The Guild 'has turned the corner' after financial woes for the Charlottetown arts centre, says board
CBC
After a couple of difficult years financially, the people who run The Guild say the Charlottetown arts and cultural hub is now out of the woods.
The Guild's board of directors held its annual meeting, which it called a public accountability meeting, Wednesday night to report on the previous year's financials and hear feedback from the arts community.
Bill Chandler, the board's vice-chair, said the biggest financial troubles are finally behind them and they're hopeful of no more losses moving ahead.
"We think we've turned the corner with a lot of good funding from different government agencies," Chandler said.
"We're looking at using the space differently and we're doing some renovations, so we're very positive going forward."
It's been almost a year since the City of Charlottetown stepped in to give The Guild $25,000 in emergency funding to keep it afloat.
Staff said at the time that the age and footprint of the building, located at the corner of Queen and Richmond streets in the city's downtown, makes it costly to run.
It was also tough to get people back through the doors after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The board laid off four staff, saving $80,000, but the space had lost more than $337,000 overall from 2020 to 2023.
Chandler said there have been even more changes since then, including efforts to bring more money into the centre.
One of the biggest changes is that The Guild no longer creates its own productions. Instead, it now rents the space out on a sliding scale that includes different rates for emerging artists, professionals, and an off-Island rate.
"We see ourselves more as creating the space and [letting] upcoming artists create the shows that are going on here," Chandler said.
"Not to say we won't produce shows sometime in the future, but for now it's about making the space as usable and as flexible for as many people."
The board now leases the art gallery downstairs to the group This Town Is Small. Changes have also been made to the theatre to remove the tiered seating, which makes it more adaptable for different groups or projects.
Quebec's Education Ministry is monitoring 17 schools for possible violations of the province's secularism law.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is shuffling his cabinet just over a year after his government was sworn in, splitting some responsibilities, creating new departments and swapping ministers among portfolios.
A 101-year-old Edmonton widow is in a legal battle with the Rotary Foundation Canada over which charities should benefit from her late husband's $40-million estate.
The young woman with the severe eczema had undergone acupuncture before.
Hamilton council has defeated a motion that would have seen it join others in Ontario asking the province to use the notwithstanding clause to ban encampments in parks and public spaces.
Eddie Kadri says we've seen this movie before — but this time around it's different, with "so many moving parts."
Sheldon Oskineegish lives in Nibinamik First Nation, about 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay,
The encampment that has existed for months in downtown Guelph's St. George's Square was mostly cleared by Wednesday evening.
Linda Gould still mourns the life she had up until a year ago.
Donald Trump's coming return to the White House hangs heavily over world leaders gathering this week in Peru for the APEC summit and then in Brazil for the G20 — two of the first international summits to be held since the U.S election.
Canada is right to be concerned about trade with the U.S. under a second Trump administration, but specific tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum seem less likely this time around, according to D.C.-based trade policy lawyer.