It appears all the Provincial Governments and Canada’s Federal Government are intent on cutting funding to arts programs. Theatres are closing all over the country due to lack of funding, including a couple that have been the starting points for internationally known writers, directors and actors.
Apparently those in government do not understand how significant arts production is for the country. Or perhaps they realize that the monetary value of Canadian artistic production, though an insignificant piece of its total value, far exceeds anything produced in a monetary sense by government. As a result they are in fear that the citizenry will become aware of the true value of government.
There still seems to be a strong consensuses that once students have been taught Reading,
Righting and Rithmatic that’s all they need to know. In reality all the ‘three Rs’ do is supply a foundation for the beginning of an education. True education doesn’t even start without some
understanding of the arts.
Perhaps those creating legislation don’t want the public educated and thinking for themselves. Those legislators may realize that if the ‘unwashed masses’ truly understood what
they are doing (or not doing) they may be treated with the contempt they
deserve.
It has been said that people only fear what they do not understand. Perhaps that explains why elected officials don’t want the populace thinking; they fear what they don’t understand.