ARTS FUNDING IN JEOPARDY?

Thanks to a heads up from my friend Blair who works at PACT, I was alerted that the Federal gov't plans to cut $1.1 billion from federally funded programs. I suppose everyone else DID already know that, but I come by these things backasswards, and in the most roundabout ways, its a wonder I ever know what's going on. Nevertheless, I was appalled when I realized the blow that would mean to the arts sector who depend quite heavily on a lot of these grants. So I wrote my MP a letter, asking that he meet up with the Canadian Arts Coalition when they descend on Ottawa the week of November 13th. If you have any concern at all for the arts in Canada you should email your MP and tell him or her to protest these cuts. Here was my letter to Bill Graham.

Dear Mr. Graham:

My name is Trevor McNaughton, and I am one of your constituents in downtown Toronto. I live on Wellesley St. East, just about a block east of Sherbourne. I am a playwright and an actor and I wanted to write to ask that you would make a point of meeting with the Canadian Arts Coalition during their week of meetings with MP's during the week of November 13th. The reason I ask this is that it has come to my attention that the Federal gov't plans to strip $1.1 billion in program cuts. I myself do not receive any of those monies from those programs, but there are a great many artists out there who do, and who are dependent on them, and without that funding, the cultural wealth they give our country cannot be expected to survive. I hope I don't sound too melodramatic, but $1.1 billion, while possibly not a lot to the military or industrial sector, is a heck of a lot of money to artists, who by nature are used to making a lot of silk purses out of sows' ears. In short, the facile and irresponsible rumour that we are not economically efficient is laughable, because by nature of what we do, we use every last scrap of material and coinage available to us. We are the original "do it yourselvers" and I bet dollars to donuts that there isn't a small theatre company or installation artist in this country who couldn't think of a dozen different ways to make a dollar stretch further than any highly paid bureaucrat. We're used to doing without Mr.Graham, which is why it makes it so important that we don't lose what little we have, or hope to get.

I feel quite hopeful in asking that you at least meet with the Coalition, because I've seen with my own eyes that you're one of the few political leaders who goes out in person and sees aspects of our society that a lot of politicians forget. I was a cyclist in this year's PWA Friends for Life Bike Rally from Toronto to Montreal, and it was heartwarming to see my very own MP welcome us in as we rode into Place Viger in Montreal. The fact that you were the only political leader there (aside from the mayor of Montreal) to welcome us in made me glad that I had put up your sign for re-election in my front window in the last election. In these political climes (that make my blood boil most of the time) I was deeply pleased. I am very eager to see a change in our federal gov't I need hardly add. The current regime strikes me as regressive, backwards, anti-art, and short-sighted. Their attitude towards the arts can only be described (I feel) as bestially stupid at worst and willfully ignorant at best.

As a side note, Margaret Atwood wrote a wonderful article in the Globe and Mail two years ago ( "THE ARTS GO MARCHING ONE BY ONE" by Margaret Atwood, June 9, 2004, pg. A23) on how much money the Arts in Canada generate for our country, and its the single best argument and piece of writing I've ever read on why art is valuable to the spiritual as well as fiscal economy of a country. If you haven't had the chance, do read it, as it's extremely informative. Ms.Atwood has clearly done her homework. The article gives a much more focused look at what artists everywhere contribute to this country, and how that gives Canada such a vibrant and unique cultural identity in the world. Lose that, and the loss is ultimately for every Canadian, not just the artist. As Katharine Hepburn once said, "The artist, since the beginning of time, has always expressed the dreams and aspirations of his people. Silence the artist, and you will have silenced the most articulate voice the people have."

Please Mr. Graham, don't let Canada's artists be silenced by fiscal strangulation. Canada needs their voices and their dreams.

thank you,

Trevor McNaughton