Decolonizing the Canada Council for the Arts: A Historical Perspective

Abstract:The Canada Council for the Arts has long been the subject of analysis in theatre scholarship. Be it due to its policies, history, or evolution, it has taken a central role in shaping the possibilities available to Canadian artists. This piece attempts to harmonize much of the scholarship around the council with studies on the development of Canadian nationalism as a method of erasing settler-colonial legacies. Just as Canadian nationalism served to gloss over the realities of settler colonialism, the Canada Council was conceived to reaffirm this nationalism as a product of the Massey Commission. The article explores this artistic and political relationship through a chronological perspective on both the development of Canadian national identity and Canadian theatre funding. Throughout, the council's role in upholding an exclusionary vision of the Canadian nation remains consistent, involving the marginalization of Black, Indigenous, and racialized artists, as well as the reinforcing of a Eurocentric canon and conception of art. The council has attempted to correct its historical trajectory with mixed results. While the council has made progress in some respects, there continue to be systemic inequities deriving from its past practices that the council has yet to address. An understanding of the council's past and present brings into focus the best practices for its future: that the council ought to seek to incorporate oft-suggested measures that would set it on a more committed path toward decolonization.