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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1986-07-30, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 1986. Funding the arts It’s so fashionable these days to say that government should get out of this or that area of subsidy or regulation that there’s not much surprise in the recommendations of a government commission that says the private sector should do more of the funding of the arts. It’s a nice ideathat won’t work unless the re isa massive change in the thinking of big business in Canada. While we have excellent examples locally of support of business for the arts, particularly the Blyth Festival, on a national level, Canadian businesses are pretty much small timers compared to their counterparts south ofthe border. In the U.S., for instance, funding from the Ford Foundation has had almost as much impact on the non-profit arts organizations in the U.S. as the Canada Council has in Canada. The Carnegie Foundation has helped building many historic public buildings. While afew outstanding contributions over the years like the Massey family money that built Massey Hall and the large donation by the Thompson family that got their name on Thompson Hall have high profile in Canada, in general the amount of funding for the arts from big business has not been large. What there has been has been concentrated on a few large arts organization like the National Ballet or the Stratford Festival. What funding from government organizations like the Canada Council has done is to stimulate activity all across Canada in places like Blyth as well as the big cities. Perhaps proposals for tax credits for more support of the arts will make big business more generous but until this theory is proven, we’ll still need government funding such as that provided by the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council. Issues change sides Last week the Ontario government appointed a new head of the Ontario Censor Board and the tone of the news reports seemed to be wondering if the new leader would be “an improvement’’ over the last head Mary Brown. That very tone suggests improvement was needed. Yet for many people in Ontario if anything, the rules needed to be tightened. Governments have for years been in a damned-if-they-do, damned-if-they-don’t position on censor­ ship. There are vocal civil libertarians, art groups and journalists who argue against censorship and can always find somefoolish example of poor censorship. Butthere are millions of people out there who think there is already too much “smut’ ’ available, even on television, and who blame everything from family breakdown to child molestation on a debauched society. But it’s interesting to watch as an issue changes and censorship is one that is subtly changing day by day. Only a couple of years ago no right-thinking liberal would support censorship. Today, the liberal portion of the population is split. The reason is that censorship has become, for some at least, a feminist issue. Many women see pornography as a danger to women. They see pornography as something that stimulates violence against women, that degrades women in society as a whole. Today the feminist movement is split on the issue of censorship, wkh one side still stoutly opposed while the other sees it as a way of reducing incidence of rape, sexual assault and the general attitude that sees women as sex objects. It’s not the first time an issue has changed in this way. The Temperance Movement, for instance, was a feminist movement as leaders of women in the last century saw women as victims of drunken husbands. Today, of course, you’d be unlikely to find a feminist who’d support prohibition. The anti-tobacco movement is about to become a feminist cause. Feministleaders, manyofwhomhavealways seen smoking as a way of expressing their independence (pushed on by ads that showed women smoking that said “you’ve come a long way baby ’ ’) have come to realize that while young men are either quitting smoking or not starting, more young women are smoking than ever before, starting at an average age of 12. Things like lung cancer and heart disease brought on by smoking have never drawn much attention from the women’s movement because it was men who have been the main victims. But now many women are falling too. But as everyone should have learned from the temperance movement, prohibition doesn’t work. Banning things only makes them more tempting. In the long run, only changing people’s attitudes through education, can change things. Forbidding people to drink only bred bootleggers and crime to meet the demand for this “ naughty vice ’ ’. Some people want a ban on advertising cigarettes in magazines but advertising isn’t the problem. If it is, why are more women smoking today at a time when there is less advertising on radio and television than years ago? Attitude is the problem. And attitude in the long run must also be the answer to censorship. Telling people they can’t see something, dares them to see it. Telling artists they can’t have certain scenes on the movie screen or even in books makes them want to express their freedom by doing it. We all want fewer laws and yet the first time we see something we don’t like, we ask for a law to stop it. As in most things, education both in the home and the schools is the only long-term solution. " HARRY Loves To fiET ooT W Pool To Pool CET AHLT WORK./z ✓ ^he world view from Mabel’s Grill There are people who will tell you that the important decisions in town are made down at the town hall. People in the know, however know that the real debates, the real wisdom reside down at Mabel’s Grill where the greatest minds in the town (if not in the country) gather for morning coffee break, otherwise known as the Round Table Debating and Filibustering Society. Sincenotjusteveryone can partake of these deliberations we will report the activities from time to time. MONDAY: Billie Bean was telling us this morning that he was down in Toronto on the weekend for the big Indy car race down by the Exhibition grounds. “It was really something,’’ he says. “Allthese guys goingfull speed, darting in and out trying to get ahead ofthe other guy. Roaring engines, screeching tires. Wow, I’d like to drive in something like that just once.’’ “Simple,’’ says Tim O’Grady. “Just go to a Blue Jays game and try to get out of the parking lot afterward.’’ TUESDAY: Julia Flint was men­ tioning that if you want to feel old these days, just try to find a movie to go out to. “They’ve got movies about kids who skip school and movies about old guys who go back to school and movies about good looking kids who fly jets and movies about kids who get a kick out of karate. Aren’t there any people over 20 interesting enough to make movies about any more?’’ “Sure,’’ says Tim O’Grady. People our age are the people the kids trick to get out of school, the stupid teachers the old guy finds when he goes back to school, the nasty officers, the good looking jet jockeys have to put up with and the guys the Karate Kid has to smarten up. This is what we get for being the generation that said never trust anyone over 30.’’ WEDNESDAY: Hank Stokes was mentioning about that New York Times reporter they threw in jail over in China because they thought he was a spy. Ward Black thought that was a good place for all reporters. Hank figures the Chinese pro­ bably had a good reason to be suspicious. “Imean, after all, what were they to think. Every other legitimate reporter in the world was in London covering the royal wedding.’’ THURSDAY: Tim was saying this morning that Fergie, or princess Sarahas she’ll be called now, is lucky. Atleastshewon’thaveto face the kind of stress a lot of women in India go through. He was reading in a paper that more than 1600 women in India have been killed in the last couple of years because their husbands were upset because the dowry payments weren’t what they had been promised. ‘ ‘That’s disgusting, ’ ’ Julia says. “It sure is,’’ says Hank Stokes justtogethergoing. “Imaginethat many women reneging on their agreements.’’ But Julia kept her cool. “Maybe we women should learn something from it and do the same thing to men in Canada who skip out on their child support payments.” FRIDAY. Ward Black was happy this morning that Parliament had passed that new bill to keep dangerous people in jail until they’d served the entire length of their jail sentence. That should keep the streets safe a little longer,” he said. Tim O’Grady thought the bill made the streets a little safer already. By getting all those politicians back to Ottawa for even one day it probably saved a lot of stress on people’s arms from politiciansparadingdown main streets and going to barbecues to shake the hand of every living creature in sight, he said. Holiday death toll concerns minister [640523Ontario Inc.] Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. Published weekly in Brussels, Ontario P.O.Box 152 P.O. Box429, Brussels, Ont. Blyth, Ont. NOG 1 HO N0M1H0 887-9114 523-4792 Subscription price: $15.00; $35.00foreign. Advertising and news deadline: Monday 4p.m. Editor and Publisher: Keith Roulston Advertising Manager: Beverley A. Brown Production and Office Manager: Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968 ■ .« Ontario Minister of Transporta­ tion and Communications Ed Fulton recently asked drivers to “act responsibly” to help reduce fatal road accidents during this summer’s holiday weekends. “Lastyear,” he said, “acci- dentsduringCanadaDay, Civic Holiday and Labour Day week­ ends, resulted in 56 deaths and 70 injuries. “It is sad that too often holiday weekends, which should be happy, family-oriented times, turn into tragedies,” he added. “Surely, we can all drive responsibly and bring those terrible statistics down.” During the Canada Day week­ end last year, there were 19 fatal accidents, leaving 25 dead and 28 injured. Over August’s Civic Holi­ day, 21 were killed and 32 injured and 13 fatal accidents. Septem­ ber’s Labour Day holiday saw 10 killed and 10 injured in nine fatal collisions. “It is up to the individual driver to develop safety-conscious, de­ fensive driving habits,” said Ful­ ton. “If we all exercise good judgement on Ontario roads, this summer’s holiday weekends will be days marked by fond memories, rather than sad ones.”