The role Government plays in shaping the culture of a country is an uncertain one. On the one hand is the critical importance of forming a coherent fabric with which to build common values, and on the other is the danger that something critically important to the happiness and unity of a country is treated with a venal cynicism, as a political tool.

In every economic downturn the arts and culture sector is the first on the chopping block, and suffers a more severe proportional blow than any other. After all, even in surplus years it’s a favoured pastime in Canadian politicking for arts funding to be publicly denounced and the resulting projects ridiculed. But in this latest wave of austerity, the Harper Government showed a planned vision for the future of Canadian arts and culture – one that we as a society will hopefully learn to reject.

The 2012 Federal Budget shows a planned budgetary reduction of 191 million dollars between now and 2015. But it is the distribution of these reductions that are more telling than any amount of money.