Canadian Conservatives and Arts Don't Mix

"Every budding dictatorship begins by muzzling the artists because they're a mouthy lot and they don't line up and salute very easily." -Margaret Atwood

     If Plato was alive, I am sure he never would have let Harper govern Canada. According to Plato, a suitable political leader is someone wise, who is 100% focused on the best interests of the country.
     Harper has, and is still failing in this respect.


What the conservative government has done for the Canadian arts:

• In 2008, the conservative government cut back $45 million in their budget for the arts and culture in Canada. 

• Censorship:  Again in 2008, the government tried to pass Bill C-10 through, that would allow the heritage minister to refuse tax credits to film and television productions that they considered unfit for the public (or contrary to messages that the government was trying to promote).

• In 2012, Bill C-427 was created. Its purpose was to allow artists to average their income over a specific period, in order to allow artists to make use of more tax savings. Artists on average make around $23,000 a year. That's for irregular hours, and doesn't include Employment Insurance and the Canada Pension Plan, which artists aren't currently eligible for.

      Yet Harper is allowing decreases in taxes for major corporations. Figures.  Use all of the artists' money to keep the country running, while at the same time slowly squash the survival rate of artists, in an attempt to smother all the free-thinkers in this country.

     Did you know that in Canada, there are over 1.1 million jobs that are related to arts and culture? Canada's Gross Domestic Product is approximately $1.72 trillion; these jobs contribute to this on average $86 billion.



     We need artists. Artists give a country a sense of pride, and identity.  The arts educate their audiences. Performance and visual art are an integral part of us, touching the innermost parts of our soul. Life would be bland without art.

     People need to realize that Harper's pitting everyone against each other. He's pitting everyone against teachers, making them appear to be greedy. He's pitting everyone against artists. Our ears and eyes are being filled with shallow pop music and television that has no (musical) depth and detrimental messages. He's pitting everyone against those who are the foundations of our society, those who encourage society's growth.


     People ask me why they should care about politics. Because politics controls your way of living. Really, to live a fulfilling life, I think it's really important to take charge of the quality of your life. If you let someone herd you into submission like every other citizen, then you're passing through life like a ghost. What really is the meaning of living then?