Tories Want to Squash Arts

Canadian author Margaret Atwood lambasts Tories over arts policies, as news surfaces that the Tories want to squash the arts. For an industry that touches the lives of 7.5 million Canadians, this is surprising.

"They basically just hate us,"

Noted Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, in an interview on the CBC radio, this morning tore a verbal strip of Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper.

"You know it’s people who have never seen any arts in their own lives — they would rather not have gardens, they would rather have parking lots. They just think it’s a frill probably."

Atwood is angry because of the cuts that the federal government have made to cultural funding in general and the cuts to the funding for cultural tours, in particular. According to Atwood the arts bring economic activity and prosperity into Canada but despite that are begin underfunded. For example: * the visual arts are a billion dollar business in Canada and directly touch the llives of over 7.5 million Canadians * 25% of Canadians visit an art gallery each year * nearly 1 million school children are given tours in public art galleries yearly * exports of original visual art grew from $45 million in 1996 to $145 million in 2000 .

"When selling artistic things abroad, that money comes into Canada and is taxed in Canada, so it’s a net gain for Canada," she said.

Why does the Canadian government refuse to invest in an industry that contributes so much to Canadian society?