The City of Abbotsford is reviewing how it governs arts and culture services, but one councillor was opposed Monday (Dec. 11) to proceeding with the second stage of a report on the matter.

Results of the first stage of the Culture Services Delivery and Governance Review came before council, who approved it proceeding to the second phase.

The study is being conducted by consultants Nordicity and city staff with a goal “to develop options the city could consider to support strategic enhancements of cultural service delivery,” a staff report states.

Simon Gibson was the only councillor in attendance who was against a continuation of the review, saying he doesn’t think local taxpayers should be funding “a potential increase” in arts and culture services.

“I’m a big supporter of arts and culture in the community … However, my concern is that (as) local government, I don’t believe we have the financial resources to follow the trajectory that this report possibly identifies,” he said.

“There’s a real challenge there, and I would prefer that we would focus on our core services – fire, roads, sidewalks, parks, funding our police department … I really worry that arts and culture is predominantly the responsibility of the province.”

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Mayor Ross Siemens said nothing in the review suggests that the city is “going to be drastically increasing spending.” He said he is “very supportive” of the direction of the report.

“I think there’s something lost, especially in a city that’s as diverse as ours and growing as quickly as ours, if we don’t capture our stories, if we don’t capture our artistic venues,” he said.

“… When we talk about building a complete community, it’s about how we connect … We can have all the infrastructure in the world, but if we don’t know our neighbours, if we don’t know how to connect, and if we’re not facilitating the places for these things to happen .. then I think we’ve lost something as a society.”

The review looks at culture services in six areas – visual arts, performing arts, libraries/lifelong learning, heritage, entertainment/festivals, and public arts.

In the first stage of the report, each category was given an overall score, with libraries and lifelong learning coming in the highest at 76 per cent and performing arts the lowest with 36 per cent.

Brian Christensen with Nordicity told council that although the city scored well for its performing arts venues such as Abbotsford Centre and Matsqui Centennial Auditorium, one of the biggest concerns is the limited provision of affordable rehearsal programming and performance space.

“The assessment indicated limited city investment and partnership to support performing arts programming in particular,” he said.

Visual arts scored well for its strong exhibition programming, but was dragged down by “lack of policy and strategic development and out-of-date fee-for-service agreements” with the city, Christensen said.

In the category of libraries and lifelong learning, on the other hand, municipal funding was seen as “steady and adequate” and the current agreement was viewed as a good reflection of their relationship with the city.

The review states that common feedback received from local organizations is the need for small to mid-sized performance spaces; more city-support programming that supports diversity; and increased city funding for local arts groups.

The report also looked at the four organizations with which the city has fee-for-service agreements: The Reach Gallery Museum, the Abbotsford Arts Council, Heritage Abbotsford Society and the Fraser Valley Regional Library.

Christensen said, in general, all the agreements need re-working as most of them were created more than 15 years ago.

“There’s a need to create more clarity around the nature of the partnerships and the roles and responsibilities for each organization versus those for the city,” he said.

Other concerns among the four organizations were challenges with staff recruitment, staff retention and operational funding.

The second stage of the report will look at more specific options. It is expected to be complete by spring or summer 2024.

The review is part of the Culture Connect strategy that council adopted in March 2022. That full report can be viewed at letstalkabbotsford.ca/culturestrategy

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