But Mr. Harper flatly denied any ideological underpinnings, saying the cuts were made through a series of analyses, the bulk of which “the Department [of Canadian Heritage] itself” carried out.
For those who haven't spent time in Ralphberta, home roost for Harper and his band of thieving neoCons, Harper's hostility towards arts funding, equality rights and so on is simply typical extreme neoCon dogma. The attitude is based on a blithe supposition that the 'free market reigns supreme'. To hell with anyone who doesn't have huge bags of money to back them - more or less.
Particularly laughable is this little gem:
“I've always been torn on music and piano in a way because I actually get a great deal of satisfaction out of when I do it, but I get so wrapped up in it. I've always had that problem with the artistic things I've enjoyed doing – I've played piano, I've sung a bit, I used to write poetry – I've always found with these kinds of things that they draw me in and I can't let them go. I find it difficult to do it just on the side, a little bit here and now,” he said.
Don't even try to make yourself look 'warm and fuzzy', Harper - you aren't, and you won't ever be publicly. What this looks like to me is the classic line used by the religious right towards GLBT people - "But I've got friends who are ..." - it's condescending, pretentious and disrespectful to those that you've just kicked in the face.
And it's not just a $45 million dollar cut - because you started hacking at such things back in 2006 when your government went on its lovely little hack-and-slash campaign of $1 BILLION. Which you've subsequently spent goodness knows how many times over on short term leases to conduct your most excellent adventure in junior empire building.
1 comment:
The Neo Con mindset seems to be that the only endeavors worth pursuing are ones involving science, law, or politics. They seem to conveniently forget that they listen to, or view, 'the arts' probably on a daily basis (the radio in the car, reading a book, taking in a movie, a theater production, even advertising is an art form.....).
A lot of art based businesses have gotten their start by utilizing a grant and now they are not only profitable (thus they pay tax), they also employ numerous people (this also helps the economy).
Art also contributes to the sense of a 'national cultural identity' which both makes the country unique, and acts as an attraction for tourism (which helps the economy), for instance, the Calgary Stampede brings in millions of dollars to the local economy based in part on attractions that have a solid foundation in the Arts.
Funding is used by Opera companies and various orchestras so that they can continue to perform for the public at a price that the average person can afford. Now before anyone out there turns around with a free market force argument against that, consider the following; One of the side effects is that a lot of people decide to take up music lessons because they have been exposed to concerts, those music lessons drive a huge industry which employs a very large number of music teachers.
From a personal side I have a large number of students that are not wealthy and would not have even considered trying out for lessons if they hadn't been exposed to a concert where they were inspired.
A vote for the CON$ is a vote that will further rob this fine country of the happiness that we can find in, and expressed by, the arts community.
SB
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