Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Gov must top interfering with art

Last night on the Sun News program Byline, I talked about how art subsidies create both financial and moral costs to society.

I based those comments on my National Post article. Read it here.

When politicians put publicly-funded arts groups on a diet, they can be sure those groups will bite back. Prime Minister Stephen Harper found that out the hard way during the 2008 federal election, when he cut arts funding by a miniscule three per cent.  According to political analysts, the resulting backlash in Quebec may have cost him a majority government.   But even between elections, arts groups across the country clamour for more access to other people’s money, and politicians, fearful of their next trip to the polls, do their best to comply. As a result, billions of hard-earned tax dollars land in the pockets of these groups every year, creating a visible benefit for some – the winners - but an unseen cost for others – the losers.

Read more here.

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