Word: harper
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...reason for Harper's response or lack thereof could be that Martel's gifts come wrapped in criticism and might be more accurately described as a guerilla publicity campaign. "This government, and especially the Prime Minister, doesn't seem to have an awareness of the importance of art and culture," Martel charges. His campaign, intended to encourage Harper's Conservative government to make the arts and arts funding a higher priority, was launched with an essay in the national newspaper The Globe and Mail, has its own website, and has succeeded in attracting considerable media attention. Many Canadians regard government...
...Almost no one in Canada, including Harper's political enemies, questions his intelligence. If he were not in politics, he might have become an academic or policy analyst. Nor is Martel charging that Harper does not read, but the author says the endless government reports, bedtime stories the Prime Minister reads to his daughter, and even a book about hockey that Harper is writing, are not enough; Harper needs art. "I'm not saying he has to read all of War and Peace in a week, but to never be engaged in the imaginative work that is fiction...
...Harper's minority government has been holding on to most of the support it had when elected 15 months ago, but is now taking a lot of heat over its environment policies and the Canadian Forces' role in Afghanistan. And certainly, there's some work ahead to win votes in the artistic community. In April, artists and writers protested cuts to arts funding on Parliament Hill. Shortly after, author Margaret Atwood accused the Tories of being out to "squash the arts into the dust...
...Harper has reacted Martel's campaign with a technique that has proved quite effective during his time in power: stony silence. While his staff have countered with a list of new arts funding, including an extra C$50 million for the Canada Council for the Arts, Harper himself has not responded directly to Martel or commented in the media. A Harper spokesperson did say that the PM "reads a variety of books when he has some spare time." Martel concedes that the Prime Minister has a lot of demands on his time, but he is not willing to excuse Harper...
...Martel says he's in this thing for the long haul and will send books as long as Harper is in power. "He has to respond at some point. It would be unacceptable if a Canadian citizen wrote to the Prime Minister thoughtful letters with gifts twice a month, month after month, and there was no response," Martel says, insisting that his letters (posted on his website) are not petty or partisan. He notes that previous Conservative governments, including that of Brian Mulroney, have supported the arts. But what Martel and Harper each think is "unacceptable" may be very different...