Opposition launches hearings on arts funding cuts; demands moratorium

Opposition parties in the House of Commons are starting a review of nearly $45 million in cuts to arts funding suggesting they reflect government censorship and abuse of power. According to a report on CBC.ca, New Democrat MP Peggy Nash told a meeting of the Commons heritage committee:

"They were done in secret, with no consultation, with no public review."

(The move came on the same day that Prime Minister Stephen Harper put himself on the line defending the cuts, which he says are a commonplace outcome of a strategic program review (which has not been made public). Although it is a relatively small part, the cuts include a 20% reduction ($500,000) in the support for industry initiatives under the Canada Magazine Fund. Harper's defence came on the heels of a Conference Board of Canada report that said arts funding is an investment that pays off handsomely, spinning off $84 billion annually.)

The three opposition parties demanded the session in the wake of cuts the government quietly implemented during Parliament's summer recess."There is real concern the government is picking and choosing which artists it is supporting and which artists it is not supporting," said Nash. "I suggest, in a democracy, that is a dangerous thing."

The heritage committee's hearings could start as early as next week and the opposition called for a moratorium on the cuts until after the hearings are complete. (Of course the entire matter would be moot should the government call an election, as seems more and more likely.)

Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger said the government may have overstepped its bounds by arbitrarily reducing program funding that had been approved by the Commons in the 2008 budget and in subsequent spending estimates.

"We live in a parliamentary democracy, and this government seems to want to avoid Parliament like the plague," Bélanger told the committee.

"Is there an abuse here of executive authority? If the government can cancel any program it chooses, where does it stop?"

Related posts:

• Canadian Heritage releases confirming list of cuts to the arts
• Fuse magazine rallies the troops to oppose federal arts funding cuts
• Industry CMF support program cut by 20%; what else is in play? Who knows?
• Government arts funding cuts baloney, no matter how you slice it