Government arts funding cuts baloney, no matter how you slice it

Never letting the facts get in the way of a good story, the Conservative cabinet has shut down two funding programs of Foreign Affairs, making astonishingly shoddy assertions about whether the people taking advantage of the programs represented "Canadian values" properly.

We daresay that not one in 1,000 citizens actually looked at what was being funded, what small, but important amounts were involved and what a breadth of uses the money went for. (Not much, if any, of the money went to Canadian magazines or magazine companies, so we're not arguing vested interest here.)

We're merely suggesting that people who wondered about the decision might do well to go to the Foreign Affairs website and look at the most recent annual report (2006-07) and see where the money was spent. Then decide whether it represents your values and a heckuva good value in terms of gaining exposure for artists, dancers, writers, filmmakers, booksellers, sound companies and the like.