Liberals, Bloc and NDP lying about Arts funding
My wife is a member of the "Arts" community. She and the rest of her group receive assistance from the Federal government. And guess what? Their funding hasn't been touched by the Conservative government.
Why? Because their "art" isn't the fringe related and wasteful stuff that we don't want to keep on funding. Their "art" is the sort that does help bring in millions of dollars to local economies. In fact, they're headed out on tour in the very near future, helping to bolster the economies of the various cities they visit.
Do I support the arts? You bet I do. Do I support funding artists who are simply living off the backs of the rest of Canadians? No, I don't. And believe me, there are many such individuals within the "arts" community.
If the arts community is serious about their funding issues, work on getting your house in order. I have no qualms with our government providing even more funding, so long as you're not giving it to wasteful or offensive projects. There are plenty of projects we used to fund that provide little or no value for money... and yes, I know, it's not always about the money. But if people were honest about this issue, they'd have to agree that we do fund a lot of things that really don't provide much of any benefit to our society.
Why? Because their "art" isn't the fringe related and wasteful stuff that we don't want to keep on funding. Their "art" is the sort that does help bring in millions of dollars to local economies. In fact, they're headed out on tour in the very near future, helping to bolster the economies of the various cities they visit.
Do I support the arts? You bet I do. Do I support funding artists who are simply living off the backs of the rest of Canadians? No, I don't. And believe me, there are many such individuals within the "arts" community.
If the arts community is serious about their funding issues, work on getting your house in order. I have no qualms with our government providing even more funding, so long as you're not giving it to wasteful or offensive projects. There are plenty of projects we used to fund that provide little or no value for money... and yes, I know, it's not always about the money. But if people were honest about this issue, they'd have to agree that we do fund a lot of things that really don't provide much of any benefit to our society.
posted by Christian Conservative @ 2:02 p.m.
6 Comments:
At Fri Sep 26, 02:23:00 p.m. EDT,
Anonymous said…
See, we have a philosophical difference on this one.
Good, bad, or ugly I don't think gov't should be in the business of subsidizing art. I'm not anti-art, I just respect that those who are should not have their tax-dollars spent on art. Also, this way we take the subjective decision away from gov't about which art deserves our support and which art doesn't
Also, how about priorities? The Federation of Canadian Municipalities claims to have a $123 Billion infrastructure deficit. Why not redirect arts funding so that those who choose to go see art can go see it without hitting a million potholes on the way?
Right now, I'm actually having a similar debate with my municipality. Centre Wellington has a $50000 grant program that I'm kicking and screaming about, in part, because of the state of our infrastructure.
I'm sure your wife is a talented artist, I would just rather my tax dollars be spent on more important things... no offence
Mike Wisniewski
At Fri Sep 26, 03:17:00 p.m. EDT,
Christian Conservative said…
However, Mike, the money the Government spends on my wife's group brings litterally hundreds of thousands of dollars to our local economies. Don't you think that's worthwhile?
At Fri Sep 26, 03:35:00 p.m. EDT,
Anonymous said…
Let me spin your argument on it's head. Work it backwards. If her company can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars, it should have no problem funding itself without government assistance.
I am more than happy to debate this with you, but we both have to realize we're probably not changing either of our minds.
Mike Wisniewski
At Fri Sep 26, 06:25:00 p.m. EDT,
Top Can said…
So, one question.
What kind of art is your wife involved in?
At Sat Sep 27, 02:04:00 a.m. EDT,
Anonymous said…
yeah, what kind of art?
love the arts and I like a little funding of some high arts (such as ballet,opera, symphonies, art museums)because they give us a link to our western tradition history which is quickly being lost (& without some funding it's hard to see any model in which they would survive). but low arts like the cbc could go as far as I am concerned, as far as present day movies, tv etc. the private sector won't learn towalk until the gov. stops carrying it.
At Sat Sep 27, 10:57:00 a.m. EDT,
Ontario Blue Tory said…
The Conservatives cut funding to programs that didn’t make Canada look good.
However, "culture" (and local) funding has actually increased under the Conservatives. A prefect example is sports. Under the Liberals, Canada finished 19th at the 2004 summer Olympics since athletes weren’t paid for their medals and had very little training. The Conservatives offered payment for medals, and Canada came away from Beijing in 14th place, and fielded the largest Canadian team since 1988. All that was made possible by an increase in funds to culture…and that really does make the world respect us!
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