Ignatieff gets open letter asking him to champion arts & culture

In a cheeky move, La Scena Musicale has published on its blog an open letter from one of its marquee British columnists to Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.

Norman Lebrecht, whose weekly column is carried by La Scena, is best known as a cultural commentator based in Britain, who has written 11 books on music, including critiques of the way classical orchestras and the classical music industry are run. He is also the assistant editor of the London Evening Standard.

His open letter to Ignatieff plays off their association in the 1990s on a BBC program called The Late Show and essentially asks the opposition leader to speak out, challenging a trend in Canada towards "dumbing down of arts and culture". In particular, he cites the recent Canada Council decision not to fund controlled circulation literary and music magazines -- of which Montreal-based La Scena Musicale is one.

What can you do as leader of the opposition? Easy. The squeaky bums in broadcasting and arts councils (we have the same types over here) respond very swiftly to comments from an opposition leader shortly before an election. The bums don't want to lose their seats.

One speech, Michael, that's all it would take. One speech urging Canada to smarten up and stop dumbing down would put more heart into the arts and more arts in the world than a pack of Medicis. One word from you, and the bureaucrats will go upmarket.

Think about it. With a positive signal to Canada's creative furnace, your Liberals would stand for innovation and enlightenment, as distinct from the numbskull Conservatives. To borrow Isaiah Berlin's famous metaphor, you would be the fox and they the hedgehog - tomorrow's roadkill.

An anonymous commenter said:

I appreciate your good intentions with this letter, but in the world of practical politics, this has to be just about the worst advice for Michael Ignatieff.

He should not in any circumstances be seen to side with "high" culture at the expense of popular culture. While such a move might play in Quebec, it plays right into Harper's attempt to play to the Tim Horton's crowd. And Iggy has to be wary of being seen as an espresso sipping elite.