Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government is cutting $44.8 million of arts funding after disparaging the political views of some recipients and the name of another.
The cuts will see at least two federal programs, PromArt and Trade Routes, eliminated entirely at the end of the fiscal year, in March 2009. PromArt, a $4.7 million program, is meant to promote Canadian culture abroad by offering grants to artists who are touring internationally.
A Conservative Party memo leaked to the Ottawa Citizen blasted several PromArt recipients as not mainstream enough to deserve funding. These included Avi Lewis, a left-wing journalist and filmmaker who received $5,000 to travel to film festivals in Australia and Argentina; Juno-nominated rockers Holy Fuck, who got $3,000 for a tour of the United Kingdom; and writer Gwynne Dyer, who was invited to a conference in Cuba.
The government admits ideology played a part in the cuts, but says the decision was mostly motivated by money. “Primarily, it’s a budgeting decision,” says Anne Howland, spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, which oversees PromArt. “We think Canadians want accountability with their tax dollars.”
She says the government decided arts programs were better managed by the Department of Canadian Heritage, not Foreign Affairs.
Artists are frustrated about losing the source of money. “I just think promoting Canadian art is a good thing,” says André Lewis, artistic director of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. “[The cuts] make it that much more challenging to do it.”
The ballet, which has toured China, Japan and Germany with the support of PromArt, had been hoping to apply for funding for a 2009 tour of Israel and Europe.
Lewis argues that supporting artists who tour overseas is a good way for the government to make connections. For instance, Canadian trade and tourism officials have accompanied the ballet on tours to the United States and Mexico and used the shows as a place to meet local dignitaries. “I have diplomats tell me ‘in one night, you achieved more than we could achieve in months and months,’” says Lewis. “[The cuts] go contrary to what I always hear — that it’s great for trade.”
