New media and mentorship programs for young people should benefit from new arts and cultural funding expected in federal budget to be delivered on Tuesday, said an industry group.

The Conservative government plans to boost boost arts and culture spending by $160 million, Federal Heritage Minister James Moore announced in Quebec over the weekend and Alain Pineau, executive director of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, has some ideas for where that money should go.

His group is asking the government to:

• Invest in a fund that would allow new media companies to develop and market their products.
• Update cultural buildings or build new cultural facilities.
• Support mentorship for young people.

He cited Conference Board of Canada figures that showed the industry represented $85 billion or about seven per cent of Canada's GDP in 2007.

"It certainly equals many other sectors of the economy that employ fewer people than this sector," Pineau said.

He added that while he understands why the government cares about the forest and auto industries, it should also be looking toward the future.

"And the future is in the brains of our young people, the brains of our creators," he said.

Pineau argued the sector is very nimble at creating jobs, with the cost of creating or maintaining a job in the arts at about 1/10th of that in sectors such as oil and gas or manufacturing. It also has mechanisms in place through the Canada Council and other agencies that allow it to funnel the money rapidly to where it's needed, he said.

Paul Butler, co-founder of the video game company Artech Studios, said his industry is growing worldwide and Canada needs to be a part of that.

"This is a place where there's going to be jobs in the future," he said. "It's also an export business."

Government funding through Telefilm-new media has already allowed his company to pitch their new game Aces of the Galaxy to Microsoft for its Xbox system and to Vivendi for the PC, Butler said.

Meanwhile, those who work in more traditional areas of arts and culture also had high hopes for the federal budget.

New tone from government: museum head

Alexandra Montgomery, executive director of the Gardiner Museum in Toronto, said the government has already set a very different tone from the one it was using a few months ago.

"I think that the public response to the arts cuts made last fall was a surprise to the government," she told CBC's Metro Morning Monday. "And Minister Moore has made a concerted effort to consult with communities like Toronto and other communities to ask us what we need and what we would like and how we would like to participate in the economic stimulus package.

"I think that trend speaks to what we can expect tomorrow."

She said she expects the government to renew existing arts funding programs so her sector can "have some stability going forward in these very uncertain times."