Is that the apocalypse I hear?

It must be, because surely that isn’t Stephen Harper - Canada’s Prime Minister and he who disdains the arts with their posh red-carpet galas - showing off his musical chops at, dare I say it, a posh red-carpet gala?

Except that it is. In a move that I’m not sure whether to judge as blatant hypocrisy or the mother of all postmodern ironies the likes of which William Shatner can only dream of, our culture-cutting Conservative Prime Minister has given credence to James Bond’s assertion that the Beatles are best listened to with earmuffs by performing ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ on grand piano at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre this past Saturday night, accompanied by Yo Yo Ma.

With the hateful whiff of election on the autumn breeze, there may be something timely in the performance, but like much of what Harper says and does, it really defies clear explanation. The only truly fortuitous thing in this nugget of comedic gold is the way it segues nicely into a morning-coffee link from Culture Grrl to Philadelphia’s Chief Cultural Officer Gary Steuer’s blog. In that particular entry, he reflects on the prospect of a new sales tax on art and culture, activities that had previously been tax-exempt in the state of Pennsylvania. While American state-level taxation is typically the sort of fare that is guaranteed to send me stumbling back to bed for another hour’s sleep, what rose my sleepy eyebrow this morning was the parallel between the faulty rationale for taxing cultural activities in Pennsylvania (though, curiously, not sports events or movies) and Harper’s attempts to similarly segregate the arts as an upper-class pursuit (despite the poverty-level, sports-loving artists who make that shit happen):

Also of concern - and this raises a larger issue for our field as a whole - is that it appears this tax was “easy” to impose because of the perception that the arts are an activity benefiting the wealthy, educated elite who can easily pay the extra tax. This tax was not seen to affect a broad public constituency, and therefore was seen as politically easier and less painful to impose because it would have minimal impact on the average citizen. This is one of the biggest challenges our field faces - changing this perception.

It’s the same challenge that Canadians face every time a government eliminates funding to the arts with the expectation that culture is a mere bijoux that the people can do without. And while Harper may - in his own ham-handed way - be attempting to make amends and turn the tide of perception, his performance remains exactly that - a play without substance, a work-in-progress yet to be judged for its content.

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