Canada: No Tradition of Helping Artists In Need
When writers can no longer support themselves they have almost nowhere to turn for help; they don't have worker's compensation, a group pension plan, or unemployment insurance benefits. Unlike other Commonwealth countries, Canada does not have a tradition of helping artists in need through annual government allocations. Many famous Canadian authors end their lives in poverty, disease or indignity.
The Canadian Writers' Foundation
A Registered Charity Founded in 1931
The Canadian Writers' Foundation, founded in 1931 by Pelham Edgar, who was a professor of English at the University of Toronto, is a registered charity authorized to collect and disburse funds to notable Canadian writers who, due to advancing years or infirmity, require financial assistance to meet their everyday needs.
Discreet Assistance
This Foundation is one of the few sources of help to which writers can turn with dignity. The basic structure of the Foundation still prevails with up to 35 eminent Canadians across the country forming an advisory and support network that carefully and discretely investigate grantee applications and special requests assessed on the basis of the applicant's contribution to Canadian literature.
Not Charity—An Honour
An editorial article in the Vancouver Daily Province on July 20, 1931, remarked, "It is not intended that a grant from the Foundation is to be looked upon as charity. Far from it. It is to be an honour, as the Nobel Prize is an honour in a larger field." That wealth accrues to all published writers is a myth; their contribution to Canadian literature is real and often financially unrewarded.
Many Notable Canadian Writers
Names of current beneficiaries are never divulged in order to protect their dignity, however, once deceased, their names are released to acquaint the public that even prestigious authors can fall on hard times. The Canadian Writers' Foundation is proud to have provided assistance to such notable Canadian authors as Sir Charles G.D. Roberts, E.J. Pratt, Alfred Desrochers, Norman Levine, Hugh MacLennan, Roger Brien, Milton Acorn, Irving Layton, Juan O'Neill and Dorothy Livesay, to name a few. Many of our past and current grantees have been recipients of highest literacy awards.
Allies in Assisting Writers
The Foundation has received the ongoing encouragement of its patron, the Governor General, since its inception. It has benefited greatly from the guidance and advice of the law firm of Gowling Lafleur Henderson, as well as from the services of the Trustees. The Canadian Authors Association has also been an important ally in the mission of the Canadian Writers' Foundation. This cooperation is fundamental to the Foundation's success, for who understands one writer's problems better than other writers?
The Need is As Great Today
"Canada cannot afford to abandon any writer who gives to our cultural heritage a gift that will last forever," says Foundation President Gilles Frappier, former chief librarian of the Ottawa Public Library. "The conditions that gave rise to the Foundation more than 70 years ago still exist today and are being made worse by competition for the printed word from electronic media."
Fundraising Difficult
Raising funds to help writers in their time of need has always been difficult, but recently, even more so. The Canadian Writers' Foundation is limited in terms of its access to funding; it is a voluntary organization with only one part-time employee.
Insufficient to Meet Quarterly Grants
The Foundation disburses annual quarterly grants to over a dozen notable Canadian authors whose incomes would otherwise be too meager for more than a mere subsistence. With management fees and operating expenses rising and donations and investment interest declining the income currently being generated from the capital fund is not sufficient to sustain these grants.
No Government Support
In addition, the Foundation has not received any support from the federal government since 1973, when an annual grant from the Canada Council ceased.
Declining Investment Revenues
In 1985, after his death, a generous bequest was received from Raymond Hull with the stipulation that this money be invested and only the revenue generated from these investments could be used to help finance the Foundation's mission of assisting Canadian writers in need. Unfortunately, the investments are not generating enough to support the annual grant payments. In recent years several major annual donations have ceased and the bequeathed royalties have slowed down. With the precariousness of the current economy the regular annual donations are diminishing as well.
Living National Treasures
Penny Dickens, former Executive Director of The Writers' Union of Canada says, "I'm convinced there is an acute need for recognition of the difficulties many Canadian writers face, most do not earn enough during their writing lives to afford even basic necessities in retirement. A government with will could put a program in place that would give stipends to artists considered Living National Treasures, after a certain age or level of contribution to the wealth and health of our country. While the Canadian Writers' Foundation valiantly does its best, it is seriously underfunded."
Essential To The Literary Well Being of Canada
The late Pierre Berton, described the Foundation's efforts to help destitute writers as "essential to the literary well being of Canada."
Those Needs, Sadly, Still Exist
Fred Kerner, Honorary President of the Canadian Authors Association, and long-time director of the Canadian Writers' Foundation, says, "At the height of the 'Great Depression' in the 1930s, it became evident that many writers were barely able to earn enough from their creative efforts to keep them alive. To combat this disaster, the CWF was created to provide a fiscal cushion of freedom from economic anxiety and stress. Those needs, sadly, still exist."
Imperative That Donations Remain Forthcoming
It is imperative that donations remain forthcoming to enable the Foundation to continue its efforts in fulfilling Professor Edgar's wishes.
Updated February 09, 2009
