Does anyone have any information or opinions on the federal government’s recent cuts to the Trade Routes and the PromArt programs? Some are saying this is a vicious and sweeping attack on Canada’s culture industries.
Here’s a Globe and Mail primer on the cuts: Ottawa axes second arts subsidy in two weeks.
What does all this mean? What should we do?
Oh man, this infuriates me to no end. Cancelling PromArt and Trade Routes while every other industry still has access to government funding to help them expand their markets makes it completely obvious that this government is targeting us.
The biggest problem I’m seeing right now is that we’re being characterized as being lazy, completely reliant on government money, and the programs having no accountability (oh yeah, we love all the time we spend on applications and final reports). We need to win this public relations battle, first and foremost.
I’m not sure how to do that, though. I’m trying to track down numbers for similar programs in Australia and New Zealand, both countries that have similar economies to us and who’s federal governments have committed to their artists to different degrees. But it needs to go beyond the economic argument.
Textbook authoritarian agenda: vilify intellectuals, marginalize artists. It worked for Stalin, Mao & Hitler in the past, it works for conservatives here & now. It's in times like this that we'll see what you're made of, Praxis.
Speak out! Rise up! Fight back!
Thanks for these comments.
MK. You rock. Please pass along anything else you learn on this. Unfortunately, I don’t have the bandwidth to dig into this very deeply at the moment.
I know the rest of team Praxis is spread pretty thin right now, too. I think our response is going to be a more long-term thing. Maybe I’ll see if we can work this into the interview series.
Man. It’s always something with these Conservative Party clowns. Not much of a fucking Party if you ask me.