Friday, October 10, 2008

According to today's The Montreal Gazette, one reason the Conservatives are now set to lose all their parliamentary seats in Quebec is their hostile attitude towards arts funding. Quebecers consider their culture absolutely vital to their way of life. When you make obnoxious comments about how artists are elitist snobs, and cut arts funding by $45 mil, they feel personally attacked.

That's right: attacking arts funding in Quebec is a Big Vote Loser.

Imagine that.

See why I live in Montreal?

Labels: Canadian politics

10:06 AM

3 Comments:

We Canadians always wonder why all the big budget movies/t.v. shows get made in L.A. and why it's practically impossible to make a living as an entertainment writer in Canada. And then our Prime Minister announces that "ordinary people" don't care about the arts meaning that "ordinary people" don't care about working in the arts either. Who's voting Conservative? Anyone? Anyone?

By  screenwriterwannabe, at 12:24 PM  

"Who's voting Conservative? Anyone? Anyone?"

Unfortunately lots of people are. And it's not about the "arts." Let's be honest - most people don't care one way or another. The amount of money the government wants(wanted?) to cut is so small compared to other issues in this country that it doesn't cross most people's minds when they make their choice. Sure, everyone who reads and posts here cares, but then we are people that are either in the industry already or want to be in it. It's really just preaching to the choir.

Most people (using my parents, aunts & uncles as examples) are far more concerned about things like crime.

My mom's house was broken into & robbed twice this summer and her car once and she doesn't even live in a "big town". She's out in the medium-sized town BC. What she cares about is crime and the Conservatives are the only ones really making a voice heard about that. Does she want funding cut to the arts? Hell no. She loves going to local plays and the opera but choosing between "fighting crime" and "funding the arts"-- well she's choosing to "fight crime" and vote Conservative.

What also doesn't help the Liberal cause is the fact that prisoners in local federal and provincial jails are all rallying for the Liberals trying to get all of the other inmates to vote Liberal because they don't like the Conservatives stance on crime & jail terms. it's a bit of a black-eye for the Liberals when you have all of the criminals and convicts stumping and voting for them because they know the Liberals are a lot "softer" on crime.

So when people do vote Conservative don't take it as an attack on the Arts, because most of them probably do support the arts, rather take it as a sign they are more concerned with other aspects of the country.

By  mallet, at 3:01 PM  

That's not "the Gazette" saying that, that's an opposition party leader. You know, the Bloc. The separatist party. If artists are so selfish that they'll vote to destroy the country because a couple of programmes were wound down under the Conservatives, then they can go to blazes.

The truth here is that artists don't like Conservatives because they tend to be Liberal or NDP (or Bloc) supporters. The Conservatives could have tripled the arts budget (as it is, they only increased it by 20%) and they still wouldn't like them. Now they're using their insider position in the media to attack the Conservative Party. Just politics as usual.

By  Unknown, at 4:36 PM  

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