Ford's education cuts will deprive kids of the arts: Ontario NDP Culture critic

QUEEN’S PARK — Jill Andrew, Ontario NDP Culture critic, said Doug Ford’s cuts to education will mean arts programs like band, music, theatre and visual arts will be cut, and students will suffer as a result.

The Ford Conservatives are slashing $1 billion from education spending over four years by doing things like increasing class sizes and taking away teaching positions. This puts arts classes on the chopping block as schools will struggle to maintain core courses.

“Not all families can afford to pay thousands of dollars for instruments and private lessons, so if kids don’t get the chance to take music in school, they may never get the chance,” said Andrew. “And no child should be deprived of the opportunity to tap into their creativity through drama, music, theatre and visual arts.”

The education minister has defended the Ford Conservatives’ callous cuts and their impact on arts education by saying that “students need to have skills in the pathways that are providing jobs.” This comment devalues the more than 269,000 jobs in Ontario’s arts and culture sector, which contributes $26 billion to the province’s economy.

“It is a slap in the face for the education minister to dismiss the academic and social value and the vibrancy that the arts and arts education bring to the lives of people across Ontario,” said Andrew. “I shudder to think at how much bleaker our classrooms, and our children’s futures, will become if the Ford Conservatives plow ahead with their callous education cuts.

“We need to give kids more opportunities to experience the power of an arts education, not fewer.”