian energy company.
A petition signed by artists, including novelist Miriam Toews, Winnipeg indie rockers The Weakerthans and musician and Winnipeg Bomber Troy Westwood, objects to the support from the company.
The letter accompanying the petition says it is endorsed by environmental groups including the Indigenous Environmental Network, Sierra Club, the Rainforest Action Network, Dogwood Initiative, Corporate Ethics International and the Polaris Institute.
Rosemary Thompson, the director of communications for the National Arts Centre, says the objections to Enbridge's sponsorship began with a letter sent over the summer from Chris Hannah, a member the Manitoba punk band Propagandhi.
Then this month, a petition and accompanying letter were sent to the NAC and posted on Propagandhi's website.
"As Canada's foremost showcase for the performing arts, the National Arts Centre should choose sponsors that help to promote its values as an innovator in community programming," the letter says. "Partnering with Enbridge Pipelines tarnishes that image with the company's disastrous environmental record."
Enbridge stores and distributes oil and natural gas. Last summer, an Enbridge pipeline ruptured in Michigan, spilling oil into the Kalamazoo River.
That incident and the company's plans to build a pipeline connecting the Alberta oil sands to British Columbia are mentioned in the letter.
Enbridge has sponsored three previous festivals in the Scene series, which have represented the arts from different regions in the country. No one objected in past years when Enbridge sponsored the Alberta, Quebec and British Columbia Scene festivals, Thompson says.
According to Thompson, sponsorship from private companies such as Enbridge is necessary to support arts endeavors in Canada.
Even it Enbridge's support wasn't so necessary, the NAC would welcome it, Thompson says.
"They should be commended for being leaders in arts philanthropy in this country," she says, adding that the energy industry is vital to the Canadian economy.
Since the petition became public, the NAC has received numerous letters of support for Enbridge from arts organizations and other groups, Thompson says.
Jennifer Varey, a spokesperson for Endbridge, cited Enbridge's history of arts philanthropy in a statement.
She blamed environmental groups for the petition.
"It is unfortunate that well-funded and well-organized environmental groups are behind a targeted movement by a small group of artists that seek to undermine the funding that supports hundreds of Canadian artists in communities across Canada," the statement says.
According to the NAC, four musical groups have pulled out of the Prairie Scene festival. A full line-up of acts is expected to be announced shortly.
