Quebec MP questions whether mens' magazines are culture

Criticism is being levelled at grants from the Canada Periodical Fund to a Quebec men's magazine publisher. Summum and Summum Girl, published by Editions Genex, received a total of $141,000 in 2010/11 and $191,719 in 2011/12 under the Aid to Publishers portion of the fund. 

"It's unacceptable," said Bloc Quebecois MP Maria Mourani Wednesday. "You can't just subsidize magazines like this one willy-nilly - there needs to be some logic to it. It's supposed to be about supporting culture, well, we should ask: what is culture? Is it just anything?"

Patrice Demers, president of Editions Genex, told Montreal radio station 98.5 FM he shouldn't be singled out when the funds are available to all Canadian publications.

"It's helping all Canadian magazines survive," he said. "Why is it different for Summum?"