Culture shock(ed)

Let's face it - protesting artists comprise a very vocal and very eloquent group. As a result, a number of Canadians have jumped on the protest bandwagon. While you'll rarely see me supporting the Conservatives on pretty much anything, and Harper's robotic attempts at a genuine smile in his TV ads give me the creeps, it's important to see the big picture.

Parliament voted to spend more than $4 billion on cultural programs, including the CBC, the Canada Arts Council, the National Gallery of Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage. That amounts to $660 million or 19.7% more than was spent in 2006, the last year the Liberals were in power.

Yes, funding was slashed to the $4.7 million ProMart program (artists' travel support fund), and the $9 million Trade Routes program (supporting film and music exports), but it's natural – and fiscally responsible-- to re-evaluate and question programs that have been in place for a while, to ensure they're still relevant and serve a purpose. I want my tax dollars going where they will be most effective and just because a program is implemented shouldn't mean it will continue to receive funding for eternity. I have much bigger issues with government attempts to introduce Bill C-10, which would have given the Heritage Department power to deny funding for films and TV shows it considers offensive.

While I resent Harper's moronic statement that cuts to the arts are a 'niche' issue and don't 'resonate' with the average Canadian, the part of me that was raised by no-nonsense immigrants understands that hardworking, tax-paying, Tim Horton's coffee-drinking, hockey-watching Canucks who worry about putting food on the table and their kids through school, who lose sleep over the lack of adequate daycare and family doctors and are terrified that one of these days a bridge will collapse while they're driving on it, simply don't have the patience to hear about how 'art is the core of our economy' (Good one, Jack Layton!).

On the other hand, it’s completely unfair to make the assumption that artists who receive government funding are lazy, la-dee-da, pretentious parasites. You would be hard pressed to find a field of work where people work as hard and as passionately for such a pitifully small financial return. Most artists I know are often working on their art at a financial loss to themselves. At the same time, why should artists view financial assistance as their God-given right and expect –nay, demand- taxpayers to foot the bill? Well, last I checked, farmers and CEOs got the same deal, so either deal with them fairly or reevaluate the entire system.

As someone who lived abroad for a good chunk of her life and, upon her return, rediscovered Canada through the works of Margaret Atwood, Leonard Cohen and Robertson Davies, the songs of Corneille and Great Big Sea and the silly antics of The Kids in the Hall, I understand the sheer power of art to communicate a country's soul and spirit. If art doesn't matter than neither do libraries, museums or schools. And before we question art's importance as a money-making industry, ask yourself this: when's the last time you visited Rome for its thriving Vespa industry?