In his first detailed defence of $45-million in controversial cuts to arts and culture funding, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper called his party's decisions good governance and said the government must walk “a fine line” between providing financial stability and “funding things that people actually don't want.”
In an exclusive telephone interview with The Globe and Mail during a campaign stop at a winery in St-Eustache, Que., Mr. Harper, who many have called a Philistine, also spoke at length about his life-long passion for music and the piano as he denied the cuts were ideologically motivated.
He said the government should play “a fundamental role” in encouraging growth and excellence in arts and culture, but added that the marketplace, consumers and benefactors must also help shape the cultural landscape.
“You don't get to the point where you're just abandoning it, because I think cultural life is too fragile for that. And on the other hand, you don't get to the point where, to be blunt, you have creators or producers who are entirely cut off from public need or public demand.”
Such remarks are sure to stoke the ire of arts supporters who have cautioned that the Tories wish to dictate taste and censor artists who don't conform, a fear that has its roots in the debate over Bill C-10.
But Mr. Harper flatly denied any ideological underpinnings, saying the cuts were made through a series of analyses, the bulk of which “the Department [of Canadian Heritage] itself” carried out.
He also disputed the characterization that his government has broadly “cut the arts,” saying that net spending on arts and culture has increased. But he said he is willing to accept criticism for deciding that $45-million in programs deemed not to be priorities be reduced or eliminated, launching a veiled barb at his political opponents.
“There are some people who say, ‘Well, it isn't good enough to increase funding for the arts, you have to increase funding for every single program.' My simple response is that no responsible government can manage the government that way. You have to select priorities and you have to make choices,” he said.
Several members of the arts community contacted by The Globe in recent weeks attested to Mr. Harper's past forays into the arts, which included periods of intense musical endeavour. It is part of a picture the Tories are working to bring to the fore during the campaign – a more sophisticated and artistic Stephen Harper – that is not easily reconciled with the cold calculations behind the funding reductions.
Mr. Harper spoke at length about his lifelong affair with music. Although his parents “had no particular musical skill or aptitude,” his father, Joseph, was an avid jazz fan who idolized Duke Ellington, collecting every piece of music he ever recorded or wrote.
He took the piano “very seriously” and eventually passed the Royal Conservatory of Music's Grade 9 examinations, demonstrating considerable proficiency at the keyboard, and said that although he “had a bit of talent,” he was held back because his hands shook when he was nervous, a trait he later outgrew.
For most of his adult life, he didn't own a piano and rarely played, leaving him “a shadow of my former self.” But since moving to 24 Sussex Dr., which boasts an impressive instrument, he has taken it up once more. He said the greatest satisfaction is playing with his son, Ben, who is teaching himself piano and guitar – although he acknowledged his thoroughly formal training and Ben's freewheeling approach don't always mesh well.
And he occasionally performs at parties with his informal band of friends and staff, Stephen and the Firewalls, a delightfully ironic name given his government's reputation for secrecy.
