Secession, Nationalism, and Government Funding for the Arts

In Canada, the Harper government shifted $45M of a $3B arts and culture budget: from some arts and culture projects to others.

In Quebec, artists were organized to take to the street and hype up the shift as "cuts" to the arts. The entire event was staged to whip-up fears that English Canada was trying to squash French culture, and thereby to regain political support for the French Nationalist secessionist Bloc Quebecois party during the federal election leading up to the October 14th, 2008 vote.

On October 9th, 2008, Freedom Party leader Paul McKeever was a panelist on the Crossroads Television (CTS) program "On the Line" with host Christine Williams. The panel discussed the issue described above.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• government
• funding
• arts
• harper
• election
• 2008

[jaar2001]

Please move to France with your party. You would be a political UFO but how great and fun it would be.

[PaulMcKeever]

No physical barriers can stop the ideas from entering France. Why not build your own political UFO?

[1curieux]

Sorry to say but under that same logic, every Canadian who does not support the military decisions of Canada should get his/her money back and the ones who do should pay more. That doesn't make sense to me.

We all profit from our culture (French or English) shining abroad. When Quebec artists sing in Bavaria for Koenigung Fest, people consider them as Canadian and think: Wow, there is talent in that country.

[brainerdrebel]

"Taxes are reciprocal, when the government uses my taxes for someone else's views and opinions the Republic is over."

John Adams

[barrywinehousexp]

4:20 (hah)

Government funds do not instantly turn the artistic work produced into PROPAGANDA. The lefty christian democratic socialist boob is there as a straw man for the purpose of PROPAGANDA, no more.

My, isn't that Michelangelo analogy tortured? Bodies of dead workers entombed in the *Great* Wall of China: suddenly it's not one of seven other 'world wonders' and naught but a monument to unenlightened savagery, yup. -Keever's bourgeois philistinism is even more Leftist than what he abhors.

[justinwlaurab]

Mckeever always makes everyone look stupid.

[Smegma007]

Here I thought art was creation. If someone lives with his parents but creates a statue, isn't it still art? Michelangelo was always financed by someone. The video game industry is heavily sponsored by the government. Why? Because every dollar you put into it, you get two of them back...

[steve0281]

Excellent!  Well articulated.

[RobertPFreeman]

Give em' hell Mr. McKeever!