I’ve been trying to come up with a few good quips for this post, but it may not be in the cards today. As it turns out fiscal planning isn’t all that funny. I don’t know who could have possibly forseen that?
Canadian Art News
Yesterday the uber conservative Harper government promised the Canada Council for the Arts, 50 million over two years in additional monies. This number is significantly smaller than the 150 million increase (which would have doubled their budget) that had been promised this past November by the previous liberal government. However the Canada Council response has been nothing short of gleeful, since the new Federal government is percieved as having little interest or concern for the arts. This impression is not unfounded as Steven Harper is well known for making outrageous statements in regards to Canadian culture. Within the last five years he has called the maritime provinces saddled by “a culture of defeat“, and attacked the countries efforts to promote bilingualism saying, “As a religion, bilingualism is the god that failed. It has led to no fairness, produced no unity and cost Canadian taxpayers untold millions.” Any Canadian with an ounce of liberalism is hoping the minority government topples within the next year – before the prime minister has a chance to dismantle the culture Canadians spent years building. The fact that he gave 50 million to the Canada Council for the Arts is an indication that Harper is a) not impervious to political pressure to move to the center, and b) that it might actually take longer than many Canadians hope to remove this man from power.
UPDATE: I was informed today that the Canadian Prime Ministers wife Laureen Teskey, is a graphic designer. This may explain Harper’s unexpected softness towards the profession.
