Press

For Immediate Release: Monday, June 22, 2026

In the wake of provincial budget cuts, EAC and Arts Coalition invite Nova Scotians to play Bingo for Better this summer.

(Halifax, NS) – The Nova Scotia Arts Coalition (NSAC) and the Ecology Action Centre (EAC) are inviting all Nova Scotians to play Bingo for Better this summer.

This free campaign is open to everyone, all summer long. It’s designed to highlight activities and experiences Nova Scotians and visitors can take advantage of—all of which are under threat by the current provincial government. Playing is easy—participants can pick up a printed bingo card, or download and print at home, and then spend the summer exploring Nova Scotia, and daubing off the corresponding activities on their Bingo for Better card.

“The squares on the Bingo for Better card include activities that are essential to who we are as Nova Scotians,” says Chris O’Neill, member of the NS Arts Coalition and Executive Director of the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts, in rural Kings County. “They are integral to what makes this province wonderful, from public lands, to musicians and artists, to libraries, and we hope Nova Scotians will join us in both celebrating and protecting them.”

O’Neill explains that impacts of the provincial government’s actions and choices on the lives, communities, and wellbeing of Nova Scotians are still being discovered. “We are now seeing the fallout to the regional library systems, and rural landowners are realising that stewardship of their property is in jeopardy if someone wants to extract resources from them.”

Maggy Burns, Executive Director of the Ecology Action Centre says that the budget choices made by this government affect everyone. “The activities in Bingo for Better are things that people across the province, whether we’re urban or rural, enjoy doing and having in our communities.” Burns says that while the idea is a fun one, the message is serious, too. “By doing some of the activities on the Bingo card, people can see what’s at stake when our government focuses on extractive industries and antidemocratic decision making instead of focusing on sustainable and sensible economic development.”

O’Neill explains that Bingo for Better is part of a larger “Culture is Critical Campaign” which welcomes all Nova Scotians to participate. “Culture is non-partisan. It includes arts, and it also includes libraries, our natural spaces, Treaty rights, cultural communities, and the very welcome for which we are known around the world.” As part of the campaign, Nova Scotians are invited to put up Culture is Critical signs in their front windows. “We hope everyone will publicly show how much we all care about our province and how we can work together to preserve the best of who we are, and to ensure the future of our children to live in vibrant and healthy communities.”

The Bingo for Better Campaign doesn’t end with the squares being marked off. At the end of the summer, NSAC and EAC will host Bingo for Better Block Parties in communities around the province, with participation from local organizations. “This is a chance to connect with our friends and neighbours around these shared values and assets, and to remind our elected leaders that we truly value our arts, culture, heritage, and natural environment, and that we want our politicians to choose better for Nova Scotia,” says Burns.

Printed Bingo for Better cards and Culture is Critical signs will be available at cultural institutions and other spaces around the province, and can be downloaded and printed from bingoforbetter.ca.

The Nova Scotia Arts Coalition is a non-partisan advocacy group representing arts organizations, individual artists, and culture workers province-wide.

The Ecology Action Centre is a member-based environmental charity in Nova Scotia. Since 1971, EAC has taken leadership on critical environmental issues from biodiversity protection to climate change to environmental justice.

Bingo for Better online:

Website: http://bingoforbetter.ca/

Instagram: @bingoforbetterns

Facebook: Bingo For Better

Media Contact:

Nova Scotia Arts Coalition
Chris O’Neill,
Executive Director, Ross Creek Centre for the Arts
902-582-3842
chris@artscentre.ca

Rowan Swain
Communications lead, Ecology Action Centre
902-292-0371
rowan@ecologyaction.ca

Additional Information

The NS Arts Coalition is an ad hoc advocacy group made up of individual artists and arts, culture and heritage organizations across the province. We are dedicated to ensuring that provincial policy and funding is responsive to the needs of the sector for the benefit of all Nova Scotians.

“These cuts will have significant economic ripple effects on so many of our region’s greatest goals and achievements, from tourism to homegrown businesses to our ability to attract and retain newcomers, to recruit healthcare workers, and so on. Cultural events are a major draw for visitors. Vital cultural communities are communities that doctors and nurses want to come to, and where people want to visit or stay to raise their families. As we saw when the film industry faced cuts, those short-term savings can have immense and widespread long-term costs. And what can be destroyed very quickly can be very hard—and expensive—to rebuild.” - Rebecca Silver Slayter, Artistic Director, Cabot Trail Writers Festival

“Our sector has spent decades stretching every dollar, leveraging modest public investment to deliver outsized social, cultural, and economic returns in communities across the province. These proposed cuts won’t save the province money—they’ll just kick the can down the road apiece, till we trip on it later.” Chris O’Neill, Executive Director, Ross Creek Centre for the Arts

For more information on the Nova Scotia Arts Coalition, visit: http://www.nsarts.ca

Follow the coalition socially on:

Facebook: NS Arts Coalition

Instagram: @nsartscoalition