In the weeks leading up to the May 14 BC Provincial Election, we’re posting candidates’ responses to a questionnaire we sent out on local music issues.
DAMIR WALLENER, CONSERVATIVE PARTY, COWICHAN VALLEY
DW: Thanks for reaching out on this issue. While I am now stumbling into middle age, I'm not so old that I don't remember struggling to attend gigs where, technically, I shouldn't have been allowed to. I even remember being kept out of places as a performer, because even "the talent" needed to be of-age to get in the building.
SA: Under existing liquor laws, British Columbians under age 19 are not allowed into many live music venues. That's 20% of our population! In your own words, could you please explain why these people are banned from attending concerts?
DW: The boilerplate answer is that younger folks are kept out due to concerns about underage alcohol consumption. Promoters/venues could move to an all-ages model, but in this province, in the Lower Mainland, that generally means no alcohol sales. And no alcohol sales make the economics of live performance challenging, to say the least. Note this is an explanation of how we have ended up where we are, not an expression of where I believe we should be.
SA: Do you believe age restrictions on attending live music events are ethical? If elected, what would you do differently?
DW: My family and I attend several music festivals a year, and what typically happens is the of-age folks get an extra wristband at the gate. This makes enforcement on the alcohol side straight forward. Perhaps we could move to a similar model for club-like venues. This is just one idea, I'm sure folks with practical on the ground experience could come up with other ways that meet the consumption concern without having to constantly check everybody's ID, which is obviously impractical.
SA: Both the Liberal and NDP platforms call for BC's liquor laws to be modernized. Do you think that's a good idea? What changes should be made?
DW: I support a full revamp of all liquor laws/regulations, from production, to licensing, to distribution, to sale, to enforcement, and even to taxation. While I appreciate that many BCers have concerns about the social impacts of alcohol consumption, the reality is the rest of the world has figured out how to let us buy a bottle of wine in the grocery store (to give one example). I am confident our smart, educated populace can likewise figure out a way to handle it.
SA: Government funding currently pays for many amazing public spaces in BC such as parks, schools, stadiums, hospitals, and libraries. Do you think it would also be reasonable for government to subsidize small community-based live music venues, or should these facilities have to compete on the free market?
DW: My current thinking is that rather than move to a subsidized model for small venues, we should take a look at liberalizing regulations on where performance can be held. This would most likely need to go hand in hand with modernization of liquor licensing regulations. But I am open to a variety of models here, as I believe live performance is one of the key ingredients to creating a shared cultural umbrella, and is therefore worth supporting.
SA: Why should someone from the independent music community vote for you?
DW: Ah, the payoff question. At the end of the day, the surest way to ensure a vibrant, thriving artistic scene (music or otherwise) is to ensure we have a prosperous society. The way to do that is to have government that spends prudently and creates and environment for small businesses to blossom. Currently, only the BC Conservatives are committed to this. Going further...in my mind, someone starting a band or launching on an independent movie, as examples, is really creating a startup company. We have a variety of programs/tools to support startup companies in, say, technology - perhaps it is time to at least look at expanding those programs to include artistic/cultural "companies". It is early days on this, and I'm not sure what it would look like at the end of the process, but I would like to see us at least consider such an approach. Let's start the conversation, and see where it leads.
