OTTAWA — Canada's arts community has gone from absolute jubilation to high anxiety in the span of six short months.

It's in serious nail-biting mode now that the Conservatives have rejected a plan put forward by the Liberals last fall to beef up funding for artists and cultural institutions by $342 million. "It would be a tremendous blow to the Toronto community and to all Canada if this money doesn't come through - a crushing blow ," said Claire Hopkinson, executive director of the Toronto Arts Council.

"Arts organizations and artists deliver a tremendous amount to society and are among the lowest paid workers in Canada."

Heritage Minister Bev Oda has not hinted what her party's own strategy will be, but in her comments she insists the government is committed to arts and culture.

"We will meet every commitment that is good for the creators, good for Canadians and good for our country," Oda told the House of Commons earlier this week.

"We will be able to move forward on our commitment to the arts and culture community once we look at the needs that are going to be required by the community."

That community spent years pressuring the Liberal government to do something about the struggling industry. The Canadian Arts Coalition was formed to create a more effective lobbying body.

The strategy finally paid off with the announcement that the Liberals would double funding for the Canada Council for the Arts, an agency that distributes money to artists and organizations. Other groups like the National Ballet School also got a bump up.

"Here we have what is undeniably a great and rich country, the only country in the G8 with a $10-billion surplus and yet we're a third-world country where arts are concerned," said Richard Bradshaw, general director of the Canadian Opera Country.

The worrying started during the election campaign. The arts weren't anywhere on the radar.

Then came the Conservative throne speech, and nary a mention of arts and culture.

Members of the arts coalition met with Oda on Tuesday, but it was described as just an introductory chat - no signals from the minister, no inkling that arts might show up in the spring budget. Oda has said she wants to study where best to put resources.

Her office asked major arts institutions to send along detailed summaries of how much money they receive, where they are lacking, and what extra money would mean to them.

Liberal Heritage critic Mauril Belanger doesn't understand why that's necessary.

"Our funding was the result of two years of consultations, and it was clear that the biggest priority for the arts community was doubling funding to the Council for the Arts," said Belanger.

"It's not because a Liberal government did it that the conclusion was wrong."

But Oda, who was Heritage critic in opposition and hails from the broadcasting world, is warmly regarded in the arts community. The jury's still out on the Conservative government as a whole.

The only nod to the arts by the Conservative government has been a campaign to give the province of Quebec a seat at the United Nations' cultural organization, UNESCO.

Simon Brault, vice-chairman of the Canada Council of the Arts, is confident funding for the arts will eventually appear in the mix.

"My feeling is that they won't be able to ignore it, especially because the Harper government has to pay attention to Quebec, and if you want to be seen as a good government in Quebec you just cannot ignore culture," said Brault, also the chairman of Culture Montreal.

The Ontario government is also lobbying Oda to match a $49 million cash injection to six arts building projects, including the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario.