where is sheila when you need her??

This morning I found a tidbit about Canada in the Guardian Unlimited's "Books/Review" section, and was more than a little stunned to learn of our waning cultural standing in the world in such a 'cyber-accidental' way. I'm not sure if this is the work of our new political masters, or if this was a quiet backroom decision by the last regime in its dying days, but either way it's proof positive that the government continues to discount the value of culture both at home and (especially now) abroad. Sigh...where is Sheila Copps when you need her??

Say what you will about the former grand dame of all things CanCon, but she got results and was able to keep culture much more front and centre in a political climate that has in recent years come to favour the technocratic over the creative. Why is it that our government now seems to view culture as a luxury to be championed when economically useful or good for our image abroad, but to be cut at the first available opportunity once its short-term usefulness has passed? You'll note that the Brits have eyes to see the problem, and yet I don't think any Canadian news outlet has reported on this, or likely will. Not a good sign at all...

From the Guardian Website (bold emphasis is mine):

Canada has for a long time considered culture a third pillar of foreign policy. In the UK particularly it has put its money where its mouth is, hiring officers specialising in literature, performing arts, film, TV and visual arts. From a literary point of view, the past decade has seen a massive increase in interest in Canadian writers in this country; three of the six 2002 Booker nominees were Canadian (and a Canadian - Yann Martel - won). Recently an aboriginal writer called Sky Dancer has read in British schools and libraries and been sent on a tour, and at last year's Edinburgh festival there were 17 Canadian authors, including Margaret Atwood, John Ralston Saul, Romeo Dallaire and performance poet Shane Koyczan (who was such a hit he is now going to the Hay festival). Many were brought over with the aid of government money, and as Catherine Lockerbie, director of the Edinburgh international book festival, noted this week, they were writers she would not necessarily have heard of if she hadn't been taken to Canada, and been introduced to them. But the Canadian government seems to have lost faith: this week the four cultural officers, who have more than 50 years of specialist experience between them, were made redundant, to be replaced by two cultural relations officers.