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The Ballets Jazz de Montréal had never heard of the Canada Prizes for the Arts and Creativity. The Stratford Shakespeare Festival had never been consulted about them. So why were they listed as “partners” in a proposal for the project?

The document in question, released on Tuesday, contains an outline that largely aligns with the public characterization of the initiative, which drew a $25-million pledge from the federal government in last month's budget.

But the alleged partners that deny formal ties with the project include the National Gallery, Ballets Jazz de Montréal, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, L'École nationale de théâtre du Canada, and L'École nationale du cirque du Canada.

That has some in the arts world worrying that the proposal, submitted last fall to the federal government, could have misled federal decision-makers about support for the prizes.

But Canada Prizes' co-founder David Pecaut said yesterday that the proposal was simply a “concept document” tabled last autumn as part of a long series of discussions with the government. The officials he met with were clear on the still-unformed nature of the prizes, he said.

The electronic document contains a broad outline of the initiative, and the last of its eight pages offers a list of 24 Canadian and 17 international arts organizations under the heading “Partners.”

The preamble for the page reads: “Discussions have already taken place with partners from across Canada and around the world. The participation of these partner institutions will ensure the success of the Canada Prizes as the global prize of prizes for arts and creativity.”

Since the document began circulating publicly, some institutions have said they had never heard of the international-calibre arts prizes until the government announced them in late January. Others had informal discussions with the founders about the prizes, but nothing more.

Simon Brault, director of the École nationale de théâtre, said the new prize had been mentioned to him, but “there were never discussions.”

“To be named as a partner, for me, was a total shock and surprise,” he said. “When everybody read that document … then people I guess are questioning the legitimacy of all that. I think it's possible [the government was misled].”

Pecaut said the list represented “what we thought were the kinds of partnerships that would create an enduring, successful Canada Prize,” adding that the prize's founders had had discussions with roughly a dozen of those on the list, including “a few” international partners. The organizations were not intended to be viewed as pledged partners, he said.

“When we spoke to federal officials, our position was that this was a great idea that would need a lot of fleshing out. There would need to be a process of consultation building support for it … and we'd need to reach out to a whole set of partners,” Pecaut said. “If it implies to someone, taken out of context, that everyone on that list was talked to, that's not true and very unfortunate.”

Some on the list, such as the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Art Gallery of Ontario, have emphatically thrown their support behind the prizes. “It's a very clear signal from the government about the ambition they have for the role of the arts, and we're early in the process. There's still work to be done,” said Matthew Teitelbaum, chief executive officer of the AGO.

Pecaut also said that during discussions with federal officials, “we were very clear,” and “we kicked around a lot of ideas” as part of an evolving process. Deirdra McCracken, communications director for Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore, would not say directly whether the minister was caught off guard by the fact that some of the named arts organizations had not been consulted.

“Theirs was but one proposal that we expect to receive from the arts community as we make a final decision about the Canada Prize,” she said in an e-mail. “It is not the policy adopted by our government.”

Pecaut said the same explanation applies to parts of the documents that suggest a closer link to the Luminato Festival than had been expected. He had previously described the two entities as entirely separate, but a tentative budget in the document shows Luminato footing the bill for marketing, website design, office rental and miscellaneous administration for the prizes.

Pecaut, a Luminato co-founder, said the two organizations will be entirely separate and will not share office space.