This article speaks to how Harper is diminishing and weakening the country by dismantling the government by stealth. He's right of course. Harper's pal Flanagan has admitted it on more than one occasion.Sadly, it's not written about much. Perhaps that is due to how they go about it. It's quiet and presented in a manner that doesn't sound alarming, but alarm bells should be going off all over. Or maybe it's because our journalists are too busy writing about nonsense.
This morning we learned that the Con's are denying Arts grants. Presumably because those who applied were 'left wing' groups . Talk about putting your regressive ideology out there. Now, David Aikin further reports that they are cutting this program, Trade Routes.
What is Trade Routes?
Trade Routes is a comprehensive trade development program specifically designed for Canada’s arts and cultural sector. The program helps profit and not-for-profit organizations in the arts and cultural sector prepare to export and sell in international markets.
Message to the Arts community? You're on your own pal...free market...left wing....blah, blah. For a PM trying to look moderate, this is quite the move.
Of course we all remember Bill C-10. Well I guess that was only the beginning.
I'll have to go back to verify just exactly how much has been cut by this government but a few programs stand out. They are the Court Challenges program, the Law Reform Commission and as a commenter reminded me the other day, the Status of Women program. Dion has committed to reinstating these, btw.
Feel free to add to the list.
So, do we need an election? Absolutely. Do we need more journalists actually reporting on what matters to Canadians? Well, that's the understatement of the past 2 years if you ask me.
Donate what you can to help Harper move back to Calgary.
20 comments:
Seems Charles McVety does have "strong" influence of Harper after all.
But, Harper gave money to a UFO event....hmmm - this to help McKay?
Meant to ad - I wonder how Quebec will feel about this - they are so into the arts.
Me, again....
h/t to BC'r in Toronto:
Dishing out taxpayers’ dollars is hardly alien to governments, and a UFO fest in Shag Harbour has received a $2,000 boost from Ottawa.
The money is for the Shag Harbour Incident Festival, which will commemorate a "well-documented sighting of an unidentified flying object in the skies above Shag Harbour," a recent release from the federal government says.
It says the festival will take place Aug. 8 and 9, and feature lectures, artisan displays, tours of the site and other activities.
The federal government provided the money through the Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage program, overseen by the Department
Apparently this is Gerald Keddy's riding...hmmm.....
An election would be fine, if one could Guarantee, it would the end of Harper, because if it isn't we are up the creek without a paddle.
There is lots of money going around but not the 10 million promised to Straford for the University that is to be built.
Sandi, McVety is no doubt thrilled. With any luck he'll come before the camera's again and praise Harper.
Yes, the UFO funding is hilarious and one that we should highlight in comparison to the cut's that actually affect humans, you know here, on this planet.
As for Quebec, you're right. Their Arts community is highly developed and they receive quite a bit of money provincially, but still depend on Federal money.
Social issues, if played correctly by the Lib's during an election, could trump monetary goodies being dropped in the middle of the summer, imo.
lizt, it's going to require that the soft Lib's come home.
It will also mean that NDP'ers consider what is at stake.
I know they want Jack at the helm, but that's not going to happen.
They have to consider the ramifications of how they vote and put country before party for the moment. Now is not the time to increase seats. Now is the time to get the country back on track.
Thanks for the addition to the list.
Perhaps you should read before you write.
the Cons are NOT denying Arts Grants:
Tories kill arts grants for foreign travel.
Grants for Foreign Travel, nothing to do with Arts and Culture.
Liberals think money spent to fly the rock band 'Holy Fuck'(in the article, seriously) to the UK, out of the Foreign Affairs budget, is money well spent????
And, Trade Routes funds the 'export and sale in international markets'.
This money does NOT fund Canadian talent, it's a marketing agent.
Now take all the savings from Trade Routes and Foreign Travel grants, and put it into actually funding Canadian Arts & Culture, then you have a real program.
Aside from being offended by their name wilson, what's your point?
Do you have a clue about why we spend this money?
Ideology is all you and Harper are driven by.
Young People F'ing has been shown to be a light hearted comedy. Not porn as your pal McVety would have us believe.
This group shouldn't be funded because of their name?
Art pushes and those who push back either have an intelligent point or they are bent on shutting down opinion. Harper is bent on shutting down opinion and money that gives voice to artistic views that he does not share.
That's not his main goal though. That bit of news is for you wilson and your friends. He's playing you like a fiddle.
The spendiest PM in our history is now throwing you raw meat and bones and you are lapping it up.
That's what you do of course when you have lived in a cave with no light or food. You blindly grasp at what you've been thrown.
I'm not targetting you specifically wilson. I'm describing how I see Harper follower's at this moment in time.
It disgusts me frankly that you can accept all that he said he wouldn't do and now are okay with the dregs.
I don't know how any of you can look in the mirror in the morning.
You all hate China for shutting down discourse but applaud Harper for setting us backwards in time and doing the same thing.
Astonishing.
Read it again wilson.
It does fund Canadian groups. It's the arm that assists with marketing their talent to the world.
This is about show-casing Canada around the world.
Yeah, it's time to stop that by all means.
Here is a link to a list of cuts, via CBC, dated Sept. 27th, 2006. There have been more since, of course.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/parliament39/budgetcuts-list.html
OT - sort of.
Seeing as the CONs do nothing but attack & lie about The Green Shift but say little to nothing about their plan, or give out any real details, I had an idea.
If the Liberals could afford it I think it would be great if they could print a booklet with the CONs so-called Environmental Plan with a side by side detailing of The Green Shift Plan. Pointing out the differences & how much of a non-plan the CONs really is, with no offsets to help the individual & small business. And also listing all the groups, environment, economic, etc. who don't support the CON plan.
It wouldn't have to be every single detail but the most salient, glaring points.
And then make it available, FREE, to the public.
It's probably too expensive but would be a way to get it out to all those who don't read online & just get their news from all the talking points via the media.
And a possible way to deliver this to the people, even on a door-to-door basis, would be to have volunteers from all the ridings throughout Canada deliver them. The booklets could be delivered to all riding associations in all cities, towns, areas & then distributed by volunteers in the different ridings.
I for one would be happy to tootle around on my disability scooter in the rural town where I live & deliver to every single house & apt.
But it's the cost that may not make this feasible. And PRINT makes it possible for more people to find out the truth.
Anyway, just a thought.
Penlan. I like your idea of a comparison sheet of The Green Shift and the Conservative Plan. Could it be set up on the computer so that it could be accessed by volunteers to print off and also deliver? I wouldn't mind buying a few boxes of printer paper as a contribution but I suppose their would be howls of bending the rules from those who are sending out millions of ten percenters. On the other hand what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander - maybe it could be sent out as a Liberal ten percenter and as it would give information so people can compare and make up their own minds wouldn't be as blatantly political as the ten percenters I am getting from my conservative MP.Garth Turners blog had a great link the other day with the government site that gave information about the Conservative carbon tax eventually rising to $65 a tonne and the consequent increase in natural gas and electricity prices - with NO income tax benefit to consumers
Thanks for the link penlan.
I like your idea and I do imagine that something along that line will be produced come election time. I'm not so sure people are yet paying enough attention yet, but maybe in September.
Now that the Con's have cowardly released their plan without fan fare, it's time to fight fire with fire.
Tricia, I don't suppose you remember which thread it was on do you?
As to the pamphlets, I think we want to stay away from something that looks like the 10%'er because they have ticked so many people off.
How many have you received? I think I'm up to 6.
I've received 6 - 10 percenters this "summer" alone. I didn't keep the ones I got in the spring because my husband didn't know I was saving them and threw them out.
I'm waiting for fall/election time to write to the editor of my local paper - over and over again, if I have to.
I think by writing now it will be forgotten in the fall, unless of course writing again the fall about it.
How does Wilson think that cultural groups come to Canada - their governments pay for it.
The CPC's are unbelievably narrow minded, tunnel vision - backwards.
The CPC's are unbelievably narrow minded, tunnel vision - backwards.
Don't forget purely ideologically driven.
Wow. 6-10 this summer? Aren't you in Calgary?
What's the point?
No, I live in rural Ontario (East) and on top of getting 6 this summer, my MP was on vacation for a month.
knb:
The blog by Garth Turner was posted on 08 ;06: 08 and titled "Can You Support This" The links are at the bottom of his comments" The plan I referenced above is here. The section on the economic implications... is here. It is the second "here" that gives information about cost per tonne and the effect on natural gas prices and electricity. I'm sorry I am not computer literate enough to provide the links so you can just click on them but I hope this helps!!!. As to the ten percenters I have had four in the past three weeks. All from the Conservative MP in the riding-notice I don't call him "my MP" because I honestly don't think he represents my interests. No ten percenters from any other parties.
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