SAA Bulletin – March 2011
2011 ? 2012 Provincial Budget
March 23, 2011
Honourable Ken Krawetz, Minister of Finance, delivered the 2011 – 2012 provincial budget today. Overall spending in the Ministry of Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport is down $8.6 million dollars.
All third party government agencies received 1.5% increases which means an increase of $95,000 to the Arts Board. As well, SaskFilm received an additional $100,000 to enhance its marketing budget.
The line item Support for Provincial Arts and Cultural Organizations received an increase of $881,000. The Culture on the Go and Creative Industry Growth and Sustainability Programs, which fall under this line, will be renewed for another year. New initiatives that fall under this line are the Main Street Project, a downtown revitalization program to be launched this year and the Business for the Arts`artsVest program which is in the works for Saskatchewan.
The reduction in Active Families Benefit reflects the uptake of this program and the Building Communities program is winding down.
The Heritage Foundation received an increase of $215,000 which will help address chronic underfunding of that agency.
Following are excerpts from the Tourism, Parks, Culture, and Sport Estimates. Links to budget documents can be found at 2011/12 BudgetSask. Finance.
| Arts Related Estimates with Comparison to 2010-11 Estimates (in thousands of dollars) | |||
| Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport Estimates | 2011-12 | 2010-11 | Increase (Decrease) |
| Culture | |||
| Culture Operations Support | 1,240 | 984 | 256 |
| Saskatchewan Arts Board | 6,433 | 6,338 | 95 |
| Support for Prov. Arts and Cultural Organizations | 3,351 | 2,470 | 881 |
| SaskFILM | 1,199 | 1,083 | 116 |
| Film Employment Tax Credit | 8,200 | 8,200 | 0 |
| Active Families Benefit | 9,000 | 11,200 | (2,200) |
| Heritage | |||
| Heritage Operations Support | 866 | 899 | (33) |
| Royal Saskatchewan Museum | 2,258 | 1,983 | 275 |
| Western Development Museum | 4,059 | 3,999 | 60 |
| Wanuskewin Heritage Park | 611 | 602 | 9 |
| Saskatchewan Science Centre | 587 | 578 | 9 |
| Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation | 504 | 289 | 215 |
| Community Initiatives Fund | 9,474 | 9,427 | 47 |
| Other | |||
| Saskatchewan Communications Network | 0 | 3,830 | (3,380) |
| Building Communities Fund | 5,692 | 13,731 | (8,039) |
