On November 20, 2014, the Culture Days, CAPACOA, and the Cultural Knowledge Exchange
(CKX) Summit invited Shawn Van Sluys, executive director of Musagetes, and Alain Dubuc,
economist and journalist with La Presse, to debate the value of the arts. Simon Brault, director of
the Canada Council for the Arts, moderated. Shawn argued for the ‘proverbial truths’ or
intrinsic value of the arts while Alain argued for the ‘hard facts’ or economic value of the arts.
This Oxford-style debate was held at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto. To watch the video of
the debate, visit CultureDays.ca. The Globe and Mail covered the event here.