Dear Minister MacKay,

I would at this time like to congratulate you on your appointment to your recent position of Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister in charge of ACOA.

As a Newfoundlander who has just recently made the decision to return to the province after spending 21 years away from it, including 16 years in Vancouver, I myself work in the arts and entertainment industry. For the past 12 years I have worked in the film and tv industry as well as theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia. And to see a project like the Garrick unfold in the area of rural Newfoundland makes me ever hopeful that there is still a future here. And that despite our "hard times" we still have a deep appreciation for the arts. And not solely as a tourist cash card but as something that is part of our everyday existence as Canadian citizens.

It has been recently determined that regions that are abundant in the areas of arts, culture and entertainment are major decision making factors upon which people base their habitation choices. They become destination points within a region and contribute to the standard of living that people deem necessary for their social structure. Excellent theatre enriches our community and is an integral part of our lives. Through the arts we strive to realize a shared dream of a better community. And it appears as if The Garrick Theatre is well on the road to proving that it is an essential and important spoke in that wheel.

The concept of the facility that is being presented here is sound in every respect and also forward thinking in terms of its initiative to be an expansive, diverse venture that moves outside of the milking of the regional culture cow. It is not limiting itself in its plans but rather is exploring the various products that can be gleaned from it.

As Artistic Director for THE NEW CURTAIN THEATRE COMPANY in Clarenville, Newfoundland (a 70 minute drive from Bonivista)I welcome the instalation of such a facility as The Garrick. NCTC's mandate is to present national and international works of theatre to the local audience. And our summer stock theatre is geared more toward the classics than the vernacular. The Garrick's potential is positive and endless in ways such as - offering a brighter future for our own Company as it presents the option of travelling some of our own productions to this area, enlarging a list of venues for province wide tours that offer entertainment to a wider local audience, creating a destination even within our own radius of communities instead of being limited to one option. Thus with the variety that this region will offer in the next five to ten years to both permanent and visitors alike, this can I believe, become one of the artistic hotbeds of the country. Already, I have national artists lined up to come come work here for future productions.

I hope that we are moving well beyond the monopoly of service of the past as I seem to remember a certain fishery structure that operated on just that premiss. We must look to other regions of the country for examples where diversification presents vitality and if we are to preserve the reality of rural life in Newfoundland I firmly believe that this is the path we must follow. Options have to be available to our residents or else they will move elsewhere to where they are. Many regions, towns and cities exist with multiple offerings in the arts and all are able to co-exist if properly managed and planned. And the Garrick apprears to do just that.

So therefore I respectfully urge you to review and reconsider the recent decision of ACOA to halt its investment in The Garrick and reinstate its funding to this venture. It is a sound venture. And one that many of us in the artistic community support.

Yours sincerely,
Geoff Adams
Artistic Director
The New Curtain Theatre Compnay
Clarenville, Newfoundland
nctc@persona.ca

cc:
Hon. Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
Hon. Danny Williams, Premier, Newfoundland and Labrador
Hon. Tom Hedderson, Minister, Tourism, Culture and Recreation
Hon. Kathy Dunderdale, Minister, Innovation, Trade and Rural Development
Scott Simms, M.P., Bonavista Gander Grand Falls-Windsor
Roger Fitzgerald, M.H.A., Bonavista South
Paul Mills, Vice-President (Newfoundland and Labrador), ACOA
Mayor Betty Fitzgerald, Town of Bonavista

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