An Economics of Culture

Even if you're one of those [few] people who don't recognize that there's more to culture than it's consumer value, you'd be hard pressed to deny the economic benefits of a strong cultural field. It's no surprise that the same government that rejects the widespread benefits of culture is the same government that's blowing Canada's surplus on corporate welfare and other giveaways that genuinely serve only the financial elite.

* * *

Valuing Culture: Measuring and Understanding Canada’s Creative Economy
The Conference Board of Canada (July 2008) | weblink
Prepared by The Conference Board of Canada for the International Forum on the Creative Economy.

This report highlights the substantial social, cultural, and economic contributions of Canada’s culture sector and assesses its economic footprint. This report is a joint initiative of the Conference Board’s Organizational Effectiveness and Learning Division and Forecast and Economics Division, in collaboration with the Government of Canada’s Department of Canadian Heritage.
See also: ‘Arts and cultural industries add billions of dollars to Canadian economy’, The Conference Board of Canada News Release, September 16, 2008 | weblink

The CCA and the Federal Election

During this campaign, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) will be providing information to its members and the cultural sector on the positions of the federal parties regarding arts and culture in Canada.

For more information and resources, please visit:

www.ccarts.ca/en/election2008/election2008.htm

Five Things You Need to Know About Harper and The Environment

ONE:
Parliament ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2002, committing Canada to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 6% below 1990 levels by 2012. The former Liberal government's failure to implement such reductions is expected to leave Canada 44% above its permitted Kyoto amounts by 2010, but at least the Liberals maintained their verbal support for Kyoto. The Harper government has reneged on the protocol altogether, announcing in April 2006 that it had no intention of meeting its Kyoto targets. A month later, it cut all the environmental funding designed to meet the Kyoto standards.

TWO:
The tar sands in Alberta are by far the largest contributor and fastest growing source of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions that intensify global warming. No matter the cost, the Harper government has been relentless in its push for the rapid, unchecked development of the tar sands. It favours a five-fold increase in production — from one million barrels a day today to five million barrels a day by 2030. Not a single application for tar sands development has ever been denied. Production is planned to double by 2012 and triple by 2018. By that time, annual emissions from the tar sands will triple from 25 million tonnes to 75 million tonnes.

THREE:
The tar sands help fuel the American military machine. Canada exports 750,000 barrels of oil daily to the United States, much of it to meet that country's military demand. The Harper government plans to have three more major pipelines built to the U.S. to keep that country's energy needs well supplied – although there is still no east-west pipeline to transport Alberta petroleum to Eastern Canada, which is forced to import 40% of its oil from Saudi Arabia and other countries. The three new pipelines are expected to convey over one million more barrels of fuel a day to the U.S.

FOUR:
The tar sands are a voracious consumer of natural gas and water. Each tar sands barrel requires up to 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas, and, given planned expansion, it is projected that tar sands plants will be using four times as much natural gas by 2018. Burning so much comparatively clean and valuable gas to create dirty tar sands oil — especially when our proven reserves of natural gas are near depletion-- has been compared to using gold to make lead. Tar sands production also requires massive and unsustainable quantities of water—now up to 4.5 barrels of water for every barrel of bitumen—which ends up in huge toxic tailing ponds, some so big they can be seen from space. The Athabasca River, from which the water is extracted, is not expected by water experts to be able to maintain sufficient flows to meet the tar sands' growing thirst.

FIVE:
Since tar sands production started to increase, the people of Fort Chipewayan and other communities downstream have been plagued by high rates of abnormal cancers, such as those of the liver, blood, and bile duct, as well as other diseases and an ever-increasing death rate. Dangerous levels of mercury and arsenic have been found in nearby streams, and the fish and animals on which the Cree rely for food have been contaminated. Although the federal government has a legal responsibility for First Nations health care under the Indian Act and numerous treaties, the health crisis near the tar sands has been ignored by the Harper government. The health of the First Nations people evidently ranks far behind promotion of tar sands development in its list of priorities.

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-MB
309-323 Portage Ave Winnipeg, MB R3B 2C1
ph: (204) 927-3200 // fax: (204) 927-3201 // www.policyalternatives.ca
CAW Local 567

Five Things You Need to Know About Harper and Human Rights

CCPA's national office recently released the book: The Harper Record. This book is a comprehensive analysis of the Conservative minority government to date. You can download this book as a PDF file off the CCPA website.

CCPA-Manitoba will be releasing a series of Federal Election Fast Facts called: Five Things You Need to Know About Harper and……..(various topics). The Fast Facts are quick summaries of some of the topics covered in the book such as crime, childcare, civil rights, women, the environment and energy, water, governance and privatization.

Today's Election Fast Facts deals with Stephen Harper's record on human rights - the other topics will be released prior to the election.

ONE:
The United Nations General Assembly last June voted 143 to 4 (with 11 abstentions) in favour of adopting the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Canada was one of the four countries that voted against it. Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl said Canada didn't support the Declaration because it was "fundamentally flawed...[and] incompatible with Canada's constitutional framework." It was also rejected, he said, because it failed to recognize Canada's "need to balance indigenous rights to land and resources with the rights of others." His excuse reflected the concerns and priorities of a government strongly committed to resource exploitation and corporate interests.

TWO:
Canada is the only developed democracy that has permitted one of its citizens – Omar Khadr -- to remain incarcerated in the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where he has been subjected to torture and other harsh treatment. His detention there violates both Canadian and international human rights laws, but the Harper government has consistently refused to make any effort to bring him home. Khadr was a teenager when first imprisoned by the Americans, and child soldiers are entitled under international law to due protection and rehabilitation, not incarceration. The UN's Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict has publicly deplored Harper's decision to leave Khadr at Guantamano.

THREE:
While former Canadian Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour served as the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, she won praise from many countries and NGOs for her diligence in exposing and condemning human rights violations. She was chief prosecutor in the trial of Serbian leader Slobadan Milosevic for war crimes and secured his indictment. But her outspoken criticism of UN member countries' infringements of human rights, including the use of torture by the U.S. military in Iraq and Guantanamo, drew fire from the Bush administration, and also, shockingly, from the Harper government. When she finished her term as Commissioner, the Harper government was called upon to publicly thank her and salute her record as a defender of human rights. Instead, in the House of Commons, former Justice Minister Vic Toews castigated Arbour and went so far as to call her "a disgrace."

FOUR:
Canada was one of the first countries to sign and ratify the UN Convention Against Torture, in 1987. But Canada's commitment to the treaty came under question when several Canadian citizens, including Maher Arar, underwent torture in foreign jails, evidently with Canadian complicity. Following the Arar Inquiry, the Harper Government issued a manual to Canadian diplomats on how to recognize and oppose the use of torture. It listed several countries that had been found guilty of torture, including the U.S. The manual drew praise from Amnesty International and other human rights advocates, but when the U.S. protested, the Harper government quickly apologized and promised that the manual would be revised to remove the U.S. from its list of nations that torture captives.

FIVE:
Many of the "security" measures introduced by the federal government under pressure from the U.S. after 9/11 have expanded state power at the expense of citizens' rights and freedoms and the rule of law. One of the most offensive is the No-Fly List introduced by the Harper government in 2007. It violates several sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including mobility, due process, and equality rights, and the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. People are put on the list with no prior notice or opportunity for a hearing to learn about and answer the allegations against them. The ban on their flying could impair their ability to earn a living. For them, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms offers no protection or recourse.


Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-MB
309-323 Portage Ave Winnipeg, MB R3B 2C1
ph: (204) 927-3200 // fax: (204) 927-3201 // www.policyalternatives.ca
CAW Local 567

Anything But Harper... Media

Harper is against freedom of the press and for secrecy and suppressing communication.

Find out more...

http://toutsaufharper.ca/?lang=en&cat=4

And there's still more...

Environment Culture Security Morality

Messages from Allies

A message from Right to Housing

Right to Housing
Housing for all is a human right.

Winnipeg, MB September 26, 2008

Social Housing: the Key to Ending Homelessness

We need a Federal Government committed to housing low income Canadians

Canada has signed United Nations agreements to ensure adequate housing as a basic human right that must be available to all. Over the past decade the commitment by the Federal Government to put this human right to housing into practice has been significantly eroded. Many Canadians face impossible obstacles as they try to house themselves.

Don't be fooled. Recently the Federal Government announced a five year commitment to continue funding their existing housing programs (the Affordable Housing Initiative, Homelessness Partnering Strategy, and Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program). Welcome as this announcement is, these programs have not created nearly enough new housing units. Ironically, existing policies that provide money to improve and repair existing neighbourhoods raise the cost of housing, resulting in the displacement of the poor and the creation of homelessness. Such programs must also provide social housing (where rent is geared to income) for those who are being displaced.

The Need

Social housing is not sufficiently valued by government and has been allowed to deteriorate and lag far behind the need. In 1994 the federal government stopped funding new social housing construction. Since then federal housing programs have been short-term and underfunded, and have often created or maintained housing that is not accessible to those who need it the most.

As housing costs increase and income and welfare benefits stagnate, the housing crisis and need for social housing grows.

People are forced to spend food money on rent, making personal debt, panhandling and food banks sad necessities for survival.

Aboriginal housing agencies have waiting lists with thousands of families and individuals on and off reserve. Canada is in violation of its treaty obligations to house First Nations Peoples.

Housing for new Canadians, seniors in poverty, and people with physical or mental disabilities who have special housing needs is grossly insufficient.

The Solution

Social Housing is a key to Make Poverty History in Canada

1. Long term funding for a national housing strategy

Re-establish the Federal Government and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) as leaders in housing Canadians by committing to the 30,000 social housing units (rent geared to income) per year required to meet the need, in cooperation with the provinces, cities and nonprofit sector.1

Set targets and strategies specific to the unique needs of Aboriginal peoples on and off reserve, new Canadians, seniors and people with disabilities.

2. Stop paying down the deficit on the backs of the homeless

Redirect CMHC’s $4.6 billion surplus from reducing the national deficit to reinvesting it in the capital costs of new social housing.

CMHC must continue to pay operating and rent subsidy costs after mortgages on existing social housing units are paid off.

3. Use the empty houses on the Kapyong military base

The empty Kapyong base houses along Kenaston Boulevard should be used as transitional housing for new Canadians and Aboriginal people new to the city.

It has cost taxpayers $1.5 million per year for the last four years to keep 120 houses empty and heated. Use them to house people on housing waiting lists!

About Right to Housing

Right to Housing is a Winnipeg-based coalition that brings together 30 organizations and over 120 individuals to address the chronic need for social housing, where rent is geared to income.

Coalition supporters work together to promote, advocate and lobby for safe, quality and social housing and housing policy solutions on a local, provincial and national level as part of a comprehensive strategy to eliminate poverty.

Right to Housing meets regularly. We are committed to achieving our goals by working cooperatively, respectfully and inclusively. Contact us if you would like more information, to attend a coalition meeting, or to support Right to Housing.

www.righttohousing.ca
info@righttohousing.ca

----
1“Addressing core need starts with adding 30,000 new affordable homes annually”. Canadian Housing and Rehabilitation Association, Federal Election Tool Kit.

Messages from Allies

Hey everyone,

Click the link below to download the Canadian Federation for Sexual Health's 2008 Election Toolkit, which is loaded with stats and questions to present to the candidates in your riding.

It makes it even easier to see that the Conservatives do NOT have YOUR best interest at heart!

Their party-line answers to these questions demonstrate just how much their agenda is motivated by private values and not the collective right for all people to access information and make decisions independently.

http://www.cfsh.ca/files/PDF/2008_Election_Toolkit__CFSH.pdf

And, here's a low-res version to circulate online!

Tell him what you really want... A NEW PRIME MINISTER!

With <3 from the Winnipeg Branch of the Department of Culture!

(Click on the image for a full-sized printable version and help us distribute these far and wide!)

Gone in 30 Seconds videos made today!

Today, at Video Pool, Sandee Moore hosted a video making party. Here are some of the projects that have just been posted.

By Cliff Eyland, artist


By Colette Balcaen, artist, and Dave Barber, Programmer, Winnipeg Cinematheque


By Sandee Moore, artist


By Colette Balcaen, artist

In Their Two Years of Power, Harperʼs Conservatives Have:

In Their Two Years of Power, Harperʼs Conservatives Have:

1. Raised taxes for working class Canadians
   Upon taking office, the Conservatives canned a 1% income tax cut for low-income earners and raised their taxes instead.
   
   (See: Macleanʼs national editor Andrew Coyne, 21 March07: http://andrewcoyne.com/columns/2007/03/dishonestbudget.php)
   
   
2. Let the cost of living rise 7%, while the rich have gotten richer and everyone else has gotten poorer.
   In August 2008, inflation reached its highest peak in five years, sending living costs higher and higher.
   
   (See: Statistics Canada, September 08; http://www.canadianeconomy.gc.ca/English/economy/inflation.cfm)
   
   
3. While corporate incomes have risen under Harperʼs watch by 28% and CEO salaries jumped 50%--- average wages have lagged behind at 6.7%
   
   (See: Canadian Union of Public Employees, 19 September 2008: http://cupe.ca/economics/harper-no-manager)
   
   
4. Driven Canada to the brink of deficit
   After inheriting a 13.2 billion dollar surplus from the Liberals,the Conservatives have wasted your tax dollars and have given Canada its first quarterly deficit in nearly a decade.
   

CAN YOU AFFORD 4 YEARS OF A CONSERVATIVE MAJORITY? CAN CANADA?

ON OCTOBER 14th, VOTING IS AS EASY AS A, B, C:

Anything
But
Conservative.

More resources from DoC HQ

Our friends at Department of Culture in Toronto have compiled a package of documents to help volunteers educate themselves and others about the true legacy of the Stephen Harper Conservative government. You can download each document separately below, or together as a single zip file.

Go wild!

• 10 things you can do as a visual artist
• 10 things you can do in under an hour to unseat a conservative & 10 ways to increase voter turnout
• What the Tories have done with just two years in power
• 7 reasons Stephen Harper and the Conservatives are destroying the environment
• Jim Flaherty’s legacy of fiscal mismanagement and negligence
• Stephen Harper’s walk of shame
• Do you agree? Four crucial questions
• Stephen Harper isn’t learning from the United States’ mistakes — he’s copying them

Or, click here to download all the files in one zip file

www.voteforenvironment.ca

A message from a member of the DoC-WPG...

"This is an interesting link that may be of use on our doc winnipeg blogspot. It allows you to put in your postal code and determine how to vote strategically, based on where you live, to defeat the conservatives.

www.voteforenvironment.ca"

Awesome!

Careful, honey... he's anti-choice

Interested in the postering sized version of this file? Send a message to departmentofculture.winnipeg@gmail.com, and we'll send it to you!

The Winnipeg Branch of the “Department of Culture” is Ready to Make Some Noise!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Winnipeg Branch of the “Department of Culture”
is Ready to Make Some Noise!

---

Department of Culture (Winnipeg) Contact:
Milena Placentile, departmentofculture [dot] winnipeg [at] gmail [dot] com

---

September 27, 2008 -- (Winnipeg, MB) -- The Winnipeg Branch of the Department of Culture is a growing community of Canadian citizens who are artists, arts professionals, and cultural workers concerned about ensuring the social and cultural health and prosperity of our nation in the face of a Federal Government that is aggressively undermining the values that define Canada.

We are you: the painters, architects, dancers, writers, actors, designers, filmmakers, sculptors, performers, photographers, ceramicists, directors, curators, musicians, archivists, fashion designers, producers, weavers, choreographers, videographers, editors, librarians...

But we’re not organizing as arts and cultural workers protesting cuts to the arts. No! There’s so much more to it than that!

We’re arts-minded people protesting the irresponsible and unfair government that has dramatically reduced quality of life in Canada for all Canadians. That irresponsible and unfair government is Stephen Harper's gang of CPC MPs -- an aggressive and regressive alliance of ultra-right non-progressive Conservatives and members of the former Reform.

We are part of a national network of concerned citizens who don’t buy their lie that supporters of the arts live in an elitist bubble unaffected by the destruction of health care, public services, safe food and water, child care, labour laws, women’s rights, public education, the environment, thoughtful culture, and everything else the Conservatives seem to hate. We’re fighting for economic, social, and political justice for all.

The CPC has done a shocking amount of social, economic, and political damage in such a short time, so it’s a good thing Harper decided to call it quits when he did -- we’ve had enough and we’re working to ensure he’s unemployed by Oct 14!!

We encourage all Canadians to vote strategically to unseat Conservatives -- We don't want 'em, we don't need 'em, and we’re going to send ‘em packing!

UPCOMING EVENTS HOSTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE & OUR ALLIES

These are just a few of the DoC-initiated and DoC-friendly events that will allow fellow citizens the chance to rally together, gather information, and shout out against Conservative bullying!

- Gone in 30 Seconds Video Making Party – Sun, Sept 28 – 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. – 300-100 Arthur Street (DoC-initiated)
- Why Women Count in the Federal Election (a public debate, not including a CPC candidate because they rejected the invitation!) – Wed, Oct 1 – 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. – 515 Portage Avenue (DoC-friendly)
- The Winnipeg Wrecking Ball (Theatre night) – Mon, Oct 6 – Box office opens at 7:00 p.m. - Unit Y300 – 393 Portage Avenue (DoC-friendly)
- Not a Conservative Party! (Musical rally) – Wed, Oct 9 – Starts @ 7:00 p.m. - 120 King St. (DoC-initiated) (More info coming soon!!)
- All Fired Up! (a cabaret night celebrating National Coming Out Day) – Sat, Oct 11 – Doors @ 8:00 p.m., Performances begin @ 10:00 p.m. - 441 Main Street (DoC-friendly)

We are also starting a communications campaign that will involve circulating posters and handbills, and canvassing, as well.

It's not enough that we vote against the Conservatives on Oct 14, we need to inform our fellow Canadians -- who see a decline in quality of life, but haven't yet correlated it as the impact of Conservative and neo-liberal policies and actions -- about the need to vote strategically to unseat Conservatives, wherever they may be.

Winnipeggers wanting to volunteer for this cause are welcome to contact: departmentofculture [dot] winnipeg [at] gmail [dot] com.

---

Department of Culture (Winnipeg) Contact:
Milena Placentile, departmentofculture [dot] winnipeg [at] gmail [dot] com.

- 30 -

The Winnipeg Branch of the Department of Culture is joining the fight against the social, economic, and political tyranny of the CPC.
Join us!
http://www.departmentofculture.ca
http://department-of-culture-winnipeg.blogspot.com

More laughs at the expense of Mean Person No. 1

As found on fb...

That burnt out backdrop is a nice touch. "We don ned treez or gras edeers. inviromentz sux!"

Messages from Allies

A message from Ricken, Lisa-Marie, Laryn of Avaaz Canada,

---

Dear friends,

For the last two years, the Harper government has done everything it could to wreck the world's efforts to fix climate change. Given the "fossil award" by environmental experts, Canada (our Canada!) has been repeatedly voted the WORST country in the world on climate change. Now, it's election time, and we have to make sure that Harper pays a real price at the polls for his reckless and un-Canadian climate policy.

Our first step is to target 3 of Harper's top MPs, including Environment Minister John Baird, and try to stop their re-election by telling their constituents just how irresponsible they've been, and what they've been doing in the name of all Canadians. Our ad campaign is ready to launch in these ridings, but we urgently need Canadian Avaaz members to donate $50,000 this week to get started. Click below to see the ads and donate just $10 or $25:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_harper

In an initial 3 target ridings, we'll be appealing to all voters to help save the planet by voting for the candidate most likely to beat the Conservative candidate. In one riding, we'll be supporting an NDP candidate, in another a Liberal, in another a Green. We're making sure to be "tripartisan" - we don't support any particular party, we just want to make sure the Conservatives pay for their almost criminal record on the environment. A large majority of voters in these ridings oppose Harper, but have split their votes among the 3 progressive parties, so even just a small shift in strategic or "smart voting" to favour the most popular progressive candidate will likely defeat the conservatives. That's the pitch our ads will make.

There's so much at stake, and no time to lose, let's pull out all the stops for Canada, and for the world.

With hope,
Ricken, Lisa-Marie, Laryn and the Avaaz Canada Team

PS - Canadian Avaaz members have a long record of campaigning against Stephen Harper's environmental policies, from calling him out on his failure to implement the Kyoto Protocol, to challenging his wrecking tactics at the Bali summit. In our online poll, 90% of Avaaz members strongly opposed a Harper majority. We've won some of these fights before, and if we all pull together in the next 2 weeks to give our voices, our time, our talent and our money, we can do it again!

PSS - Here are some links to more information:

Green party leader Elizabeth May calls for 'strategic voting' across party lines to stop Harper:
http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/505642
Straight.com writer analyzes the stakes of the Canadian election for the world:
http://www.straight.com/article-163371/election-planet
This site shows that at a national level, strategic or smart voting will benefit all the opposition parties and prevent a Harper Majority:
http://www.voteforenvironment.ca/

Messages from Allies

From David Suzuki of the David Suzuki Foundation

---

We must elect leaders who care about the planet,

Leaders of nations worldwide know we are near more than one environmental tipping point. So they've met to hammer out agreements in crucial areas such as biodiversity loss and global warming. Canada itself has acknowledged, through national planning and legislation, the importance of issues such as species conservation and sustainable development. Many of these agreements and strategies must be addressed during the mandate of the government we elect on October 14.

In December 2009, Canada will meet with other nations in Copenhagen to adopt an international treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. In 2010, the country will also have to report on the progress it has made regarding the UN Convention on Biological Diversity's targets for reducing biodiversity loss. Over the next few years, Canada's government must also formally review its Species at Risk Act, implement a Sustainable Development Act, and tackle a number of other crucial environmental issues.

We need a government that will lead when it comes to caring for the finite world that gives us life and sustains us. We've already squandered 20 years since global warming was first recognized as an issue requiring immediate attention. We signed the Kyoto Protocol 10 years ago, in 1998, and ratified it in 2002, but have done little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions since then. On top of that, our oceans have more plastics and pollution but fewer fish, plant and animal species are disappearing at an accelerating rate, and we have failed to take advantage of the many opportunities sustainable development offers.

Even though the environment has at least been on the agenda during this election, pollsters tell us Canadians see the economy and health care as more important. But it's not a matter of one or the other. The health of Canadians depends on a healthy environment, as does a healthy economy. Everything is connected!

The economy is a huge issue, as we can see from the current meltdown in the U.S., which will surely have an enormous impact on our economy. But some politicians are exploiting our fears to imply that environmental protection and action on global warming are not compatible with a strong economy. What planet are these people living on?

That way of thinking is wrong on so many levels it's hard to know where to begin. A strong, sustainable economy is not possible without a healthy environment. Global warming, pollution, diminishing resources, and loss of species and habitat will cost us increasingly more as our already burdened health-care systems are stretched to the limit, as we run short of fossil fuels and land to grow food, and as ecosystems collapse, threatening the availability of clean water, air, and soil.

Those who argue that protecting the environment will hurt the economy may want to take note that none of the current economic problems in the U.S., here, or around the world has been caused by environmental-protection measures! On the contrary, countries such as Germany and Denmark that took measures early on to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and switch to more renewable energy sources have seen substantial economic benefits and have been less vulnerable to the impacts of volatile fossil-fuel markets. We don't decry $90 a tonne tipping fees for landfills but we scream bloody murder at a suggested $10 a tonne to pollute the atmosphere with carbon. Sweden has a flourishing economy with a carbon tax at $150 a tonne!

We're a bit behind, but we can start to catch up by recognizing that environmental initiatives can give the economy a huge boost. We can keep sucking every last bit of coal and oil out of the ground until it's all gone, until it's all been burned and its carbon released into the air, or we can create jobs and economic opportunities by developing renewable sources of energy.

Yes, we can all make a difference through our own individual actions, by changing some of our habits, but we also have an opportunity to elect a government that will contribute to the kinds of large-scale changes needed for a sustainable world. As Canadians, we must hold the politicians to account and ensure that, no matter which party wins the election, we will have a government that shows foresight and leadership at home and abroad. That way we'll have a country that is thriving on opportunity rather than drowning in crisis. If we keep stalling, we won't have to worry about the economy, or health care, or anything else.

EVENT: Federal Election Forum

A Federal Election Forum is scheduled to take place on October 7 at the Berney Theatre (123 Doncaster street).

Citizens are invited to send in questions that represent the interests of different stakeholders (i.e. community club organizations, professional associations etc) as long as they pertain to the Federal Government.

These questions must be sent in by Oct. 1/08 and they must take no longer than 30 seconds to ask.

Let us (departmentofculture.winnipeg@gmail.com) know if you would like to forward any questions, if you have not done so already – we will pass them on to our contact.

We haven't yet received information about whether people are allowed to attend in person, but it might be worth calling the Theatre to find out.

The three media panelist scheduled to attend the Federal Election Forum (the ppl asking the questions) will be:

- Catherine Mitchell of the Free Press
- Richard Cloutier of CJOB
- Tom Brodbeck of the Sun.

A fourth set of questions will be asked by Jenifer Dubas.

Messages from Allies

From Steve Anderson of the Campaign for Democratic Media...

---

Stephen Harper thinks "ordinary" Canadians don't give a hoot about their culture. We think he's wrong. We believe culture and communication policies are hugely important to Canadians who see them as key issues in this federal election.

Campaign for Democratic Media is asking, on your behalf, where the political parties stand on issues such as protecting the open Internet, media concentration, foreign ownership limits, CBC funding and support for the arts.

CDM will send you a copy of Communication and Culture: Where Do the Parties Stand? along with a list of questions that you can put to the candidates in your own electoral riding.

Also, Campaign for Democratic Media will soon be releasing a report, Net Neutrality: Fact vs Fiction, and encouraging Netizens to use it in their discussions with local candidates.

Getting politicians on record and making communication and culture an issue in this election takes money. Media and communications conglomerates have big bucks to spend influencing federal policies. We, thankfully, have YOU.

[Snip -- visit http://democraticmedia.ca]


In previous CDM campaigns, we have put your concerns before the CRTC, which helped prevent further loosening of media concentration rules. And with your assistance, we have helped propel Net Neutrality from an obscure issue into a national effort to ensure the Internet remains open to all Canadians.

We need to capitalize on this federal election to put clear choices about culture and communications policies in front of "ordinary" Canadians. Won't you help?

[Snip -- visit http://democraticmedia.ca]

Thanks as always for your support,

Steve Anderson, National Co-ordinator
Campaign for Democratic Media
604-837-5730

Messages from Allies

From Ian Morrison of FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting...

---

Dear Friend,

I know this message arrives only a few hours after my previous note to you.

But something has happened on the election campaign trail I thought you would want to know about -- because it raises more troubling questions about Stephen Harper's real agenda for Canadian culture.

Yesterday, Mr. Harper belittled concerns about cuts his government made to cultural programs just before the election was called, describing culture as a "niche issue for some."

Speaking at a news conference in Saskatoon, Mr. Harper attempted to pit voters against Canadian culture by characterizing artists as "... a bunch of people at a rich gala... all subsidized by the taxpayers -- claiming their subsidies aren't high enough...".

These comments are only the latest to show Mr. Harper's destructive agenda for Canadian culture.

Please join me to take action to counter Stephen Harper’s agenda:

www.friends.ca/election08/action

You can watch Mr. Harper’s attempt to misrepresent the importance of Canadian culture by clicking here.

This is especially disturbing in light of a recent Conservative Party fundraising letter which raises the possibility of CBC cuts if the Conservatives are re-elected.

I am bringing this to your attention because it shows that we need to work vigilantly during this election campaign to counter Mr. Harper's message.

Members of Parliament are ultimately responsible to the local voters who elect them. I hope you will go to www.friends.ca/election08/action and demand to know where the candidates in your riding stand. Do they agree with Mr. Harper’s cynical view?

FRIENDS has established an Election Action Centre that makes it easy and fast to send a message to the candidates who are seeking to represent you in Parliament. Please use it today by visiting:

www.friends.ca/election08/action

Please join with me to put your candidates on the spot about Canadian culture right now.

Yours sincerely,
Ian Morrison, Spokesperson
FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting

PWYC EVENT: Speak - Easy GALA

Zeitgeist inspired, Musically fueled, 1920's Themed!

Host: RAGPICKERS
Time: Friday, October 10, 2008 at 8:00 til' late
Location: The Ragpickers Ballroom
Street: 216 McDermot Ave. 2nd Floor
Phone: 942.7992
Email: ragpickers@hotmail.com

An evening of Music and Performance to suspend us in time and uplift our spirits! Featuring the Sounds of :

• Jacques Lussier and Hughes Darnet ( France)
• "Hugwan and the Recycled Beings"
• Joshua "Poor Andy" Stanton playing Skiffle
• WPG. Center INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE Ed Ackerman
• Plus, special Guests, Poetry and Performance.

An evening before Thanks Giving wherein it is hoped all who attend will do so in formal or costumed attire appropriate to the 'Speak Easy' genre.

An evening before we VOTE wherein it is hoped we will chat and discuss, express our views, engage each other with options on our collective future.

An evening inspired in part by the Department of Culture, and the desire to try and make a difference which I hope you'll come and share in.

http://www.departmentofculture.ca
http://www.myspace.com/hugwan
http://www.joshuastanton.com

Tell us what ya really think, Harper n' Co.!

Milena says: "I just found these quotes kickin' around in a folder on my hard drive from the last election. Sure, they're old, and there have been more shockingly ignorant commentary since, but let's not forget these ones, as well. Anyone interested in adding to this list?"

I would expect the support of the party no matter what happens... even if I were to kill my grandmother with an axe.
- Stockwell Day (while leader of the Alliance, according to various MPs), June 2001.

"I want to know how many women in Alberta are physically battered and not just insulted by their husbands... If we talk insulted by their husbands, then I'm afraid that I'm guilty from time to time of abusing my wife."
- Stockwell Day (disputing a poll indicating one million women had been abused physically, emotionally, sexually or economically) 1987.

As a Christian, I acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ over the whole universe ... I believe that the Bible is the infallible word of God and every word in it, cover to cover, is true.
- Stockwell Day, 1998.

The establishment came down with a constitutional package which they put to a national referendum. The package included distinct society status for Quebec and some other changes, including some that would just horrify you, putting universal Medicare in our constitution, and feminist rights, and a whole bunch of other things.
- Conservative leader Stephen Harper, then vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy (a right-wing American think tank), June 1997.

If you've read any of the official propagandas, you've come over the border and entered a bilingual country. In this particular city, Montreal, you may well get that impression. But this city is extremely atypical of this country... So it's basically an English-speaking country, just as English-speaking as, I would guess, the northern part of the United States.
- Conservative leader Stephen Harper, then vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy (a right-wing American think tank), June 1997.

For taxpayers, however, it’s a rip-off. And it has nothing to do with gender. Both men and women taxpayers will pay additional money to both men and women in the civil service. That’s why the federal government should scrap its ridiculous pay equity law.
- Stephen Harper on pay equity, NCC Overview, Fall 1998.

I don't know all the facts on Iraq, but I think we should work closely with the Americans.
- Stephen Harper, Report Newsmagazine, March 25th 2002.

It's past time the feds scrapped the Canada Health Act.
- Stephen Harper, then Vice-President of the National Citizens Coalition, 1997.

The Harper Record

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has released a fantastic book and, furthermore, has made it available online for FREE!!

Click here for more info, or continue reading below...

September 23, 2008

Author(s): Teresa Healy (Editor) | Publication Type: Reports & Studies | Pages: 504

This book is one in a series of CCPA publications that have examined the records of Canadian federal governments during the duration of their tenure. As with earlier CCPA reports on the activities of previous governments while in office, this book gives a detailed account of the laws, policies, regulations, and initiatives of the Conservative minority government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper during its 32-month term from January 2006 to September 2008.

The 47 writers, researchers and analysts who have co-written this book probe into every aspect of the Harper minority government’s administration. From the economy to the environment, from social programs to foreign policy, from health care to tax cuts, from the Afghanistan mission to the tar sands, from free trade to deep integration, and to many other areas of this government’s record, the authors have dug out the facts and analyzed them.

The Harper Record was necessarily researched and written long before an election was called, but its publication does coincide with an election campaign and thus may help citizens to make informed choices about the future of their country. Regardless of the election outcome, its contents will continue to be relevant between elections. In detailing what a minority Conservative government really did, or failed to do, it may serve as a guide and model for future elections.

Hard copies will be available for purchase on October 6, 2008. Pre-order your copy today.

Click here to download the whole book

Or download chapters individually:

Preface, by Bruce Campbell
Introduction, by Teresa Healy

Governance

• Understanding Stephen Harper, by Steve Patten
• Harper's War On Freedom of Speech, by Trish Hennessy

Economy, Trade and Investment

• The Conservative Tax Record, by Andrew Jackson and Erin Weir
• Manufacturing Decline and Resource Dependency, by Jim Stanford
• Lost Jobs and the Erosion of a Caring Culture, by Eileen Corbet
• Foreign Ownership, by Mel Watkins
• Canadian Trade and Investment Policy, 2006-08, by Gauri Sreenivasan
• Harper and Deep Integration, by Bruce Campbell
• The Softwood Lumber Agreement, by Guy Caron
• The Harper-Bush Alliance on Colombia, by Sheila Katz

Racialization and (In)Security

• Harper Conservatives and the Colour-Coding of Canada, by Karl Flecker
• Canada's Secret-Trial Detentions, by Matthew Behrens
• Migrant Workers Under Harper, by Evelyn Encalada, Erika Del Carmen Fuchs, and Adriana Paz
• Conservatives' No-Fly List Violates Rights, by Bruce Campbell
• Canada and International Human Rights, by John W. Foster
• Harper and Iraq War Resisters, by Joel Davidson Harden
• Peace and Democracy for Afghanistan, by John W. Warnock
• Harper, the Military, and Wedge Politics, by Steven Staples

Energy and Environment

• The Harper Tar Sands Legacy, by Blair Redlin and Caelie Frampton
• Downstream From the Tar Sands, People are Dying, by Jessica Kalman
• The Harper Government and Climate Change, by Toby Sanger and Graham Saul
• The Harper Government's Mismanagement of Canada's Water, by Maude Barlow and Meera Karunananthan
• Putting Commerce Before Safety in the Nuclear Industry, by Marita Moll
• Harper and Biofuels, by Pat Mooney
• Harper's Attack on the Canadian Wheat Board, by Helen Forsey

(In)Equality and Public Services

• Women's Equality and Human Rights, by the Ad Hoc Coalition on Women's Equality and Human Rights
• Harper and Child Care, by Morna Ballantyne
• Child Benefits Under the Harper Government, by Ken Battle
• The Conservative Government and Big Pharma, by Julie White and Michael McBane
• Harper and Public Health Policy, by John Hugh Edwards
• The Legacy of Disability Rights in Canada, by John Rae
• Harper and Crime, by Dawn Moore and Erin Donohue
• Privatization Under Harper, by Toby Sanger and Corina Crawley

Culture and Communications

• Telecommunications on the Free(Market) Way, by Marita Moll and Leslie Regan Shade
• Harper's Museum and Art Gallery Policy, by Howie West

Federal-Provincial Relations

• Harper, Québec and Canadian Federalism, by Barbara Cameron
• The Haper Government and Federal-Provincial Issues, by Hugh Mackenzie
• Newfoundland and Labrador and the Harper Government, by Lana Payne

Notes
About the Authors

PWYC EVENT: Election ’08: Green Plan vs. Rain Man -- Or: Harper Hates Minorities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Winnipeg and National Wrecking Ball presents...
Election ’08: Green Plan vs. Rain Man
Or: Harper Hates Minorities

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Winnipeg and National Wrecking Ball Media Contact:
Michael Rubenfeld, 416-830-2559, rubenfeld@yahoo.com

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The writ has been dropped, and, too lazy to bend down and pick it up, our Prime Minister has decided to call an election. And so, The Wrecking Ball swings into action to bring you a one-night-only event (Monday, October 6, 2008) of bracing political theatre from some of the county’s hottest artists!

Come witness the throw-down between Harper’s haircut and Dion’s personality-like public interface. Come find out why Jack Layton’s moustache and Elizabeth May have never been seen in the same room. Come and thrill to the sounds of the third round of parliamentary musical chairs in four years. Most of all, come and find out why in this election the stakes are higher and the consequences more fraught than ever before.

Montreal, meet Victoria; Winnipeg, meet Halifax.
Artist, meet artist. Let the coalitioning commence!

The Wrecking Ball is an event of fresh and steaming new political theatre that has been matching playwrights and performers with world events for the past five years. And, for the first time (and not a moment too soon), Winnipeg joins a single night of Wrecking Balls swinging right across the nation!

Wrecking Ball events are scheduled to happen on the same night across the country in cities (or 'niches', as Harper might say) from Halifax all the way to Victoria. They will be linked up through the most sophisticated (that is to say, cheapest) technological means available, which will create a tide of political inspiration and action from coast to coast to coast to coast to coast! To coast!

Cities include Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax, where playwrights will all face the only two Wrecking Ball rules:

1) PLAYS MUST BE BASED ON CURRENT WORLD EVENTS--RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.
2) PLAYS MUST BE WRITTEN IN ONE WEEK. THEN REHEARSED BRIEFLY AND THROWN RAW BEFORE A HUNGRY AUDIENCE.

A hand-picked coterie of Canadian playwrights will create brief, explosive plays inspired by the election: the candidates, their policies, and which party hasn’t bought enough carbon offsets for their belching campaign buses and piggish jets. The playwrights have complete free rein over what they choose to write – The Wrecking Ball’s only goal is to challenge and provoke. Each city will present plays from local artists as well as those from their national brethren. Or sisteren. And, all the plays will be no more than a week old, so you know the theatre’s gonna smell fresh!

Proceeds from these PWYC events will support the Department of Culture. Check them out (or oot, as we say in this country) at www.departmentofculture.ca.

At the Wrecking Ball Nearest You...

The Winnipeg event includes plays by Judith Thompson, members of The Royal Liechtenstein Theatre Company , Ellen Peterson, and Michael Nathanson. Check it out on Monday, October 6, 2008 at the Prairie Theatre Exchange’s Colin Jackson Studio (Unit Y300 – 393 Portage Avenue) at 8:00 p.m. PWYC.

About The Wrecking Ball

The Wrecking Ball was founded in Toronto in November 2004 to address a nagging imbalance: too much theatre in our politics, not enough politics in our theatre. There have been six Wrecking Balls cabarets to date, all of which sold out, proving there is an undeniable appetite for politically charged work in this fine land!

Past writers for The Wrecking Ball include: Jason Sherman, Judith Thompson, Karen Hines, Norm Foster, David Young, Michael Healey, Morwyn Brebner, Daniel MacIvor, Hannah Moscovitch, Andrew Moodie, Claudia Dey, Morris Panych, d’bi.young, Linda Griffiths, and many others. COLDAX, a series of political play readings at the Tarragon in the spring of 2004 was such a hit that The Wrecking Ball presented The Silencing of Rachel Corrie at the Tarragon’s Spring Arts Fair in 2005. Check out the website for more information about political theatre throughout the world: www.thewreckingball.ca.

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The Winnipeg Wrecking Ball: Election ‘08 is ONE NIGHT ONLY PERFORMANCE

Join us on Monday, October 6, 2008
Box Office opens at 7:00pm
Show starts at 8:00pm

Prairie Theatre Exchange, Colin Jackson Studio
Unit Y300 – 393 Portage Avenue
3rd Floor, Portage Place

Prices: Pay what you can (no advanced sales)
All proceeds will go to the www.departmentofculture.ca

Winnipeg and National Wrecking Ball Media Contact:
Michael Rubenfeld, 416-830-2559, rubenfeld@yahoo.com

For information about other Department of Culture (Winnipeg) events, contact:
Department of Culture (Winnipeg)
Milena Placentile, departmentofculture.winnipeg@gmail.com

PWYC EVENT: Not A Conservative Party!

News Flash! Winnipeg's very own Not A Conservative Party! Is gearing up to take place on

Wednesday October 8
@ the King's Head Pub
120 King Street
... Join us for dinner! We're starting at 7:00 p.m.

Bands and other necessary details to be announced soon!!

Conservative Chop Shop

Burn off some steam at the "Conservative Chop Shop" ... where it's clear Stephen Harper's policies are as phoney as his hair!

http://www.harpershair.org/

Designed by a DoC-WPG member for all to enjoy!

The Department of Culture's Winnipeg Branch is on a roll, and now we need YOU...

... to poster
... to distribute handbills at events
... to canvass in malls and/or door to door
... to help us run events
... to contact everyone you know, and even some people you don’t...

We all agree the Conservatives have done more than enough damage to the social, economic, and political fabric of our society. We need to fight back! It's not enough that we vote against the Conservatives on Oct 14, we need to inform our fellow Canadians -- who see a decline in quality of life, but haven't yet correlated it as the impact of Conservative policies and actions -- are motivated to vote strategically to unseat Conservatives, wherever they may be.

We are part of a national network of concerned citizens who don’t buy the lie that supporters of the arts live in a bubble unaffected by the destruction of health care, public services, safe food and water, labour laws, the environment and everything else the Conservatives seem to hate.

For more information about the DoC, please visit: http://www.departmentofculture.ca

Contact us: departmentofculture.winnipeg@gmail.com

Join us!

Artists ‘should be landlords, not tenants'

TENILLE BONOGUORE AND MURRAY CAMPBELL
Globe and Mail Update, September 24, 2008 at 5:04 PM EDT

Canada's artists have launched a pointed and passionate attack at the nation's political leaders, decrying Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's statement yesterday that ‘ordinary' Canadians don't care about the arts.

In a united press conference on Wednesday morning, leading actors and artists insisted that arts is not about galas and subsidies.

Rather, they said, it's a resource that comes from the minds of Canadians and delivers fantastic returns in the form of quality of life, education and national identity.

“We should be the landlords of our own industry, not the tenants,” said veteran actor and CBC presenter Gordon Pinsent.

“We know about Mr. Harper's master plan. We know about Mr. Dion's big idea. But it would be hugely comfortable to know that we have a seat at that table – not just in the children's section, not just below the salt, but right there, smack dab in the middle of the big meal.”

The difficulties and pressures being felt within the arts community are nothing new, Mr. Pinsent said. The business has undergone numerous starts and stops, applying “tourniquets” as it went along.

“Yet we still have this feeling here that we are practically compelled to bend or dissolve within the larger picture of the American sensibility, and we don't like it,” he said. “We all want to work. We're artists to begin with.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Harper cast his lot with “ordinary, working people” and not with “ivory tower” justice experts or with a cultural elite he characterized as government-subsidized whiners.

“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,” he said during a campaign stop in Saskatoon.

Mr. Harper's barbed shot at whining elites attending glitzy affairs was curious, given that his wife Laureen is the honorary chair of the National Arts Centre's gala next month in Ottawa.

The performers — including Colm Feore and Wendy Crewson — noted that the arts provide 1.1 million jobs within cultural industries and contribute $86-billion to the GDP.

They say the $45-million that the Conservative government cut from culture funding last summer could seriously damage their industry.

The performers called on voters to reject the Tory cuts and demand that the government restore stable funding, with Mr. Feore saying the arts are crucial to Canada's identity.

Actress Leah Pinsent, who is Mr. Pinsent's daughter, said today it is culture, not economics, that truly makes a nation.

“If we as Canadians are left only with other people's stories .. then what can we be proud of?” she asked. “There will be nothing left to be proud of.

“... We don't visit Rome, Japan or Africa to learn about their economies. We go to experience their culture.”

NDP Leader Jack Layton also lashed out at Mr. Harper's arts comments. Speaking in Kenora, Ont., Mr. Layton challenged the Conservative Leader to repeat in French a comment he made in English on Tuesday. When the Conservative Leader commented on the government's $45-million in cuts to arts and cultural programs, saying the issue is of little concern to ordinary Canadians, he did not repeat the same comments in French.

The arts cuts issue has drawn the most outrage in Quebec, where all four major parties are fighting for close seats.

In Ontario, the arts issue was also receiving a lot of attention, with the province's culture minister Aileen Carroll saying she is “flabbergasted” by Mr. Harper's views on the role of culture in Canada.

Ms. Carroll took issue today with Mr. Harper's comments that arts programs were “a niche issue for some.” She said the Ontario government understands that arts and culture is about “how we tell our stories” but also that it contributes $20-billion annually to Ontario's economy.

She said the issue of arts funding isn't important just for artists but also for those in supporting in roles in areas like film and television production.

“The comments yesterday ... just completely leave me flabbergasted,” she said. “If we can understand that so well in this important province, I don't understand his failure to understand that.”

Premier Dalton McGuinty also weighed in on the issue although he refused to single out Mr. Harper for blame.

He said arts and culture “enrich us not only economically but in so many other ways.” He said a society does not reveal itself through its roads and golf courses but rather through its literature, architecture and music.

“It simply enriches the enjoyment of our lives,” Mr. McGuinty said. “I think that's pretty powerful stuff and I think we should continue to find ways to support arts and culture.”

- With a file from Omar El Akkad and Canadian Press

To be creative is, in fact, Canadian

To be creative is, in fact, Canadian
by MARGARET ATWOOD
Reposted from: theglobeandmail.com,September 24, 2008 at 11:00 PM EDT

Mr. Harper is wrong: There's more to the arts than a bunch of rich people at galas whining about their grants

What sort of country do we want to live in? What sort of country do we already live in? What do we like? Who are we?

At present, we are a very creative country. For decades, we've been punching above our weight on the world stage - in writing, in popular music and in many other fields. Canada was once a cultural void on the world map, now it's a force. In addition, the arts are a large segment of our economy: The Conference Board estimates Canada's cultural sector generated $46-billion, or 3.8 per cent of Canada's GDP, in 2007. And, according to the Canada Council, in 2003-2004, the sector accounted for an “estimated 600,000 jobs (roughly the same as agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, oil & gas and utilities combined).”

But we've just been sent a signal by Prime Minister Stephen Harper that he gives not a toss for these facts. Tuesday, he told us that some group called “ordinary people” didn't care about something called “the arts.” His idea of “the arts” is a bunch of rich people gathering at galas whining about their grants. Well, I can count the number of moderately rich writers who live in Canada on the fingers of one hand: I'm one of them, and I'm no Warren Buffett. I don't whine about my grants because I don't get any grants. I whine about other grants - grants for young people, that may help them to turn into me, and thus pay to the federal and provincial governments the kinds of taxes I pay, and cover off the salaries of such as Mr. Harper. In fact, less than 10 per cent of writers actually make a living by their writing, however modest that living may be. They have other jobs. But people write, and want to write, and pack into creative writing classes, because they love this activity – not because they think they'll be millionaires.

Every single one of those people is an “ordinary person.” Mr. Harper's idea of an ordinary person is that of an envious hater without a scrap of artistic talent or creativity or curiosity, and no appreciation for anything that's attractive or beautiful. My idea of an ordinary person is quite different. Human beings are creative by nature. For millenniums we have been putting our creativity into our cultures - cultures with unique languages, architecture, religious ceremonies, dances, music, furnishings, textiles, clothing and special cuisines. “Ordinary people” pack into the cheap seats at concerts and fill theatres where operas are brought to them live. The total attendance for “the arts” in Canada in fact exceeds that for sports events. “The arts” are not a “niche interest.” They are part of being human.

Moreover, “ordinary people” are participants. They form book clubs and join classes of all kinds - painting, dancing, drawing, pottery, photography - for the sheer joy of it. They sing in choirs, church and other, and play in marching bands. Kids start garage bands and make their own videos and web art, and put their music on the Net, and draw their own graphic novels. “Ordinary people” have other outlets for their creativity, as well: Knitting and quilting have made comebacks; gardening is taken very seriously; the home woodworking shop is active. Add origami, costume design, egg decorating, flower arranging, and on and on ... Canadians, it seems, like making things, and they like appreciating things that are made.

They show their appreciation by contributing. Canadians of all ages volunteer in vast numbers for local and city museums, for their art galleries and for countless cultural festivals - I think immediately of the Chinese New Year and the Caribana festival in Toronto, but there are so many others. Literary festivals have sprung up all over the country - volunteers set them up and provide the food, and “ordinary people” will drag their lawn chairs into a field - as in Nova Scotia's Read by the Sea - in order to listen to writers both local and national read and discuss their work. Mr. Harper has signalled that as far as he is concerned, those millions of hours of volunteer activity are a waste of time. He holds them in contempt.

I suggest that considering the huge amount of energy we spend on creative activity, to be creative is “ordinary.” It is an age-long and normal human characteristic: All children are born creative. It's the lack of any appreciation of these activities that is not ordinary. Mr. Harper has demonstrated that he has no knowledge of, or respect for, the capacities and interests of “ordinary people.” He's the “niche interest.” Not us.

It's been suggested that Mr. Harper's disdain for the arts is not merely a result of ignorance or a tin ear - that it is “ideologically motivated.” Now, I wonder what could be meant by that? Mr. Harper has said quite rightly that people understand we ought to keep within a budget. But his own contribution to that budget has been to heave the Liberal-generated surplus overboard so we have nothing left for a rainy day, and now, in addition, he wants to jeopardize those 600,000 arts jobs and those billions of dollars they generate for Canadians. What's the idea here? That arts jobs should not exist because artists are naughty and might not vote for Mr. Harper? That Canadians ought not to make money from the wicked arts, but only from virtuous oil? That artists don't all live in one constituency, so who cares? Or is it that the majority of those arts jobs are located in Ontario and Quebec, and Mr. Harper is peeved at those provinces, and wants to increase his ongoing gutting of Ontario - $20-billion a year of Ontario taxpayers' money going out, a dribble grudgingly allowed back in - and spank Quebec for being so disobedient as not to appreciate his magnificence? He likes punishing, so maybe the arts-squashing is part of that: Whack the Heartland.

Or is it even worse? Every budding dictatorship begins by muzzling the artists, because they're a mouthy lot and they don't line up and salute very easily. Of course, you can always get some tame artists to design the uniforms and flags and the documentary about you, and so forth - the only kind of art you might need - but individual voices must be silenced, because there shall be only One Voice: Our Master's Voice. Maybe that's why Mr. Harper began by shutting down funding for our artists abroad. He didn't like the competition for media space.

The Conservative caucus has already learned that lesson. Rumour has it that Mr. Harper's idea of what sort of art you should hang on your wall was signalled by his removal of all pictures of previous Conservative prime ministers from their lobby room - including John A. and Dief the Chief - and their replacement by pictures of none other than Mr. Harper himself. History, it seems, is to begin with him. In communist countries, this used to be called the Cult of Personality. Mr. Harper is a guy who - rumour has it, again - tried to disband the student union in high school and then tried the same thing in college. Destiny is calling him, the way it called Qin Shi Huang, the Chinese emperor who burnt all records of the rulers before himself. It's an impulse that's been repeated many times since, the list is very long. Tear it down and level it flat, is the common motto. Then build a big statue of yourself. Now that would be Art! Adapted from the 2008 Hurtig Lecture, to be delivered in Edmonton on Oct. 1