"During the Second World War, Winston Churchill's finance minister said Britain should cut arts funding to support the war effort.
Churchill's response: 'Then what are we fighting for?' " - Mark Leiren-Young, The Vancouver Sun, Oct.4-08
The current Canadian federal election spun into historic new territory last week when arts funding became a galvanizing issue. It all started when "Stephen Harper, casting himself as the voice of the common man, decried the arts community as elitist. At a recent campaign stop in Saskatchewan, Harper said, "I think when ordinary working people come home, turn on the TV and see a gala of a bunch of people, you know, at a rich gala all subsidized by taxpayers claiming their subsidies aren't high enough - when they know those subsidies have actually gone up - I'm not sure that's something that resonates with ordinary people." ' - Jeet Heer, National Post, Oct. 6-08
" 'When Stephen Harper talks about the ordinary Quebecker who supposedly does not care about culture and about artists attending galas, he is not only insulting people, he is missing the point,' said Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe. 'In Quebec, and I think in Canada, not only is culture the backbone of our national identity, it is also a huge part of our economy,' Mr. Duceppe said, referring to a recent Conference Board of Canada study that said cultural activities contribute $84-billion to the economy. 'Our culture cannot be outsourced. Culture is our future, as much to nourish our souls as to nourish our stomachs. We don't want to live on Planet Hollywood.' " - Joe Friesen and Omar El Akkad and Bill Curry, The Globe and Mail - Oct. 4
"In Quebec, they get it. No culture equals no country. In our English language leadership debate, Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe declared, 'Culture is the soul of a nation.' Have you seen Les 3 P'tits Cochons? I doubt it. But it made $4.6 million last year and was the highest grossing Canadian film of 2007 - and Quebec's sixth-highest grosser overall, including Hollywood blockbusters.
If you don't think culture matters and sincerely believe Canada isn't supposed to be anything more than America with a better medical plan, a smaller army and Don Cherry, let's look at that bottom line Tories are always so fond of referring to. The Conference Board of Canada estimates that last year the economic impact of arts and culture was 7.4 per cent of our gross domestic product. Arts and culture employs over one million Canadians.
All those movie trucks making it impossible to find a parking space - they're injecting more tax dollars into our economy than logging trucks." - Mark Leiren-Young, The Vancouver Sun, Oct.4-08
Very quickly, the arts community grabbed the political ball and ran with it - in the form of Wrecking Ball political theatre events across the country. Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax and Corner Brook, N.L. took part in " 'an evening of fresh theatre with uncensored content,' said Koby Rogers-Hall, co-ordinator of an artist-run political organization, the Department of Culture, in Montreal. 'We're hoping Canadians will respond to it. Whatever audiences put out there, we hope to have a dialogue.'
Writers donated their work and actors donated their time to get the works on stage. 'We didn't want to just sit on election night and hear about how the rest of the country voted. We wanted to make our own form of political participation,' said Michael Wheeler, the Toronto-based central co-ordinator of the Department of Culture." - CBC.ca - Oct.6
Actor Eric Peterson was one of the actors who spoke at a Toronto rally. He worked alongside Prime Minister Harper when he did a cameo on the popular series Corner Gas. Here's Stephen Harper's cameo:
Here's Eric Peterson's open letter to Stephen Harper:
Here's a clip from Corner Gas showcasing Eric Peterson's character, Oscar Leroy:
" 'Harper has decided not to impose censorship — but that's not anything we should be grateful for,' Kids in the Hall comedian Mark McKinney told a rally in Toronto on Wednesday. Some people at the rally carried signs that said Vote culture, eh? and Workers, not whiners at the rally, organized by actors' union ACTRA and the Writers Guild of Canada.
McKinney argued that TV and filmmaking in Canada are vital industries that are growing because of arts funding from past governments. 'We have had arts funding that allows young people to train in their profession and has brought us to a cusp of being a world leader in TV and film,' said McKinney, who is now a producer and screenwriter. 'This is a good business. Don't ruin it,' he urged." - CBC.ca
Here's a clip from Mark McKinney's 1990's comedy show The Kids in The Hall which tackles the Canadian culture/taxpayer relationship.
And here's a wonderful piece from YouTube which puts everything into the most marvellous perspective with a quote from French Canadian author Gabrielle Roy:
