Robert Fraser

Thanks for the clarification - I wonder what capital assets they purchase each year with that $480,000? That presentation to Victoria Council is pretty bleak, especially the "survey" - I don't consider a survey of 500 random people with a bunch of obviously leading questions to be very indicative of anything (and I am a firm believer in democracy, too - go figure). Full disclosure: I am a 29-year veteran musician of the Victoria Symphony and president of a national organization of symphonic musicians, and I have seen this scenario play out in similar fashion across the country. We all pay lip service to how much our communities value resident arts companies, but we provide terrible infrastructure for them to serve the community from. This whole situation feels like a "renoviction" except that we have only one choice of where to move to next, and the opera and dance companies have no choice. Thanks again for writing this, and bringing the issue back into the public eye.

Great article; a really great summary of the situation as it has unfolded. I have one question though: where do you get the figure of $580,000 for the municipal support of the theatre? According to the RMTS's own on-line annual reports, the amount the three municipalities (Victoria, Oak Bay, Saanich) contribute to the Royal is only $100,000, and Victoria alone contributes $350,000 annually to the McPherson Playhouse. Is there another $480,000 coming in some form that doesn't appear on their financial statements?