Hundreds rally against arts and culture cuts in downtown Halifax

It was loud in downtown Halifax on Wednesday afternoon as hundreds of people descended on the Nova Scotia legislature in protest of provincial budget cuts to arts and culture initiatives.

People packed onto Granville Street in front of Province House to voice their opposition to the Progressive Conservative government’s slashes, including $130 million in grant cuts to items like scholarship funding and arts programs.

“Art is critical,” organizers told protesters over a megaphone. Many people brought signs with slogans like “Houston we have a problem” in reference to Premier Tim Houston, and “defend Nova Scotia books.”

Some members of the provincial legislature spoke to rallygoers, including NDP leader Claudia Chender, who said the New Democrats would be protesters’ voices in the legislature.

Among those in the crowd was Michelle Langille. An actor and director who works with Neptune Theatre in Halifax, she said the provincial government is undermining the importance of arts to the identity of Nova Scotians.

“It’s so easy for us to discount the incredible work that is done here in Nova Scotia,” she said. “By making these cuts, they’re doing just that. They are saying that the art that we make and the stories that we tell aren’t important and that they don’t matter and that’s so not true.”

The move has also caught the attention of Rachel Reid, author of the famed book Heated Rivalry, who credited the Halifax arts community as inspiration for her mega-popular steamy love story between two gay hockey players.

Premier Houston was expected to speak to reporters later on Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday’s rally followed a separate First Nations-led protest at the legislature on Tuesday and a union rally by CUPE.

With files from Steve Gow