2026 Municipal Election Q&A

Mayoral Candidate: Melissa Granum

1. Addressing the Strategic Priorities of Delta's Arts Community

Through recent consultations, the Arts Council of Delta has identified four urgent priority areas that require immediate attention, forward-planning, and leadership from our incoming municipal government:

• Sustainable Base Funding: Expanding dedicated municipal funding streams specifically for non-profit arts, heritage, and cultural programming.

• Infrastructure & Forward Planning: Committing to long-term municipal planning that includes upgrading aging cultural spaces and building new, adaptable arts facilities.

• Collaborative Marketing & Tourism: Partnering with Tourism Delta to proactively market local cultural events, boost regional tourism, and support local creators.

• Financial Transparency: Providing clear, transparent public reporting regarding the City of Delta’s current municipal spending and allocation of resources for arts and culture.

Your Perspective:

• If elected, how will you and your team champion these four specific priorities over the course of your upcoming term?

• Are there any immediate actions you would take in your first 100 days to address these community needs?

Responses:

Delta First - Championing the Four Priorities:

• Sustainable Base Funding: A predictable, multi-year funding pipeline allows non-profit groups to plan multi-season programming without living grant-to-grant. We support transitioning away from relying solely on one-off project applications toward structured, recurring municipal operational support for baseline cultural organizations.

• Infrastructure & Forward Planning: Delta’s growth requires cultural infrastructure that grows alongside residential development. We will integrate a dedicated Arts & Culture Infrastructure Needs Assessment directly into Delta’s broader Official Community Plan (OCP) and Capital Works planning.

• Collaborative Marketing & Tourism: Delta’s local creators deserve regional visibility. We will direct City staff to work directly with Tourism Delta to co-develop dedicated cross-promotional campaigns highlighting local arts events, studio tours, and heritage sites across North Delta, Ladner, and Tsawwassen.

• Financial Transparency: Taxpayers and non-profit partners deserve complete clarity on where civic dollars flow. We commit to publishing a clean, annually updated online Arts & Culture Budget Ledger that explicitly breaks down civic line items, facility subsidies, and external grants.

Immediate Actions (First 180 Days):

• Convene a Delta Cultural Leadership Roundtable involving the Arts Council of Delta, local non-profit leaders, and independent artists to map out immediate space constraints and grant pain points.

• Initiate a comprehensive audit of all current municipal property leases and unused public spaces to identify immediate, low-cost opportunities for artist studio pop-ups and rehearsal conversions.

Achieving for Delta - 

One Delta - One Delta will set up a dedicated Arts and Culture Department at City Hall, separate from Parks and Recreation, so the sector has a clear home and focused leadership. We will also introduce arts grants for community-based projects and events, and review and strengthen Delta's public art policy. More broadly, we are committed to transparency at City Hall, including recorded council votes and public timelines for development applications.

2. Performance, Rehearsal and Cultural Spaces

Arts organizations in Delta face immense challenges finding affordable, accessible, and appropriately equipped spaces for theatre, music, dance, and visual arts. Examples include a lack of appropriate sprung wood dance floors, rehearsal halls, multi-use studios, and dedicated art gallery spaces. Over the past 25 years, a noticeable gap in arts and culture infrastructure development has failed to support the growing needs of Delta's creative sector and the general public. [1]

• Infrastructure Development: What role do you believe the City of Delta should play in developing and improving municipal arts and culture infrastructure? 

• Targeted City Investment: Do you support direct city investment in affordable, dedicated rehearsal, studio, and exhibition/performance spaces for local artists and non-profit arts organizations?

• Developer Amenities: Do you support a municipal model that mandates or incentivizes developer-contributed arts and culture amenities (e.g., retail-level studio spaces) within new commercial and residential development applications?

Responses:

Delta First - Infrastructure Development: The City must act as an active catalyst not a passive observer in facility development. We support performing technical upgrades on city-owned spaces (e.g. lighting, and sound isolation) so local groups can produce professional grade work locally.

• Targeted City Investment: Yes. We support targeted city investment into dedicated, affordable studio, rehearsal, and gallery spaces. Supporting local creative spaces keeps talented practitioners living, working, and performing right here in Delta.

• Developer Amenities: Yes. We support implementing a robust municipal amenity policy that incentivizes or mandates developer-contributed cultural infrastructure (such as ground-floor non-profit gallery spaces, maker studios, or multi-use performance nooks) as a standard condition within large-scale commercial and residential developments.

Achieving for Delta - 

One Delta - We will dedicate storage space for equipment and supplies for non-profit arts and culture groups in select Delta facilities. We will revitalize Paterson Park as a destination events space, with a permanent pavilion and upgraded electricity, water and internet. We will also invest in community gathering spaces across Delta. We look forward to discussing longer-term space needs with the Arts Council, including during the next Official Community Plan update. 

3. Arts & Culture’s role in the Delta Economy

Canada’s arts and cultural sector contribution to the national economy reached $65 billion in 2024. In British Columbia, the broader cultural sector generates an economic impact of $24.2 billion, which includes $13.6 billion in direct impacts for local communities.

When tied to the visitor economy, tourism is an absolute economic powerhouse in BC, generating $23 billion in gross revenue in 2024 alone. Locally, the Tourism Delta Value of Tourism Study confirms that the visitor economy is a vital driver for our city, with the direct value of tourism valued at $96.5 million—representing 20% of all businesses and 11% of all jobs in Delta. [1, 2]

Currently, no formalized data is available regarding the specific economic contributions made by individual artists and arts groups to Delta’s economy, nor is there clear tracking of municipal budgets provided for non-city-related arts programming.

• Economic Growth: What opportunities do you see to intentionally leverage and increase the economic impact of arts, culture, heritage, and creative industries in Delta?

• Data Collection: Do you support the City of Delta Cultural Services department actively collecting data on the localized economic impacts of non-profit arts and culture organizations? 

• Strategic Collaboration: Do you support the Arts Council of Delta acting as a core, official stakeholder in the execution of the Delta Community Tourism Plan and overall tourism strategy? [1, 2]

Responses:

Delta First - Economic Growth: Arts and heritage are key drivers of local business. We see massive opportunities to package local cultural experiences such as farm-to-table culinary arts, studio tours, and heritage walks into destination itineraries that drive night-and-weekend foot traffic to Delta's local town centres.

• Data Collection: Yes. You cannot properly fund what you do not measure. We fully support the City of Delta Cultural Services department actively tracking and quantifying the local economic multiplier effects (jobs, local vendor spending, secondary foot traffic) created by non-profit cultural events.

• Strategic Collaboration: Yes. The Arts Council of Delta should be seated as an official, core stakeholder in the design and ongoing execution of the Delta Community Tourism Plan.

Achieving for Delta - 

One Delta - One Delta will open a dedicated Economic Development Office, bring more live music to designated zones across the city, and create a local-makers zone at the Ladner Village Market. On heritage, we will set up permanent heritage walking tours, update Delta's heritage inventory (the first update in over 25 years), and reinstate the Heritage Advisory Commission.

4. Arts & Culture’s role in Social Cohesion & Community Well Being

The role that arts and culture plays in fostering a deep sense of community belonging, encouraging public discourse around vital issues like diversity and inclusion, and driving tangible health-related benefits has been widely documented. [1]

• Social Plan Integration: Do you support integrating the measurable social and wellness benefits of arts and culture directly into the City of Delta's Social Planning framework? (Note: Currently, arts funding relies heavily on the community grant fund, which restricts organizations if they already receive other forms of city funding). [1]

Responses:

Delta First - Yes. Arts and cultural programming directly combat isolation, support mental well-being, and build cross-cultural connection. We support integrating arts and wellness metrics into Delta's Social Planning framework. Furthermore, we support reviewing and easing rigid grant restrictions that currently prevent arts organizations from applying for wellness-based project grants if they hold other city operational funding.

Achieving for Delta - 

One Delta - We believe residents should help shape City decisions. One Delta will restore citizen-led committees. A dedicated Arts and Culture Department and new arts grants will give the sector a stronger voice and support at City Hall

5. Establishing Dedicated Municipal Arts & Culture Funding

Several mid-to-large Metro Vancouver municipalities—including Surrey, Richmond, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, and Coquitlam—provide dedicated, predictable arts and culture funding through their baseline municipal budgets.

• Stand-Alone Grant Program: Do you support the City of Delta establishing a dedicated, stand-alone arts and culture grant program funded directly through the City budget to support Delta’s community organizations, professional arts groups, and individual artists?

• Electoral Commitment: If elected to council, will you formally commit to exploring, advocating for, and working toward the establishment of such a program during your upcoming term? 

Responses:

Delta First - Stand-Alone Grant Program: Yes. Delta needs to align with neighboring Metro Vancouver municipalities by establishing a dedicated, predictable, and transparent Arts & Culture Grant Program funded directly through the baseline civic budget.

• Electoral Commitment: We formally commit. If elected, the Delta First team will advocate for, initiate, and work to establish a dedicated municipal arts funding stream within our term on Council. This can be accomplished by re-instate an Arts & Culture public advisory committee, which helps provide structured benefits across policy, community engagement and civic efficiency.

Achieving for Delta -

One Delta - One Delta is committed to introducing arts grants for community-based arts projects and events, delivered alongside a dedicated Arts and Culture Department. We will fund community investments by growing Delta's economy, not through new taxes, levies or fees.