Ontario reverses Ottawa festival funding cuts to the tune of $790K

The Ontario government ischanging its mind about how much to fundfestivals this year, and events in the Ottawa area are getting another $792,000.

After the Celebrate Ontario grant program cut funding to a number of festivals across the province last month,Tourism, Cultureand Sport Minister Lisa MacLeod told CBC News late Thursday that an additional $792,000 is being divvied up among a number of festivals in Ottawa.

• Tulip Festival selling off giant flower sculptures to make up funding shortfall
• Ottawa festivals dealing with 'catastrophic' provincial funding cut
• Events like the Ottawa Jazz Festival don't need government money, minister says

So far, it's been announced that the Ottawa Jazz Festival is receiving $250,000and the Tulip Festival is receiving $69,000.

Elsewhere in Ontarioan extra$800,000 is being handed out, and in Toronto, "a bit more money as well," MacLeod said in an interview by phone.

More announcements are expected in the coming weeks.

Don't expect to keep getting funds, minister says

After she took over the ministry in a cabinet shuffle in late June, MacLeod said she was able to take a second look at festival funding across the provincebecause the government hadn't committed to spending the entirety of its envelope,and some events hadn'tspentthe full amount they'd been awarded.

"The fund was not at capacity and therefore I was able to review a number of applications that had been previously rejected from the former minister," she said.

MacLeod said the ministry isconsidering changes to how funding is allocated, but want organizersto prove their events areworth the investmentand not simply expect they'll keep getting funding year after year.

"I don't want to have an entitlement-based process where just because a festival received a significant amount of funding one year, that it would [continue]."

'A pretty significant scare'

In early June, a few weeks before the Ottawa Jazz Festival began, organizers weretold theywould not be receiving a $290,000 grant theyhad applied for and expected based on commitments made in previous years.

Catherine O'Grady, the festival's executive producer, told CBC Radio's All In A Day on Thursday thatwhen she found out the funding was coming after all, she initially thought it was a cruel prank.

"At the time of the call, I was wondering what toonie I would use to pay which bill," she added. "We had already spent and invested money in the marketing strategy."

Going forward, they're not going to assume the grants are coming.

"We have all had a pretty significant scare. I don't think the funding is going to be a reliable source of income for us," she said.