The health situation, which seems to be deteriorating day by day at the end of the year, will it allow us to stay the course? During the last Toulouse city council of the year, on December 10, the delicate subject of cultural subsidies was once again on the agenda. At the previous municipal council, Francis Grass, deputy mayor for culture, following an intervention by Caroline Honvault for the opposition, had recognized that there was a lack of 1 million euros in subsidies, in 2021, due to the drop in the casino’s annual contribution due to its closure for several months due to the Covid. This time, while the elected officials voted for the original 2022 budget, Francis Grass assured that “we are starting again on a normal budget”, that is to say with cultural subsidies at their usual level, therefore counting on a full casino contribution. “Subject to contingencies,” said Francis Grass, cautious, thinking of the health situation.

Caroline Honvault had once again stepped up to the plate to assert that “the cultural sector is worried and does not feel supported”. Francis Grass had, him, re-explained that after the support of the town hall and the Metropolis in 2020, about twenty associations had seen their subsidies reduced in 2021 but after the examination of their finances and that in the end “none was found in danger. Culture is not in danger”, hammered the elected official.

Hélène Cabanes pour les Verts called into question, as already in the past, the “non-transparent management of subsidies”. On this subject, a working group headed by Christophe Alvès has been set up. A group which must in particular propose criteria for the allocation of grants.