HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-10-09, Page 6THE EDITOR,I feel compelled to writeand call attention to themyopic nature of Stephen
Harper’s $44 million cuts to
arts and culture.
The impact of these cuts
will, without any doubt, result
in the closure of a significant
number of not-for profit arts
organizations across the
nation and substantial un-
employment throughout this
industry.
As a professional artist and
resident of Huron Bruce, I feel
it is my responsibility to speak
to the impact these cuts will
have, and to some extent
address the intent with which
they are being administered.
According to StatsCan,
from their published data on
the Economic Contribution of
Culture in Canada, our
national arts and culture
industry directly employs over
750,000 people. This is more
than forestry, oil, fishing,mining, and agriculturecombined. This industrygenerates over $40 billion
annually for the Canadian
economy, approximately 4.5
per cent of our total GDP.
Where is the fiscal prudence
of cutting crucial funding to
not-for-profits that generate
this kind of national wealth
and employment? This $44
million cut results in a per
year savings to each taxpayer
of $1.30, or roughly a dime
per month…at what cost?
Consider the very real local
case of the Blyth Centre for
the Arts (the Blyth Festival),
an organization many of you
have come to know me
through. These kinds of cuts
directly impact the livelihood
of hundreds of professional
arts workers who practise
their craft here.
Ask the business owners in
the village of Blyth what the
impact of having the theatre intown is. Ask the home ownerswho rent out rooms to visitingartists. Ask local hoteliers,
B&B owners and
campgrounds. Further still,
ask any urban planner about
the impact arts and culture
play in rural revitalization
projects.
What about our art gallery,
our orchestra, our Festival
singers?
Stephen Harper has been
quoted in the national media
saying that arts workers live in
“ivory towers” and waste
public dollars attending “rich
galas”…but is this a reality?
According to StatsCan, the
average artist’s wage in
Canada is $23,000 (well
below the poverty line). In
order to arrive at this average,
consider that for every
wealthy artist you have ever
heard about, hundreds are
living in deep poverty.
What Stephen Harper alsofails to mention is that hehimself has attended dozensand dozens of galas with
heads of business and heads of
state, and all of those events
fully funded by Canadian
taxpayers.
I will confess that we hold a
biannual gala auction at the
Blyth Festival. It’s true.
When we do, we rent the
community hall from the
township, hire service groups
like the Legion Ladies
Auxiliary to provide dinner
and the Lions’ Club to run the
bar, and buy all of our
decorations locally.
I’ll even admit that I have
more than once snuck down
into our costume department
to find a nice enough suit to
wear. To propose that these
are evenings spent in ivory
towers is absurd. On the
contrary, we are quite
pointedly and specifically
reaching out to the communityat large in these moments,bringing them together aroundour common cause.
And what is this common
cause? What are the arts for
anyway? Why should they be
subsidized at all in the first
place?
I can tell you precisely:
fellowship, pure and simple.
As human beings, we
profoundly need to be with
others and to have them listen
and understand us. This is
precisely what every artist, the
world over, is attempting to
do: to bring us together in
fellowship. This is our
obligation as artists, to reach
out and bring humanity
together to consider what we
are, why we are, where we
have been and where we are
going.
Ask any arts organization if
they could survive with public
or private philanthropy and
you will uniformly hear aresounding no.If you have a $20 in yourwallet I would urge you to
take it out right now, flip it
over and read the back of the
bill. On it, you will find a
quote from one of our nation’s
great writers, Gabriel Roy.
The quote reads “Could we
ever know each other in the
slightest without the arts?”
Every time you pull out a $20
from now until this election,
and beyond I urge you to
consider the question posed
here.
I don’t know if Stephen
Harper has read the back of
any of his $20 bills, but I wish
he had. This kind of short-
sighted, unconsidered policy-
making is unconscionable. It
completely lacks fiscal
prudence, and undervalues all
of us as Canadians.
Sincerely,
Gil Garratt.
PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2008.Letter to the editorCuts to arts compels actor to state views
THE EDITOR,
Concern for the Lake
Huron shoreline is increasing
due to deteriorating water
quality conditions, algal
foulings and damage to the
coastal ecosystem from the
spread of the invasive
common reed (phragmites).
At our biennial, Is The
Coast Clear? conference held
this summer, Gord Miller, the
environmental commissioner
of Ontario highlighted the
lack of basic monitoring and
research being conducted on
Lake Huron, even going so far
as to say that our federal and
provincial governments are
not living up to their
obligations in this regard.
Personally, I was shocked
to learn that the problems
facing the lake are not being
monitored, and are poorly
understood. In order to
develop solutions, we need
monitoring to determine the
extent of the problems, and
research to properly
understand them.
Elections provide us, the
people who live along the
beautiful shoreline of Lake
Huron, the opportunity to
highlight our shared affection
and concern for the lake and
its wellbeing. During the term
of the next government
important international and
federal-provincial agreements
will be negotiated which lay
out the responsibilities of the
government for Lake Huron.
The possibility for a
significant commitment is
highlighted by the $30
million allocated for research,
monitoring and stewardship
for Lake Simcoe in the last
federal budget.
Amongst the many issues
that you will consider when
you vote, be sure to include
our shoreline, and ask your
candidate where they stand on
funding research and
monitoring for Lake Huron.
Dr. Brian Luinstra
Chair, Board of Directors
Lake Huron Centre for
Coastal Conservation.
Letter
Reader asks voters to consider the lake
There was a somber tone to
the Oct. 1 meeting of county
councillors, held just one day
after the announcement that a
major industry, Volvo in
Goderich would be closing in
2010, putting 500 people out
of work.
In his opening remarks
warden John Bezaire of
Central Huron said it had
been a month of ups and
downs culminating in the
news heard Sept. 30. He
stated that the county will
need to be considering what
could be done to extend
support to the town.
Goderich councillor Deb
Shewfelt later in the meeting
asked if the board of health
could discuss whether a
hotline might be needed. “I
think we are going to see a lot
of stress in the community
and I think it will be higher as
we approach mid-June (when
production at the Maitland
Road plant will cease).”
Shewfelt added that in
many families both parents
had worked at the plant.
Councillor John Grace of
Goderich, said that the
company has also made
counsellors available to
employees and suggested that
the health unit could perhaps
work with them.
Volvo closure
sets mood at
county council
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen