Harper Government Invests in New Play Creation
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After years of slashing and bashing the Canadian arts community, the Harper Government has finally decided to embrace live theatre through an exciting new partnership just launched with co-producer SUN TV.
Under the terms of the arrangement just leaked this morning by The Globe and Mail, taxpayer funded Federal bureaucrats will be considered “in kind” donations to the Qubecor-owned news station. Leveraging the value that public servants can return to the taxpayer has been a Harper Government priority since their election in 2006, and under a majority government Canadians can expect to see increased focus on public/private initiatives that promote cultural works.
The play which was also simulcast across the nation via SUN TV is titled Welcome To Canada. A parody based on traditional stereotypes corporate media often tries to espouse as common to the immigrant experience, it requires performers with little to no training to act as if they have just arrived in the country and have been harassed by government officials over the phone to re-state their citizenship vows live for pro-corporate television cameras.
As a cross-platform multimedia performance, this type of groundbreaking work exploring the many layers of the immigrant experience places the Harper Government at the vanguard of cultural expression. Rare is the work that finds a way to embrace community outreach and fiction in a way that intersects with core questions of Canadian identity. Could this type of commitment to put significant taxpayer funds into live theatre signal the beginning of a Canadian cultural renaissance?
SUN TV has yet to comment on the exciting possibilities this new arrangement has for the network to reduce the labour costs on Ezra Levant’s upcoming 24-part mini-series, “It’s Okay to Torture Children I Don’t Like“.
[…] Harper Government Invests in New Play Creation (Praxis Theatre) After years of slashing and bashing the Canadian arts community, the Harper Government has finally decided to embrace live theatre through an exciting new partnership just launched with co-producer SUN TV. Under the terms of the arrangement just leaked this morning by The Globe and Mail, taxpayer funded Federal bureaucrats will be considered “in kind” donations to the Qubecor-owned news station. Leveraging the value that public servants can return to the taxpayer has been a Harper Government priority since their election in 2006, and under a majority government Canadians can expect to see increased focus on public/private initiatives that promote cultural works. Federal bureaucrats posed as ‘new Canadians’ on Sun News citizenship ceremony (Toronto Star) A citizenship reaffirmation ceremony broadcast on the Sun News network last October featured six federal bureaucrats posing as new Canadians. The event was requested by the office of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney Kenney’s office apologizes for ‘new Canadians’ stunt on Sun News [and blames it on bureaucrats] (Globe & Mail) On Thursday, Sun News ’fessed up that a citizenship affirmation ceremony it staged in its downtown Toronto studio last October was fraudulent. While viewers were told the 10 people who pronounced the oath were new Canadians, six were actually federal bureaucrats faking it for the cameras. Matt Gurney: Real new Canadians are too busy for Sun News 29 January Stephen Harper’s ‘tough-on-crime’ laws are more misguided than ever For 20 years there’s been a troubling disconnect between the reality of crime in Canada and people’s fear of it. The persistent — though mistaken — view that crime is on the rise has allowed governments to push through ever more “tough-on-crime” laws. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have taken this to extremes. The omnibus Bill C-10 before the Senate right now will foist enormous and unnecessary costs on taxpayers. Yet in reality violent crime is down. Property crime is down. Other crimes are down. Crime is at its lowest since 1973. 27 January Conservatives have put Canadians in a hole (Calgary Herald) On Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave a speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, bragging about our country, lecturing the Europeans and pointing to his agenda for the year ahead. … There is a strong argument to be made for belt-tightening in this time of global uncertainty, and it may be necessary to make changes to Old Age Security, but it might be wise instead to top up the fund with our tax dollars, except the Conservatives have put us in the hole. If we want benefits beyond our ability to pay, as Harper said in Davos, that’s because he has simultaneously cut taxes and increased spending, reducing the government’s capacity to pay for anything. 27 January Harper signals Canada’s looming R&D revamp Prime Minister Stephen Harper ended any lingering uncertainty this week, vowing to act “soon” on a recent task force report that urged major changes to the troubled $3.5-billion-a-year Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit. Costly federal appointments office has nothing much to do Bureaucracy set up to support Public Appointments Commission, which was then scrapped 26 January Harper vows ‘major transformations’ to position Canada for growth “In the months to come, our government will undertake major transformations to position Canada for growth over the next generation,” Mr. Harper said in an address to some of the 2,600 forum delegates. He also reiterated a commitment to streamline environmental approvals for major energy projects. He vowed to press ahead with developing ways to export energy to Asia. And he announced all this at Davos, hoping Canadians were not paying attention? Canadians finally getting it: crime is on the decline New poll results show the public is abandoning a stubborn belief that crime is on the rise, bringing public opinion into alignment with a 20-year trend of declining crime rates. The long-standing disconnect between public fears and reality has confounded criminologists and fuelled federal get-tough policies. … The poll, however, found that six out of 10 Canadians support a proposed federal omnibus crime bill increasing the length of jail time for some offences and reducing judicial discretion on sentencing. Mr. Neuman of Environics said the finding is consistent with the increasingly nuanced public perspective. 24 January Canada should look to its think tanks (Embassy) In this period of uncertainty, public policy needs solid research that looks ahead decades, takes into account emerging economies and low-income countries, and includes multinational approaches. Collaborative research by think tanks is the surest route. A Healthy Distrust at First Nation-Crown Summit (The Mark) The government must go beyond mere window dressing and pursue tangible outcomes that address the needs of Aboriginal Canadians. In light of the recent tensions and public outcry surrounding the crisis in Attawapiskat, it is reasonable to suppose that the First Nations-federal government gathering today will touch on urgent matters facing many First Nations communities: housing and water, education and health, economic viability and resource rights. And, indeed, in recent days, both government and community representatives have spoken to the relevance of these issues for First Nations across the country. But there is one central problem: The meeting will be missing several key players in the process – namely, the premiers of the provinces and territories. How can lasting change be secured when not all of the parties to the First Nations-Crown relationship are present? 20 January Is Canada’s economy really dependent on global trade? (Globe& Mail) … some economists are trying to develop a more useful measure of international trade. Among them is the Conference Board of Canada, which Thursday released the first of three reports based on what it calls “value-added trade.” The report should be required reading in Ottawa. Its conclusions challenge much of what we think we know about the nature of Canada’s economy. … The Global Trade and Analysis Project at Purdue University has created a database of input-output tables for the global economy. Input-output tables track the flow of goods and services as they pass through the value chain from raw materials to finished products. This data is compared with conventional trade data to estimate the import content of exports. The difference is the actual value derived in a particular country. (Mr. Armstrong recommends reading “Who Produces for Whom in the World Economy” for a thorough understanding of the concept, although his own explanation in the Conference Board paper is very lucid.) 19 January NCC slammed for ‘disgusting character assassination’ attack ad against Rae (Hill Times) Liberal and New Democrat MPs say the NCC’s attack ad against Bob Rae suggests Parliament should review the role of heavily-financed third-party lobby groups between elections. 16 January Quebec premier calls health-care funding formula ‘unacceptable’ Quebec Premier Jean Charest blasted on Monday Prime Minister Stephen Harper for refusing to explain to Canadians why he is slashing funds for medicare. 12 January Provinces will be burdened by health-care costs: Kevin Page The Conservative government’s decision to trim the growth in health-care funding will help ensure long-term fiscal sustainability of federal finances but will place a huge financial burden on the provinces, says Parliament’s spending watchdog. Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page released a report Thursday examining the projected financial health of the provincial and federal governments, following Ottawa’s announcement of a new 10-year health funding agreement that will slowly scale back the growth in health transfers. 7 January […]