Artists are outraged. Outraged! Why, you may ask? Oh, nothing, just the Kenney government is (mildly) removing some of their grant funding.
You may be asking why this is such a big deal. I have two former coworkers at different companies in Edmonton and the greater area who are getting Fridays off until further notice. The Shiny Pony is floating a 4-day workweek, these guys are living it (and the 20% pay cut that comes with it)! They are still coming into work and yet their pay is being cut.
Artists, not that their work output was particularly detectable before, have not been working. Art galleries are closed. Playhouses are closed. No new movies or TV shows or Broadway musicals are being produced. Outside of physical artwork such as paintings and sculptures (and remember that the supplies they rely on have been deemed "noncritical" by governments including the Alberta Government, so anybody on their last few canvases in late March was shit outta luck for replacements). So why shouldn't arts funding be cut, particularly when it should never exist in the first place?
You may recall all the way back in 2006 I warned you about conservative governments giving money to the extreme leftists who hate them and refused (and refuse even moreso in the cancel culture age) to depict conservative people and philosophy and arguments fairly.
Canada's arts community has already begun presenting me with its laundry list of pet demands, apparently forgetting their recent history. This is the inbred group of self-important "arts" peddlars who claim to be "speaking for the country" yet not a one of them was speaking for the 5 million Canadians who voted for our era of optimistic change in Canada, our return to the country that is respected and admired in the world for more than just a couple of homosexual weddings and cozying up to the likes of Fidel Castro and Alec Baldwin. If Canada's creative minds are unable to diversify themselves to reflect the full spectrum of beliefs in this country than I do not see any reason that a Conservative government whom these people campaigned so vigorously against should now succumb to their demands just in time for another election where we will be campaigned against. When we start seeing popular musicians in this country supporting a fair flat tax structure or singing about the inherent waste of government in their song, or watch Canadian playwrights bring to the theatre a play who's message is the strength and the beauty present in the traditional family, or take the family to see a Canadian filmmaker's bold portrayal of a world where gun ownership is universal and legal not to the detriment of society but to its peacefulness and flourish, perhaps when we see some of these things our administration can take seriously the increased funding requests by the arts lobbyists. I do not however see today a request by a constituency that wants to fund art, I see a constituency that wants to fund political campaigning both within elections and between them. Our neighbours to the south are in the midst of a great debate about the meaning of "fair and balanced" in both the news and entertainment media, but here in Canada it is not even a question. These calls for funding are simply to increase the clout of the NDP and Liberal parties in popular culture, and unless I see evidence of a change, we will be taking all action we can to insure that only an entertainment industry that reflects the right and the left wings present in our culture shall be deemed deserving of financial support of the right and left wings present in the taxpayer.
The same argument rings true today, the only shame is that the UCP isn't making it, and instead only cutting them off on stark utilitarian grounds. From the Edmonton Journal article:
Alberta artists are lamenting their latest funding hit, and pointing their fingers squarely at the provincial government.Seems more than fair. You couldn't even rehearse for most of the past 3 months, so why waste precious taxpayer dollars that could fund those poor poor nurses on the front line who need PPE or they'll die?
Citing concerns over the safety and feasibility of arts projects in the wake of COVID-19, the Alberta government recently shelved grant applications dating back to the March submission period. Instead, artists are urged to reapply for the next quarterly grant deadline in September.
Oh, but that's using their argument against them. It's only to be used against you remember.
“They’ve blindsided us,” said Vern Thiessen, award-winning playwright and former director of Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre. “They’re betraying a long-term vision that the arts are critical not only to the culture of Alberta but the economic bottom line of our province. As an Albertan, that was something I used to hold up high — per capita we used to fund our artists here. It’s really disappointing.Who is Vern Thiessen? He's the backer of the disgusting E-Day play championing the evil government of Rachel Arab who stole from taxpayers at levels never before seen to funnel money into this sort of lame activism posing as works of great art. And then he has the nerve to say that the province prioritizing real economic losses in the time of a global crisis is what's "disappointing"?
“I think what makes people angry is the way it’s been done, with zero consultation. It tells artists not only do we not care about the arts, we don’t even care enough to tell you that we’ll be making these decisions.”Piss off, Vern.
The move to cancel funding leads to larger questions about the government’s commitment to the arts, and whether artists will maintain residence and continue operating in Alberta, he said.
Piss off, and take your "artists in residence" and your "continued operating" with you. We don't need you. Your far-left hippie grandstanding has no place in this province on a good day. It certainly isn't appropriate when other far more important calls on the public purse will have to do without.
