I’m writing in response to the corny and shortsighted comments from Stephen Harper regarding “arts galas and tuxedos” I find the well-rehearsed, patronizing folksiness of these sort of remarks to be just disgusting.

I’ve been a working artist for 10 years. I have benefited greatly from a variety of arts funding. Before I make my main point, I will state for the record that I’ve never been to an arts gala or anything that might require me to wear a tuxedo. I’m not sure I know anyone in my line of work who has. I’m sure that those “poor ole’ down home folks” who “wouldn’t relate” to such things also wouldn’t relate to some of the high society dinners his job might take him to, either. But I digress.

The subject of arts funding is really the funding of maintenance and protection of a fragile cultural voice. It’s very easy to see how, without protection, Canada would drown in a deluge of American entertainment and cultural offerings. It all comes down to population. Canada’s is sparse, and spread out over thousands of kilometres. It means that cultural products created and sold in Canada only ever have the opportunity to garner “so much” in revenue.

Consequently, Canadian companies in the business of arts and arts groups are never in a financial position to compete in the kind of ways that well-funded American companies can on a global scale. It also means that powerful American companies dealing in entertainment and culture have the money and resources to overwhelm the competition (in this case Canada). This isn’t about galas and tuxedos; it is about the protection of a great and unique voice in the world. Don’t be fooled by the “down home” tone of Stephen Harper. The back-slapping boys’ clubs and the expensive corporate friends that he and the Conservatives keep would be much harder for you and me to relate to than these fictional galas, indeed.

Hawksley Workman
Burk’s Falls