Manitoba’s premier announced COVID-19 supports for the recovery of the province’s arts and culture sector Thursday.
Brian Pallister said the province has pledged $6 million to the new Arts and Culture Sustainability Funds, administered by the Manitoba Arts Council and Manitoba Film and Music.
“We recognize the significant sacrifices all Manitobans have made to follow the public health orders in order to protect themselves, their loved ones and their community from this deadly virus,” said Pallister.
“Often described as the ‘first to close, last to open’, Manitoba’s arts and cultural sector has been hit hard by the pandemic.
“This $6 million investment will support the sustainability of this vital sector and build up its resilience until it can safely reopen and resume the activities that so many Manitobans enjoy and treasure year after year.”
Pallister said the arts sector is an industry that provides about $1.5 billion in value to the province’s economy, as well as 21,000 jobs.
“Taken altogether, this is an enormously important sector for our province and our economy going forward, and it adds to the quality of life — it’s an important industry.”
“This funding is very welcome news for the arts and cultural sector,” said Randy Joynt, executive director of the Manitoba Arts Council.
“The importance of arts and culture has never been more evident than during the COVID-19 pandemic yet the arts and cultural sector has been devastated by the profound disruption in its core work – bringing people together.”
The province said arts and heritage organizations will be eligible for support, even if they’ve already qualified for previous provincial or federal funding.
Pallister said this funding is in addition to bridge supports many organizations have already received.
Earlier this week the Pallister government said it had decided to make only minor changes to COVID-19 public health orders when current orders expire Friday.
Under the latest rules the government is increasing the number of people allowed to gather outdoors to 25 from 10.
The limit on people allowed to attend weddings and funerals will also rise to 25 people from 10.
The 50 per cent capacity rule for retail outlets will change to a maximum of 500 people from 250.
People attending drive-in events will be allowed to leave their vehicles, as long as they continue to follow other rules such as physical distancing.
The government had floated a much broader reopening last week, but the province’s chief public health officer said caution is still needed in the coming weeks, citing concerns over rising variant case numbers and the need to keep stability in the province’s health-care system.
–With files from The Canadian Press
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus. In some provinces and municipalities across the country, masks or face coverings are now mandatory in indoor public spaces.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, visit our coronavirus page.
Comments