Citizens, artists weigh in on arts in federal election
Published Thursday October 9th, 2008
Some say cutting arts is cutting Canada's soul, but others say artists should stop thinking they're special.
What's the most important issue in the current federal election?
There's no right answer, it differs from person to person.
Two common answers this time around are the economy and the environment. But a less commonly heard response is arts and culture. While few say it tops the priority list, some rank it as high as number two.
With the Conservatives' August 11 announcement they'd cut two arts funding programs, PromArt, $4.7 million, and Trade Routes, $9 million, some are expressing their outrage by protesting Harper's potential re-election while others now have all the more reason to vote the Tories back into office on October 14.
Harper's view of the arts doesn't bode well with Eric Mathieu Doucet. He was at an arts funding protest at the Capitol Theatre in Moncton on October 2.
"To cut in the culture is like cutting in the soul of Canada," says Doucet.
For him the environment tops the priority list with arts and culture trailing close behind.
"I believe these are the two issues that the different parties have totally different views on. One vote for one party or the other makes a big difference on these two issues," says Doucet.
But Charles Morton and Rene Kingston feel there are much bigger issues for politicians to campaign on.
"I just have no interest in it, it just doesn't concern me. I don't have kids," says Morton.
The economy is his main decision issue in this election.
"The economy seems to be rolling around pretty good compared to the states and whatnot," says Morton adding that the Liberals' proposed "carbon tax scares the hell out of me."
Meanwhile Rene Kingston is most concerned about having "family" concerns represented in Ottawa.
"Christian values are very important," he says. "At this particular moment I'm thinking it will be Prime Minister Harper (I vote for)." New Brunswick artist Cathy Linfield, featured in last week's edition of [here], says she'll be voting for Stephen Harper in spite of the arts funding cuts.
Linfield has applied to PromArt for her December 2009 trip to a worldwide art exhibition in Florence, Italy held every other year. She also says the cuts will hurt many artists.
But at the same time she thinks artists, whether visual, musical or otherwise don't deserve as much funding as they have now.
"There aren't grants handed out to lawyers and doctors so why should the artists think that they're something special," she says. "We have to learn we have to fight our way through to get better at our craft." She says artists should try harder so they don't need the funding.
But Annabel Kumar feels funding for people or groups in the arts and culture sector is not only an important issue, but necessary.
She points out that artists often donate their time and artistic products to charities, like when a painter puts a painting in a fundraising auction or musicians perform at benefit concerts.
"They need that money and funding to live," she says. "Arts and culture is very important to me. I find that if the artists aren't supported enough, then you lose touch with what's really happening in society."
Artist Cecil D Long, agrees with Kumar that arts is important, and both put the environment atop their political priority lists, but D Long says arts and culture is almost entirely ignored by politicians.
"I think it's just out there to appease the people, (no) candidate I've ever seen out there has ever had the culture as a main agenda," says D Long.
"I think global warming and things like that are front and foremost and should be, and the rest will follow," he says.
"I'm a 63-year-old man, it's about the environment, to leave you young people something, I mean what have we left you?"
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